Problems with MoSi{sub 2} include low-temperature fracture toughness, high-temperature creep resistance, and ``pest`` phenomena. Oxygen introduced by powder processing may be the cause of some of these problems. This study led to the following conclusions: Supplied powders have significant oxygen present prior to processing (up to 2.5 %), in the form of silica on the surface. This oxygen contamination did not increase by exposure to air at room temperature. An improved powder processing method was developed that uses glass encapsulation. Analysis of microstructures created from powders that contained 4900 to 24,100 ppM oxygen showed that the silica was transferred to the fully dense MoSi{sub 2} as SiO{sub 2} inclusions. A method of producing MoSi{sub 2} with less oxygen was attempted.

For the last decade, the Trahanovsky research group has focused on the study of various reactive molecules such as o-quinodimethanes (o-QDM`s) and p-quinodimethanes (p-QDM`s) derived from benzene, furan, and thiophene. These types of molecules are reactive and dimerize or polymerize at room temperature. One of the group`s interests is to understand the dimerization mechanism of these molecules. Paper 1 describes the preparation and dimerization product analyses of 2-ethylidene-5-methylene-2,5-dihydrothiophene. Insights provided by these results into the mechanism of the dimerization of 2,5-dimethylene-2,5-dihydrothiophene are discussed. In paper 2, a convenient synthesis of cyclooctadecane is presented.

This report discusses the following topics on support minimized inversion of acoustic and elastic wave scattering: Minimum support inversion; forward modelling of elastodynamic wave scattering; minimum support linearized acoustic inversion; support minimized nonlinear acoustic inversion without absolute phase; and support minimized nonlinear elastic inversion.

In this work, a measurement of the strong coupling constant {alpha}{sub s} in e{sup +}e{sup {minus}} annihilation at a center-of-mass energy of 91.6 GeV is presented. The measurement was performed with the SLD at the Stanford Linear Collider facility located at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in California. The procedure used consisted of measuring the rate of hard gluon radiation from the primary quarks in a sample of 9,878 hadronic events. After defining the asymptotic manifestation of partons as `jets`, various phenomenological models were used to correct for the hadronization process. A value for the QCD scale parameter {Lambda}{sub bar MS}, defined in the {sub bar MS} renormalization convention with 5 active quark flavors, was then obtained by a direct fit to O({alpha}{sub s}{sup 2}) calculations. The value of {alpha}{sub s} obtained was {alpha}{sub s}(M{sub z0}) = 0.122 {plus_minus} 0.004 {sub {minus}0.007} {sup +0.008} where the uncertainties are experimental (combined statistical and systematic) and theoretical (systematic) respectively. Equivalently, {Lambda}{sub bar MS} = 0.28 {sub {minus}0.10}{sup +0.16} GeV where the experimental and theoretical uncertainties have been combined.

Crosswell electromagnetic measurements are a promising new geophysical technique for mapping subsurface electrical conductivity which can provide information about the subsurface distribution of water, oil or steam. In this work the fields from a low frequency vertical magnetic dipole have been examined from the specific point of view of their application to the determination of the conductivity of a layered medium. The source and the receiver were placed inside two separate boreholes. The range of penetration of such a crosswell system for typical earth resistivities and for currently available transmitter and receiver technologies was found to be up to 1,000 meters so problems in ground water and petroleum reservoir characteristics can be practically examined. An analysis of the behavior of the magnetic fields at the boundary between two half-spaces showed that the horizontal magnetic field component, H{rho}, and the vertical derivative of a vertical component, {delta}H{sub z}/{delta}z, are more sensitive to conductivity variations than H{sub z}. The analysis of derivatives led to the concept of measuring the conductivity directly using a second vertical derivative of H{sub z}. Conductivity profiles interpreted from field data using this technique reproduced accurately the electrical logs for a test site near Devine, Texas. It was …

We introduce several ways in which approximate flavor symmetries act on fermions and which are consistent with observed fermion masses and mixings. Flavor changing interactions mediated by new scalars appear as a consequence of approximate flavor symmetries. We discuss the experimental limits on masses of the new scalars, and show that the masses can easily be of the order of weak scale. Some implications for neutrino physics are also discussed. Such flavor changing interactions would easily erase any primordial baryon asymmetry. We show that this situation can be saved by simply adding a new charged particle with its own asymmetry. The neutrality of the Universe, together with sphaleron processes, then ensures a survival of baryon asymmetry. Several topics on flavor structure of the supersymmetric grand unified theories are discussed. First, we show that the successful predictions for the Kobayashi-Maskawa mixing matrix elements, V{sub ub}/V{sub cb} = {radical}m{sub u}/m{sub c} and V{sub td}/V{sub ts} = {radical}m{sub d}/m{sub s}, are a consequence of a large class of models, rather than specific properties of a few models. Second, we discuss how the recent observation of the decay {beta} {yields} s{gamma} constrains the parameter space when the ratio of the vacuum expectation values of …

Changes in protein structure that occur during the formation of the M photointermediate of bacteriorhodopsin can be directly visualized by electron diffraction techniques. Samples containing a high percentage of the M intermediate were trapped by rapidly cooling the crystals with liquid nitrogen following illumination with filtered green light at 240K and 260K respectively. Difference Fourier projection maps for M minus bR at two temperatures and for M{sub 260K} minus M{sub 240K} are presented. While it is likely that a unique M-substate is trapped when illuminated at 260K produces a mixture of the M{sub 240K} substate and a second M-substate which may have a protein structure similar to the N-intermediate. The diffraction data clearly show that statistically significant structural changes occur upon formation of the M{sub 240K} specimen and then further upon formation of the second substate which is present in the mixture that is produced at 260K. A preliminary 3-D difference map, based on data collected with samples tilted up to 30{degree}, has been constructed at a resolution of 3.5{angstrom} parallel to the membrane plane and a resolution of 8.5{angstrom} perpendicular to the membrane. The data have been analyzed by a number of different criteria to ensure that the differences …

