A strong correlation is reported between gamma-ray burst (GRB) pulse lags and afterglow jet-break times for the set of bursts (seven) with known redshifts, luminosities, pulse lags, and jet-break times. This may be a valuable clue toward understanding the connection between the burst and afterglow phases of these events. The relation is roughly linear (i.e. doubling the pulse lag in turn doubles the jet break time) and thus implies a simple relationship between these quantities. We suggest that this correlation is due to variation among bursts of emitter Doppler factor. Specifically, an increased speed or decreased angle of velocity, with respect to the observed line-of-site, of burst ejecta will result in shorter perceived pulse lags in GRBs as well as quicker evolution of the external shock of the afterglow to the time when the jet becomes obvious, i.e. the jet-break time. Thus this observed variation among GRBs may result from a perspective effect due to different observer angles of a morphologically homogeneous populations of GRBs. Also, a conjecture is made that peak luminosities not only vary inversely with burst timescale, but also are directly proportional to the spectral break energy. If true, this could provide important information for explaining the …

In this paper we present a model for the short (< second) population of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). In this model heated neutron stars in a close binary system near their last stable orbit emit neutrinos at large luminosities ({approx} 10{sup 53} ergs/sec). A fraction of these neutrinos will annihilate to form an e{sup +}e{sup -} pair plasma wind which will, in turn, expand and recombine to photons which make the gamma-ray burst. We study neutrino annihilation and show that a substantial fraction ({approx}1/2) of energy deposited comes from inter-star neutrinos, where each member of the neutrino pair originates from each neutron star. Thus, in addition to the annihilation of neutrinos blowing off of a single star, we have a new source of baryon free energy that is deposited between the stars. To model the e{sup +}e{sup -} pair plasma wind between stars, we do three-dimensional relativistic numerical hydrodynamic calculations. Preliminary results are also presented of new, fully general relativistic calculations of gravitationally attracting stars falling from infinity with no angular momentum. These simulations exhibit a compression effect.

The ideal structural steel combines high strength with high fracture toughness. This dissertation discusses the governing principles of strength and toughness, along with the approaches that can be used to improve these properties and the inherent limits to how strong and tough a steel can be.

The effect of cool flame partial oxidation on the detonation sensitivity of hydrocarbons was experimentally investigated. Sensitivity to detonation was quantified by measuring the detonation cell-size using the smoked-foil technique. A rich pentane oxygen mixture was preheated in a pebble bed before filling a heated glass detonation tube to sub-atmospheric pressure. Cool flame reaction, monitored by a thin K-type thermocouple, occurred in the detonation tube after a known time interval as determined by the tube temperature. The mixture was ignited by a weak spark and onset of detonation was monitored using a streak camera. A smoked foil was inserted in the far end of the tube (opposite to ignition) to permit the measurement of the cell size of a well-developed detonation. The results show that the cell pattern becomes very regular at high temperature but the average cell size practically does not change. However, when the mixture was detonated while undergoing the cool flame reaction, a significant reduction of the cell-size was obtained (as large as 50%). The sensitizing effect was found to occur only in the initial stage of the cool flame reaction. When the mixture was ignited a few hundreds of milliseconds after the beginning of the cool …

A study was performed to elucidate the chemical-kinetic mechanism of combustion of toluene. A detailed chemical-kinetic mechanism for toluene was improved by adding a more accurate description of the phenyl + O{sub 2} reaction channels, toluene decomposition reactions and the benzyl + 0 reaction. Results of the chemical kinetic mechanism are compared with experimental data obtained from premixed and nonpremixed systems. Under premixed conditions, predicted ignition delay times are compared with new experimental data obtained in shock tube. Also, calculated species concentration histories are compared to experimental flow reactor data from the literature. Under nonpremixed conditions, critical conditions of extinction and autoignition were measured in strained laminar flows in the counterflow configuration. Numerical calculations are performed using the chemical-kinetic mechanism at conditions corresponding to those in the experiments. Critical conditions of extinction and autoignition are predicted and compared with the experimental data. Comparisons between the model predictions and experimental results of ignition delay times in shock tube, and extinction and autoignition in nonpremixed systems show that the chemical-kinetic mechanism predicts that toluene/air is overall less reactive than observed in the experiments. For both premixed and nonpremixed systems, sensitivity analysis was used to identify the reaction rate constants that control the …

