In this thesis, we report on a measurement of muon neutrino inclusive charged current interactions on carbon in the few GeV region, using the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam. The all neutrino mode data collected in the SciBooNE experiment is used for this analysis. We collected high-statistics CC interaction sample at SciBooNE, and extracted energy dependent inclusive charged current interaction rates and cross sections for a wide energy range from 0.25 GeV to {approx}3 GeV. We measure the interaction rates with 6-15% precision, and the cross sections with 10-30% precision. We also made an energy integrated measurements, with the precisions of 3% for the rate, and 8% for the cross section measurements. This is the first measurement of the CC inclusive cross section on carbon around 1 GeV. This inclusive interaction measurement is nearly free from effects of hadron re-interactions in the nucleus. Hence, it is complementary to other exclusive cross section measurements, and essential to understand the neutrino interaction cross sections in the few GeV region, which is relevant to ongoing and future neutrino oscillation experiments. This analysis also provides the normalization for SciBooNE's previous cross section ratio measurements for charged current coherent pion production and neutral current neutral pion …

Experimental evidence has established that neutrino flavor states evolve over time. A neutrino of a particular flavor that travels some distance can be detected in a different neutrino flavor state. The Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS) is a long-baseline experiment that is designed to study this phenomenon, called neutrino oscillations. MINOS is based at Fermilab near Chicago, IL, and consists of two detectors: the Near Detector located at Fermilab, and the Far Detector, which is located in an old iron mine in Soudan, MN. Both detectors are exposed to a beam of muon neutrinos from the NuMI beamline, and MINOS measures the fraction of muon neutrinos that disappear after traveling the 734 km between the two detectors. One can measure the atmospheric neutrino mass splitting and mixing angle by observing the energy-dependence of this muon neutrino disappearance. MINOS has made several prior measurements of these parameters. Here I describe recently-developed techniques used to enhance our sensitivity to the oscillation parameters, and I present the results obtained when they are applied to a dataset that is twice as large as has been previously analyzed. We measure the mass splitting {Delta}m{sub 23}{sup 2} = (2.32{sub -0.08}{sup +0.12}) x 10{sup -3} eV{sup …

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.

A sample of W {yields} e{nu} (W {yields} {mu}{nu}) and Z{sup 0} {yields} e{sup +}e{sup -} (Z{sup 0} {yields} {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -}) events recorded by the CDF detector for p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV are used to evaluate the systematic uncertainty in the determination of the W boson mass arising from uncertainties in the parton distribution functions and higher-order QCD effects. The systematic contribution of PDFs is determined to be 10 MeV/c{sup 2} for MSTW2008 NLO and 12 MeV/c{sup 2} for CTEQ6.6. The total systematic contribution arising from higher-order QCD effects in 9 MeV/c{sup 2}. The Z{sup 0} events are used to extract improved estimates of the phenomenological parameters in the BLNY model that describes low transverse momentum.

Heusler intermetallics Mn{sub 2}Y Ga and X{sub 2}MnGa (X; Y =Fe, Co, Ni) undergo tetragonal magnetostructural transitions that can result in half metallicity, magnetic shape memory, or the magnetocaloric effect. Understanding the magnetism and magnetic behavior in functional materials is often the most direct route to being able to optimize current materials for todays applications and to design novel ones for tomorrow. Synchrotron soft x-ray magnetic spectromicroscopy techniques are well suited to explore the the competing effects from the magnetization and the lattice parameters in these materials as they provide detailed element-, valence-, and site-specifc information on the coupling of crystallographic ordering and electronic structure as well as external parameters like temperature and pressure on the bonding and exchange. Fundamental work preparing the model systems of spintronic, multiferroic, and energy-related compositions is presented for context. The methodology of synchrotron spectroscopy is presented and applied to not only magnetic characterization but also of developing a systematic screening method for future examples of materials exhibiting any of the above effects. The chapter progression is as follows: an introduction to the concepts and materials under consideration (Chapter 1); an overview of sample preparation techniques and results, and the kinds of characterization methods employed …

