The author discusses the photodissociation of light elements due to the radiative decay of a massive particle, and he has shown how to constrain the model parameters from the observed light-element abundances. He adopted two quasar absorption system (QAS) D/H values, as well as solar system data for D/H and {sup 3}He/H. For each of these, he used two {sup 4}He values. He presents his results in terms of the confidence level at which each theoretical parameter set (i.e., the set of properties of a radiatively decaying particle) is excluded by the observed abundances. His algorithm for computing the confidence level is consistent and general enough to apply not only to the scenarios investigated in this work, but also to many other non-standard theories of BBN.

In chapter 1 the author reviews some elements of string theory relevant to the rest of this report. He touches on both the classical, i.e. perturbative, string physics before D-branes rise to prominence, and some of the progresses they brought forth. In chapter 2 he proceeds to give an exact algebraic formulation of D-branes in curved spaces. This allows one to classify them in backgrounds of interest and study their geometric properties. He applies this formalism to string theory on Calabi-Yau and other supersymmetry preserving manifolds. Then he studies the behavior of the D-branes under mirror symmetry in chapter 3. Mirror symmetry is known to be a symmetry of string theory perturbatively. He finds evidence for its nonperturbative validity when D-branes are also considered and compute some dynamical consequences. In chapter 4 he turns to examine the consistency of curved and/or intersecting D-brane configurations. They have been used recently to extract information about the field theories that arise in certain limits. It turns out that there are potential quantum mechanical inconsistencies associated with them. What saves the day are certain subtle topological properties of D-branes. This resolution has implications for the conserved charges carried by the D-branes, which he computes …

In the first part of the thesis I will investigate in the Matrix theory framework, the subgroup of dualities of the Discrete Light Cone Quantization of M-theory compactified on tori, which corresponds to T-duality in the auxiliary Type II string theory. After a review of matrix theory compactification leading to noncommutative supersymmetric Yang-Mills gauge theory, I will present solutions for the fundamental and adjoint sections on a two-dimensional twisted quantum torus and generalize to three-dimensional twisted quantum tori. After showing how M-theory T-duality is realized in supersymmetric Yang-Mills gauge theories on dual noncommutative tori I will relate this to the mathematical concept of Morita equivalence of C*-algebras. As a further generalization, I consider arbitrary Ramond-Ramond backgrounds. I will also discuss the spectrum of the toroidally compactified Matrix theory corresponding to quantized electric fluxes on two and three tori. In the second part of the thesis I will present an application to conformal field theory involving quantum groups, another important example of a noncommutative space. First, I will give an introduction to Poisson-Lie groups and arrive at quantum groups using the Feynman path integral. I will quantize the symplectic leaves of the Poisson-Lie group SU(2)*. In this way we obtain the …

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The Standard Model of particle interactions is a successful theory for describing the interactions of quarks, leptons and gauge bosons at microscopic distance scales. Despite these successes, the theory contains many unsatisfactory features. The origin of particle masses is a central mystery that has eluded experimental elucidation. In the Standard Model the known particles obtain their mass from the condensate of the so-called Higgs particle. Quantum corrections to the Higgs mass require an unnatural fine tuning in the Higgs mass of one part in 10{sup {minus}32} to obtain the correct mass scale of electroweak physics. In addition, the origin of the vast hierarchy between the mass scales of the electroweak and quantum gravity physics is not explained in the current theory. Supersymmetric extensions to the Standard Model are not plagued by this fine tuning issue and may therefore be relevant in Nature. In the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model there is also a natural explanation for electroweak symmetry breaking. Supersymmetric Grand Unified Theories also correctly predict a parameter of the Standard Model. This provides non-trivial indirect evidence for these theories. The most general supersymmetric extension to the Standard Model however, is excluded by many physical processes, such as rare flavor changing …

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Electronic states of a thin layer of material on a surface possess unique physical and chemical properties. Some of these properties arise from the reduced dimensionality of the thin layer with respect to the bulk or the properties of the electric field where two materials of differing dielectric constants meet at an interface. Other properties are related to the nature of the surface chemical bond. Here, the properties of excess electrons in thin layers of Xenon, Krypton, and alkali metals are investigated, and the bound state energies and effective masses of the excess electrons are determined using two-photon photoemission. For Xenon, the dependence of bound state energy, effective mass, and lifetime on layer thickness from one to nine layers is examined. Not all quantities were measured at each coverage. The two photon photoemission spectra of thin layers of Xenon on a Ag(111) substrate exhibit a number of sharp, well-defined peaks. The binding energy of the excess electronic states of Xenon layers exhibited a pronounced dependence on coverage. A discrete energy shift was observed for each additional atomic layer. At low coverage, a series of states resembling a Rydberg series is observed. This series is similar to the image state series …