A new code, named Hybrid Molecular Dynamics--Kinetic Monte Carlo (Hybrid MD/KMC), has been developed and employed to analyze possible growth pathways that lead to high molecular mass compounds. The Hybrid MD-KMC code combines the strengths of two common simulation methods: Kinetic Monte Carlo, and Molecular Dynamics. This code puts the two simulation procedures on an equal footing and involves alternating between MD and KMC steps during the simulation. The strength of this approach is that it provides information on the physical as well as chemical structure of soot precursors providing at the long term potential for information on particle characteristics such as density, porosity, and other physical properties. The Kinetic Monte Carlo and Molecular Dynamics simulation are used in conjunction with high-level quantum chemical calculations.

Detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanisms are developed for combustion of all nine isomers of heptane (C{sub 7}H{sub 16}), and these mechanisms are tested by simulating autoignition of each isomer under rapid compression machine conditions. The reaction mechanisms focus on the manner in which the molecular structure of each isomer determines the rates and product distributions of possible classes of reactions. The reaction pathways emphasize the importance of alkylperoxy radical isomerizations and addition reactions of molecular oxygen to alkyl and hydroperoxyalkyl radicals. A new reaction group has been added to past models, in which hydroperoxyalkyl radicals that originated with abstraction of an H atom from a tertiary site in the parent heptane molecule are assigned new reaction sequences involving additional internal H atom abstractions not previously allowed. This process accelerates autoignition in fuels with tertiary C-H bonds in the parent fuel. In addition, the rates of hydroperoxyalkylperoxy radical isomerization reactions have all been reduced so that they are now equal to rates of analogous alkylperoxy radical isomerizations, significantly improving agreement between computed and experimental ignition delay times in the rapid compression machine. Computed ignition delay times agree well with experimental results in the few cases where experiments have been carried out …

We have developed the Scaled Thermal Explosion Experiment (STEX) to provide a database of reaction violence from thermal explosion for explosives of interest. Such data are needed to develop, calibrate, and validate predictive capability for thermal explosions using simulation computer codes. A cylinder of explosive 25, 50 or 100 mm in diameter, is confined in a steel cylinder with heavy end caps, and heated under controlled conditions until reaction. Reaction violence is quantified through non-contact micropower impulse radar measurements of the cylinder wall velocity and by strain gauge data at reaction onset. Here we describe the test concept, design and diagnostic recording, and report results with HMX- and RDX-based energetic materials.

Future nuclear disarmament agreements between nations may require technical measures to ascertain each participating nation's adherence to the agreement. Almost certainly, measurement technologies and analytical methods will have to be developed by the participating nations jointly. In this way each participant has both confidence in the technology's efficacy and trust in its implementation. With the support of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Office of Nonproliferation Policy (NNSA NA-241), the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) have taken first steps to jointly develop and implement a radiation measurement technique to inspect plutonium. In June and July 2000, personnel from ORNL and VNIIEF performed joint experiments on unclassified plutonium metal ({delta}-phase, 1.77%-{sup 240}Pu) spherical shells at VNIIEF facilities in Sarov, Russia [1,2]. The measurements were performed using the Nuclear Materials Identification System (NMIS). The subsequent analysis demonstrates how NMIS can be applied to passively measure the mass and multiplication of plutonium spherical shells.