MINOS is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. It consists of two large steel-scintillator tracking calorimeters. The near detector is situated at Fermilab, close to the production point of the NuMI muon-neutrino beam. The far detector is 735 km away, 716m underground in the Soudan mine, Northern Minnesota. The primary purpose of the MINOS experiment is to make precise measurements of the 'atmospheric' neutrino oscillation parameters ({Delta}m{sub atm}{sup 2} and sin{sup 2} 2{theta}{sub atm}). The oscillation signal consists of an energy-dependent deficit of {nu}{sub {mu}} interactions in the far detector. The near detector is used to characterize the properties of the beam before oscillations develop. The two-detector design allows many potential sources of systematic error in the far detector to be mitigated by the near detector observations. This thesis describes the details of the {nu}{sub {mu}}-disappearance analysis, and presents a new technique to estimate the hadronic energy of neutrino interactions. This estimator achieves a significant improvement in the energy resolution of the neutrino spectrum, and in the sensitivity of the neutrino oscillation fit. The systematic uncertainty on the hadronic energy scale was re-evaluated and found to be comparable to that of the energy estimator previously in use. The best-fit oscillation parameters …

This thesis reports the first experimental evidence of the doubly strange b-baryon {Omega}{sub b}{sup -} (ssb) following the decay channel {Omega}{sub b}{sup -} {yields} J/{psi}(1S) {mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -} {Omega}{sup -} {Lambda} K{sup -} p {pi}{sup -} in p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 Tev. Using approximately 1.3 fb{sup -1} of data collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, they observe 17.8 {+-} 4.9(stat) {+-} 0.8(syst) {Omega}{sub b}{sup -} signal events at 6.165 {+-} 0.010(stat) {+-} 0.013(syst) GeV/c{sup 2} with a corresponding significance of 5.4 {sigma}, meaning that the probability of the signal coming from a fluctuation in the background is 6.7 x 10{sup -8}. The theoretical model we have to describe what we believe are the building blocks of nature and the interactions between them, is known as Standard Model. The Standard Model is the combination of Electroweak Theory and Quantum Chromodynamics into a single core in the attempt to include all interactions of subatomic particles except those due to gravity in a simple framework. This model has proved highly accurate in predicting certain interactions, but it does not explain all aspects of subatomic particles. For example, it cannot say how many particles there should be …

The composition of matter is a topic in which the man has been interested throughout History. Since the introduction of the atom by Democritus in the 5th century BC until the establishment of the Standard Model, our successful theory that contains our current knowledge on the matter and their interactions, it has come a long way trying to solve this fundamental question. The efforts of many of the greatest minds to perform crucial experiments and develop theoretical models have helped to get deeper insight into the origin of the matter. Today we know that indivisible atoms postulated by Democritus are no longer true, and they are actually composed of a nucleus made of protons and neutrons (nucleons) with orbiting electrons through electromagnetic interactions. Also the nucleons are not fundamental particles but are composed of more fundamental ones called quarks. According to the present state of our knowledge, matter is composed of two types of particles: quarks and leptons. Leptons are believed to be fundamental particles and can occur freely in nature. Quarks are also fundamental particles, and there are no free in nature, but are confined to form hadrons. The hadrons may consist of a quark and an antiquark (mesons) …

In the Standard Model, CP violation in weak interactions involving quarks is parameterized by an irreducible complex phase in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) quark-mixing-matrix. The precise determination of the CKM elements is a necessary ingredient for a stringent test of the Standard Model predictions, and is a crucial input for reducing the theoretical error in many New Physics searches with flavor, e.g., in the kaon sector. The unitarity of the CKM matrix is typically expressed as a triangle relationship among its parameters, where the area of the so-called Unitarity Triangle visually depicts the amount of asymmetry between the decays of B particles and their antimatter counterparts. In the past few years, the BABAR and Belle experiments have been able to measure all three angles of the triangle from CP asymmetry measurements. The first asymmetry measurements in B particle decays, about ten years ago, allowed to determine {beta}, which is now known to better than 5% precision. The angles {alpha} and {gamma}, measured in much rarer processes, required several years of data taking before analyses could yield reliable answers. A remarkable feature is that the direct measurement of the angles of the Unitarity Triangle generates an area that is consistent with the …

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 …

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 …

We report on the search for heavy metastable particles that decay into quark pairs with a macroscopic lifetime (c{tau} {approx} 1 cm) using data taken with the CDF II detector at Fermilab. We use a data driven background approach, where they build probability density functions to model Standard Model secondary vertices from known processes in order to estimate the background contribution from the Standard Model. No statistically significant excess is observed above the background. Limits on the production cross section in a Hidden Valley benchmark phenomenology are set for various Higgs boson masses as well as metastable particle masses and lifetimes.

