Technical report includes three reports of research progress: 1)Meson Mass Determination by Grain Counting, W. H. Barkas; 2) The Magnetic Beta Ray Lens Spectrograph, A. C. Helmholz; 3) Anthracene Counters, E. Martinelli.

Technical report includes three reports of research progress: 1)Neutron scattering by A. Bratenahl; 2) Nuclear Cross Sections, Norman Knable.

The acceleration of charged particles in the Berkeley 60-inch and 184-inch cyclotrons has made it possible to study a large variety of nuclear reactions. The characterization of the products from these reactions is done by chemical separations of elemental fractions and subsequent identification of the nuclides formed.

The state of polonium in aqueous solutions was investigated by means of ion exchange equilibrium studies. The distribution of the polonium between the solid and liquid phases was determined for solutions of various compositions using both a cation and an anion exchanges. These studies show that in the absence of a complexing agent polonium is hydrolyzed to such a degree that it forms monovalent cations and anions whose charge was not investigated in this study.

The fission and spallation reactions caused in uranium by bombardment with high energy protons (340 to 350 Mev) were investigated. The reaction products were separated from the target by chemical processes and identified by their radioactive properties. The relative yields of the observed fission products were measured, and the results plotted as a function of mass number. Several of the spallation products were identified and their yields estimated.

In solving the two-group, two medium equations for neutron diffusion in a finite one-dimensional multiplying system, the equations in each medium can be solved, and the boundary conditions used to determine the coefficients. This direct attack involves eight simultaneous linear equations. The opportunities for error are numerous, and, frequently, a great deal of accuracy is lost by subtractions; hence, it is felt that an alternative method of solution, in which numerical errors would be less likely to occur, would be desirable.

Engineering notes on limiting bore diameter, angular divergence in a linear accelerator.

Progress on projects on experimental physics, theoretical physics, MTA Target-Physics Program, accelerator construction and operation, chemistry, biology and medicine, plant and equipment.

It is proposed to test gaps corresponding to deuteron energies in the range of 0.45 to 4.5 Mev. The accelerator to be modeled is a 48 mc/sec cylindrical cavity in the TM010 mode with [formula] repeat length, [formula] gap, 0.25 megavolt per cavity foot peak r.f. gradient and strong focusing magnets alternating polarity at each drift tube.

Plus-minus ratios for pion production by 340-Mev proton bombardment were measured at 13 Mev, 18 Mev, and 42 Mev with the use of the spiral orbit spectrometer.

Report discussing experiments to determine "whether there is a uniformity in the reactions involved in the fixation of carbon during the early steps of photosynthesis or whether there may also be differences in these basic reactions. To investigate this question and to determine whether any differences, should they occur, might be correlated with phylogenetic relationships, a survey of representatives of major plant groups was made with respect to the kinds and relative amounts of the compounds into which carbon was incorporated during short-term photosynthesis."

Abstract: "Observations on the metabolism of chyle cholesterol in the rat show that exogenous cholesterol entering the systemic circulation in chyle exists in lipoproteins of low density (including chylomicrons) migrating with a high Sf rate (i.e.>400) in the ultracentrifuge. Following entry into the systemic circulation these molecules are rapidly removed from the plasma. This "clearing" of serum chyle cholesterol is a tissue phenomenon, the liver being the predominant site. Within the liver the chyle cholesterol esters are at least partially hydrolyzed; hydrolysis apparently does not occur in the plasma to any appreciable extent. After its entry into the liver exogenous cholesterol, if normally metabolized, presumably mixes with and becomes indistinguishable from cholesterol produced by endogenous synthesis."

The following quarterly report covers the period of January, February and March of 1954, discussing medical and health physics such as: the metabolic properties of various materials, biological studies of radiation effects, lipoprotein studies, health chemistry, and health physics.

From introduction: "The present paper deals with a classical calculation in which some of the meson effects can be included to all orders in the meson-nucleon coupling coupling constant, in particular those having to do with the gyration of the nucleon spin and isotopic spin. Such a treatment leads to results qualitatively different from the weak coupling calculations."

Abstract: A visualized electron beam has been reflected by a conventional magnetic mirror. Visualization of the beam path from the electron gun to and including the region of reflection was achieved by the "thread ray" technique of Wehnelt. The total current passing through a magnetic mirror has been measured as a function of the beam energy and angular momentum for H₂ over a range of pressures from 0.5 to 5 microns.

Abstract: "A cylindrical coil has been designed for pulsed field operation suitable for use in a model thermonuclear reactor. The coil has an eight-inch inside diameter and a length of fifty-one inches. Magnetic mirrors at the ends consist of double-layer solenoids six and one-half inches long designed to slip over the main coil. Subsequent models of this coil have been fabricated which improved the electrical insulation provided by the bonding materials and the mechanical rigidity of the coil. Peak central fields of fifteen kilogauss and mirror fields of thirty kilogauss have been obtained."

Report issued by the University of California Radiation Laboratory discussing an experiment in which a system was designed and built to load titanium with deuterium gas of a high purity. It discusses the results and the parameters affecting the amounts and purity of the absorbed gas.

Abstract: "The shock-tube experiments of Professor R. G. Fowler and his co-workers at the University of Oklahoma, and of Professor Arthur Kantrowits and his group at Cornell University, are reported by the author, who visited the laboratories of the two groups. Fowler's group has studied expanding low-pressure sparks; Kantrowits and his group have studied shocks produced by the adiabatic expansion of a compressed gas."

Abstract: "The elastic double scattering of deuterons by complex nuclei has been investigated experimentally. Measurements were made on carbon, aluminum, and copper at around 157 Mev; on lithium, beryllium, and carbon at around 125 Mev; and on carbon and aluminum at 94 Mev. The expected tensor components of the deuteron polarization have not been observed. Measurements have been made of the differential cross section and vector-type polarization as a function of angle for the scattering of deuterons from the above elements, at the above energies. The observed polarizations were larger than would be expected on the basis of the individual nucleon-nucleus interactions. In a second experiment we measured the 169-Mev proton-proton polarization at 10, 15, 22.5, 30, and 35 in the laboratory system. The results indicate that partial waves up to and including L = 3 are important at this energy."

This report presents the best estimate possible on the basis of the available information as to how high an energy would be necessary in order that the gas pressure which could be tolerated would be attainable with present techniques (say 10-(-7) mm Hg.)

Abstract: "The neutrons from the linear pinch in Berkeley have been shown to originate from deuteron collisions with a large net center-of-mass velocity in one direction along the axis of the pinch tube. The interpretation of this result is that the neutron production associated with the pinch is non-thermonuclear in origin. The object of this paper is to review the experimental evidence and discuss a possible source of the neutron production."

Abstract: "The measurement of large, high-frequency, short-pulse currents--ordinarily complicated by inductance, stray magnetic fields, and magnetic forces that tend to disassemble the measuring device--is simplified and made with an average error of 2-1/2% by the use of a specially developed noninductive radial shunt in conjuntion with an oscilloscope. The skin-effect correction is derived theoretically and the accuracy of the method is demonstrated."

Report describing a method of fitting "a weighted least square polynomial of order n to a set of m observation points" in order "to satisfy the need for a general curve fitting scheme" (p. 1).

Thesis discussing the relative yield of neutral pions from elements in a reaction "as a function of the quantum-limit energy (the maximum energy of the quanta in the bremsstrahlung beam) of the Berkeley synchrotron." Interpretation of the results leads to values for the mean free path for absorption of the neutral pions in nuclear matter.