We present our approach to enabling approximate ad hoc queries on terabyte-scale mesh data generated from large scientific simulations through the extension and integration of database, statistical, and data mining techniques. There are several significant barriers to overcome in achieving this objective. First, large-scale simulation data is already at the multi-terabyte scale and growing quickly, thus rendering traditional forms of interactive data exploration and query processing untenable. Second, a priori knowledge of user queries is not available, making it impossible to tune special-purpose solutions. Third, the data has spatial and temporal aspects, as well as arbitrarily high dimensionality, which exacerbates the task of finding compact, accurate, and easy-to-compute data models. Our approach is to preprocess the mesh data to generate highly compressed, lossy models that are used in lieu of the original data to answer users' queries. This approach leads to interesting challenges. The model (equivalently, the content-oriented metadata) being generated must be smaller than the original data by at least an order of magnitude. Second, the metadata representation must contain enough information to support a broad class of queries. Finally, the accuracy and speed of the queries must be within the tolerances required by users. In this paper we …

In this work we report our numerical modeling results of laser-generated transient inversion and capillary discharge X-ray lasers. In the search for more efficient X-ray lasers we look closely at other approaches in conjunction with experiments at LLNL. In the search for improved X-ray lasers we perform modeling and experimental investigations of low density targets including gas puff targets. We have found the importance of plasma kinetics in transient X-ray lasers by expanding the physical model beyond hydrodynamics approach with Particle In Cell (PIC) and Fokker-Planck codes. The evidence of the Langdon effect was inferred from the recent experimental data obtained with the Ni-like Pd X-ray laser. We continue modeling different kinds of capillary discharge plasma configurations directed toward shorter wavelength X-ray lasers, plasma diagnostics and other applications.

An analytical system is presented that is used to take measurements of objects perceived in stereo image pairs obtained from a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Our system operates by presenting a single stereo view that contains stereo image data obtained from the SEM, along with geometric representations of two types of virtual measurement instruments, a ''protractor'' and a ''caliper''. The measurements obtained from this system are an integral part of a medical study evaluating surfactant, a liquid coating the inner surface of the lung which makes possible the process of breathing. Measurements of the curvature and contact angle of submicron diameter droplets of a fluorocarbon deposited on the surface of airways are performed in order to determine surface tension of the air/liquid interface. This approach has been extended to a microscopic level from the techniques of traditional surface science by measuring submicrometer rather than millimeter diameter droplets, as well as the lengths and curvature of cilia responsible for movement of the surfactant, the airway's protective liquid blanket. An earlier implementation of this approach for taking angle measurements from objects perceived in stereo image pairs using a virtual protractor is extended in this paper to include distance measurements and to use …

The goals of this DOE sponsored project are to: (1) assemble and analyze a comprehensive database of past waste injection operations; (2) develop improved diagnostic techniques for monitoring fracture growth and formation changes; (3) develop operating guidelines to optimize daily operations and ultimate storage capacity of the target formation; and (4) to test these improved models and guidelines in the field.

The purpose of this project was to develop, optimize, and evaluate new separation methods for removal of hazardous (radionuclides and toxic non-radioactive contaminants) metal ions from either ground water or aqueous waste solutions produced during Decontamination and Decommissioning operations at DOE sites. Separation and concentration of the target ions will result in a substantial reduction in the volume of material requiring disposal or long-term storage. The target metal ions studied were uranium, thorium, lead, cadmium, and mercury along with chromium (as chromate). The methods tested use membrane ultrafiltration in conjunction with water-soluble polymers or surfactants with added metal-selective chelating agents. Laboratory scale tests showed removal of 99.0-99.9% of each metal tested in a single separation stage. The methods developed for selective removal of radionuclides (UO22+, Th4+) and toxic heavy metals (Pb2+, Cd2+, Hg2+) are applicable to two DOE focus areas; decontamination of sites and equipment, and in remediation of contaminated groundwater. Colloid-enhanced ultrafiltration methods have potential to be substantially less expensive than alternative methods and can result in less waste. Results of studies with varying solution composition (concentration, acidity) and filtration parameters (pressure, flow rate) have increased our understanding of the fundamental processes that control the metal ion separation and …