Utilizing self-consistent Hartree-Fock calculations, several aspects of multilayers and interfaces are explored: enhancement and reduction of the local magnetic moments, magnetic coupling at the interfaces, magnetic arrangements within each film and among non-neighboring films, global symmetry of the systems, frustration, orientation of the various moments with respect to an outside applied field, and magnetic-field induced transitions. Magnetoresistance of ferromagnetic-normal-metal multilayers is found by solving the Boltzmann equation. Results explain the giant negative magnetoresistance encountered in these systems when an initial antiparallel arrangement is changed into a parallel configuration by an external magnetic field. The calculation depends on (1) geometric parameters (thicknesses of layers), (2) intrinsic metal parameters (number of conduction electrons, magnetization, and effective masses in layers), (3) bulk sample properties (conductivity relaxation times), (4) interface scattering properties (diffuse scattering versus potential scattering at the interfaces, and (5) outer surface scattering properties (specular versus diffuse surface scattering). It is found that a large negative magnetoresistance requires considerable asymmetry in interface scattering for the two spin orientations. Features of the interfaces that may produce an asymmetrical spin-dependent scattering are studied: varying interfacial geometric random roughness with no lateral coherence, correlated (quasi-periodic) roughness, and varying chemical composition of the interfaces. The interplay …

None

Helium is attractive for use as a fusion blanket coolant for a number of reasons. It is neutronically and chemically inert, nonmagnetic, and will not change phase during any off-normal or accident condition. A significant disadvantage of helium, however, is its low density and volumetric heat capacity. This disadvantage manifests itself most clearly during undercooling accident conditions such as a loss of coolant accident (LOCA) or a loss of flow accident (LOFA). This thesis describes a new helium-cooled tritium breeding blanket concept which performs significantly better during such accidents than current designs. The proposed blanket uses reduced-activation ferritic steel as a structural material and is designed for neutron wall loads exceeding 4 MW/m{sup 2}. The proposed geometry is based on the nested-shell concept developed by Wong, but some novel features are used to reduce the severity of the first wall temperature excursion. These features include the following: (1) A ``beryllium-joint`` concept is introduced, which allows solid beryllium slabs to be used as a thermal conduction path from the first wall to the cooler portions of the blanket. The joint concept allows for significant swelling of the beryllium (10 percent or more) without developing large stresses in the blanket structure. (2) …

In an effort to mathematically describe the anisotropic diffusion of infrared radiation in biological tissue Gruenbaum posed an anisotropic diffusion boundary value problem in 1989. In order to accommodate anisotropy, he discretized the temporal as well as the spatial domain. The probabilistic interpretation of the diffusion equation is retained; radiation is assumed to travel according to a random walk (of sorts). In this random walk the probabilities with which photons change direction depend upon their previous as well as present location. The forward problem gives boundary value data as a function of the Markov transition probabilities. The inverse problem requires finding the transition probabilities from boundary value data. Problems in the plane are studied carefully in this thesis. Consistency conditions amongst the data are derived. These conditions have two effects: they prohibit inversion of the forward map but permit smoothing of noisy data. Next, a recursive algorithm which yields a family of solutions to the inverse problem is detailed. This algorithm takes advantage of all independent data and generates a system of highly nonlinear algebraic equations. Pluecker-Grassmann relations are instrumental in simplifying the equations. The algorithm is used to solve the 4 {times} 4 problem. Finally, the smallest nontrivial problem …

A new simple, self consistent theoretical model is presented that describes the phenomena of quench propagation in Cable-In-Conduit superconducting magnets. The model (Quencher) circumvents many of the difficulties associated with obtaining numerical solutions in more general existing models. Specifically, a factor of 30-50 is gained in CPU time over the general, explicit time dependent codes used to study typical quench events. The corresponding numerical implementation of the new model is described and the numerical results are shown to agree very well with those of the more general models, as well as with experimental data. Further, well justified approximations lead to the MacQuench model that is shown to be very accurate and considerably more efficient than the Quencher model. The MacQuench code is suitable for performing quench studies on a personal computer, requiring only several minutes of CPU time. In order to perform parametric studies on new conductor designs it is required to utilize a model such as MacQuench because of the high computational efficiency of this model. Finally, a set of analytic solutions for the problem of quench propagation in Cable-In-Conduit Conductors is presented. These analytic solutions represent the first such results that remain valid for the long time scales …

In this dissertation the author examines a variety of different problems in the physics of strongly-bound systems. Each is elucidated by a different standard method of analysis developed to probe the properties of such systems. He begins with an examination of the properties and consequences of the current algebra of weak currents in the limit of heavy quark spin-flavor symmetry. In particular, he examines the assumptions in the proof of the Ademollo-Gatto theorem in general and for spin-flavor symmetry, and exhibit the constraints imposed upon matrix elements by this theorem. Then he utilizes the renormalization-group method to create composite fermions in a three-generation electroweak model. Such a model is found to reproduce the same low energy behavior as the top-condensate electroweak model, although in general it may have strong constraints upon its Higgs sector. Next he uncovers subtleties in the nonrelativistic quark model that drastically alter the picture of the physical origins of meson electromagnetic and hyperfine mass splittings; in particular, the explicit contributions due to (m{sub d}{minus}m{sub u}) and electrostatic potentials may be overwhelmed by other effects. Such novel effects are used to explain the anomalous pattern of mass splittings recently measured in bottom mesons. Finally, he considers the …