Methyltrioxorhenium (MTO) catalyzes the desulfurization of thiiranes by triphenylphosphine. Enormous enhancement in rate is observed when the catalyst is pretreated with hydrogen sulfide prior to the reaction. Using 2-mercaptomethylthiophenol as a ligand, the author synthesized several model complexes to study the mechanism of this reaction. With suitable model systems, they were able to show that the active catalyst is a Re(V) species. The reactions are highly stereospecific and very tolerant to functional groups. As part of the studies, he synthesized and crystallographically characterized the first examples of neutral terminal and bridging Re(V)sulfidocomplexes. Some of these complexes undergo fast oxygen atom transfer reactions with organic and inorganic oxidants. Studies on these model complexes led them to the discovery that MTO catalyzes the selective oxidation of thiols to disulfides. This report contains the Introduction; ``Chapter 6: Isomerization of Propargylic Alcohols to Enones and Enals Catalyzed by Methylrhenium Trioxide``; and Conclusions.

n-Butane selective oxidation over the VPO catalyst to maleic anhydride is the first and only commercialized process of light alkane selective oxidation. The mechanism of this reaction is still not well known despite over twenty years of extensive studies, which can partially be attributed to the extreme difficulties to characterize catalytic reactions real-time under typical reaction conditions. In situ spectroscopic characterization techniques such as Infrared spectroscopy and laser Raman spectroscopy were used in the current mechanistic investigations of n-butane oxidation over VPO catalysts. To identify the reaction intermediates, oxidation of n-butane, 1,3-butadiene and related oxygenates on the VPO catalyst were monitored using FTIR spectroscopy under transient conditions. n-Butane was found to adsorb on the VPO catalyst to form olefinic species, which were further oxidized to unsaturated, noncyclic carbonyl species. The open chain dicarbonyl species then experienced cycloaddition to form maleic anhydride. VPO catalyst phase transformations were investigated using in situ laser Raman spectroscopy. This report contains Chapter 1: General introduction; Chapter 2: Literature review; and Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendations.

This dissertation focuses on the development of methods for stable isotope metabolic tracer studies in living systems using inductively coupled plasma single and dual quadrupole mass spectrometers. Sub-nanogram per gram levels of molybdenum (Mo) from human blood plasma are isolated by the use of anion exchange alumina microcolumns. Million-fold more concentrated spectral and matrix interferences such as sodium, chloride, sulfate, phosphate, etc. in the blood constituents are removed from the analyte. The recovery of Mo from the alumina column is 82 {+-} 5% (n = 5). Isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS) is utilized for the quantitative ultra-trace concentration determination of Mo in bovine and human blood samples. The average Mo concentration in reference bovine serum determined by this method is 10.2 {+-} 0.4 ng/g, while the certified value is 11.5 {+-} 1.1 ng/g (95% confidence interval). The Mo concentration of one pool of human blood plasma from two healthy male donors is 0.5 {+-} 0.1 ng/g. The inductively coupled plasma twin quadrupole mass spectrometer (ICP-TQMS) is used to measure the carbon isotope ratio from non-volatile organic compounds and bio-organic molecules to assess the ability as an alternative analytical method to gas chromatography combustion isotope ratio mass spectrometry …

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Time reversal invariance violation plays only a small role in the Standard Model, and the existence of a T-violating effect above the predicted level would be an indication of new physics. A sensitive probe of this symmetry in the weak interaction is the measurement of the T-violating ''D''-correlation in the decay of free neutrons. The triple-correlation D{sigma}{sub n}{center_dot}p{sub e} x p{sub v} involves three kinematic variables, the neutron spin, electron momentu, and neutrino (or proton) momentum, and changes sign under time reversal. This experiment detects the decay products of a polarized cold neutron beam with an octagonal array of scintillation and solid-state detectors. Data from first run at NIST's Cold Neutron Research Facility give a D-coefficient of -0.1 {+-} 1.3(stat.) {+-} 0.7(syst) x 10{sup -3}. This measurement has the greatest bearing on extensions to the Standard model that incorporate leptoquarks, although exotic fermion and lift-right symmetric models also allow a D as large as the present limit.

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This thesis describes an experiment in which a neutral atom laser trap loaded with radioactive {sup 21}Na was improved and then used for measurements. The sodium isotope (half-life=22 sec) is produced on line at the 88in cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The author developed an effective magnesium oxide target system which is crucial to deliver a substantive beam of {sup 21}Na to the experiment. Efficient manipulation of the {sup 21}Na beam with lasers allowed 30,000 atoms to be contained in a magneto-optical trap. Using the cold trapped atoms, the author measured to high precision the hyperfine splitting of the atomic ground state of {sup 21}Na. She measured the 3S{sub 1/2}(F=1,m=0)-3S{sub 1/2}(F=2,m=0) atomic level splitting of {sup 21}Na to be 1,906,471,870{+-}200 Hz. Additionally, she achieved initial detection of beta decay from the trap and evaluated the prospects of precision beta decay correlation studies with trapped atoms.