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 …

A search for the standard model Higgs boson is performed in 6.4 fb{sup -1} of p{bar p} collisions at {radical}s = 1.96 TeV, collected with the D0 detector during Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron. The final state considered is a pair of jets originating from b quarks and missing transverse energy, as expected from p{bar p} {yields} ZH {yields} {nu}{bar {nu}}b{bar b} production. The search is also sensitive to the WH {yields} {ell}{nu}b{bar b} channel, where the charged lepton is not identified. Boosted decision trees are used to discriminate signal from background. Good agreement is observed between data and expected backgrounds, and a limit is set at 95% C.L. on the section multiplied by branching fraction of (p{bar p} {yields} (Z/W)H) x (H {yields} b{bar b}). For a Higgs boson mass of 115 GeV, the observed limit is a factor of 3.5 larger than the value expected from the standard model.

We conduct the first study of the T-odd correlations in tt events produced in p{bar p} collision at the Fermilab Tevatron collider that can be used to search for CP violation. We select events which have lepton+jets final states to identify t{bar t} events and measure counting asymmetries of several physics observables. Based on the result, we search the top quark anomalous couplings at the production vertex at the Tevatron. In addition, Geant4 development, photon identification, the discrimination of a single photon and a photon doublet from {pi}{sup 0} decay are discussed in this thesis.

Current understanding of particle physics postulates that there are 17 fundamental particles that interact via four fundamental forces - gravity, the strong force, the weak force, and the electromagnetic force. These fundamental particles can be classified by their spins into bosons, which are the force-carrying particles with integer spins, and fermions, which have half-integer spins. Fermions can be further divided into quarks and leptons. The particles and three of the four forces - all but gravity - are described by the Standard Model, a local SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) gauge theory. Electromagnetic and weak interactions as described by Electroweak Theory or Quantum Electrodynamics, SU(2) x U(1). Strong interactions are described by Quantum Chromodynamics or QCD, SU(3). Fermions are grouped into three generations as shown in Table 1.1. Each generation consists of a leptonic doublet containing a charged and a neutral lepton and a weak isospin doublet containing two quarks. The first generation, containing the electron, the electron neutrino, the up quark, and the down quark, is the lightest generation and is thus the most frequently found in nature. The second generation contains the muon, the muon neutrino, the strange quark, and the charm quark. The third generation contains the …

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. …

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 …

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This thesis presents measurements of the oscillations of muon antineutrinos in the atmospheric sector, where world knowledge of antineutrino oscillations lags well behind the knowledge of neutrinos, as well as a search for {nu}{sub {mu}} {yields} {bar {nu}}{sub {mu}} transitions. Differences between neutrino and antineutrino oscillations could be a sign of physics beyond the Standard Model, including non-standard matter interactions or the violation of CPT symmetry. These measurements leverage the sign-selecting capabilities of the magnetized steel-scintillator MINOS detectors to analyze antineutrinos from the NuMI beam, both when it is in neutrino-mode and when it is in antineutrino-mode. Antineutrino oscillations are observed at |{Delta}{bar m}{sub atm}{sup 2}| = (3.36{sub -0.40}{sup +0.46}(stat) {+-} 0.06(syst)) x 10{sup -3} eV{sup 2} and sin{sup 2}(2{bar {theta}}{sub 23}) = 0.860{sub -0.12}{sup +0.11}(stat) {+-} 0.01(syst). The oscillation parameters measured for antineutrinos and those measured by MINOS for neutrinos differ by a large enough margin that the chance of obtaining two values as discrepant as those observed is only 2%, assuming the two measurements arise from the same underlying mechanism, with the same parameter values. No evidence is seen for neutrino-to-antineutrino transitions.

In this thesis we present a study of the production of D{sup 0} meson in the low transverse momentum region. In particular the inclusive differential production cross section of the D{sup 0} meson (in the two-body decay channel D{sup 0} {yields} K{sup -}{pi}{sup +}) is obtained extending the published CDF II measurement to p{sub T} as low as 1.5 GeV/c. This study is performed at the Tevatron Collider at Fermilab with the CDF II detector.

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}.

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 …