This paper is intended as a preliminary report on the Homopolar configuration (axial magnetic field with radial electric field), which is the rotating configuration most thoroughly studied thus far. The analysis presented in this paper applies principally to the "ideal" Homopolar, that is, the configuration free from electrode-sheath drops and other disturbing but remediable phenomena. Design considerations for various interesting plasma appliances are derived and documented with preliminary experimental results. The experiments have been carried out under high-density (pinch-type) conditions which favor the creation of a totally rotating plasma and the actual physical measurement of the characteristics of such a plasma. When larger models of the Homopolar are built, it will be possible to use the present pinch-type technique of plasma formation at much lower density, just as has been done in the case of the toroidal stabilized pinch.

The following report records measurements and evaluations of fast neutron levels in remote areas monitored by personnel.

Abstract: "An absolute measurement of the 14.1-Mev (n, 2n) cross sections of Li-6 and Li-7 has been made using the large scintillator technique, resulting in cross sections in barns of 0.070 +/- 0.006 and 0.056 +/- 0.005 for Li-6 and Li-7, respectively."

The basic investigation of transistor feedback amplifiers has proven mathematically simple and of great practical value. The behavior of single-stage common-emitter amplifiers is described and provides a building block with which cascaded feedback amplifiers can be analyzed and designed. From the results of this analysis the conditions for minimum drift for cascaded single-stages and cascaded loops have been derived.

The writer has initiated a comprehensive program of equipment development designed to give the maximum practical aid to the physicists and technicians who are carrying out track measurements. Some attention has also been given to developing systems of data handling using International Business Machine (IBM) equipment and Keysort cards. In addition, some of the steps to insure the accuracy of the emulsion data are taken long before the emulsion is studied under the microscope.

Apparent [Sigma] hyperon decay events in a large emulsion stack of 240 9" x 12" pellicles have been classified into those judged to have occurred at rest and those in flight. Of 36 decay events at rest, 21 secondaries were observed to be protons of about 1675 microns range. Of the events decaying in flight, 23 were decays into protons and 46 were decays into near-minimum secondaries. Attempts have been made to trace the tracks of 35 of the lightly ionizing secondaries; the results of this effort are summarized in a table.

This is a bibliography referencing documents based on fused lithium salts within the years 1950-57.

Abstract: "Fast neutron effects on a widely used x-ray film have been investigated. The neutron flux was provided by the (d, t) reaction of a Cockcroft-Walton accelerator. Integrated exposures to 10-10 n/cm-2 were given the film. It was found that perturbations on film that were pre-exposed to Co-60 gamma rays from 10 to 2000 r were negligible. Simultaneous exposure of neutrons plus gammas also indicated negligible effect on the film insofar as the gamma dose was concerned."

Summary: The radiations emitted in the spontaneous fission of Cf²⁵² have been studied. The results in general are in agreement with other similar measurements. An experiment is described which is expected to give the neutron energies and angular distribution in the center-of-mass system of the moving fission fragment when the analysis is completed.

The present studies are carried out in order to elucidate the effect on enzyme activity of different kinds of radiation. Beams of protons and alpha particles from the Berkeley 60-inch cyclotron and beams of accelerated nuclei of helium, carbon 12, oxygen 16, and neon 20 from the Berkeley Heavy Ion Linear Accelerator (HILAC) have been used. With this variety of particles it has been possible to cover a range of LET 10 times greater than previously utilized in similar studies. The unattenuated energy of the different particles is exactly 10 MeV per nucleon for the HILAC radiation and approximately this value for the cyclotron radiation.

The basic information about the path of carbon in photosynthesis is reviewed, together with the methods that were used to discover it. This has led to the knowledge of what is required of the photochemical reaction in the form of chemical species. Attention is then directed to the structure of the photochemical apparatus itself insofar as it is viewable by electron microscopy, and some principles of ordered structure are devised for the types of molecules to be found in the chloroplasts. From the combination of these, a structure for the grana lamella is suggested and a mode of function proposed. Experimental test for this mode of function is underway; one method is to examine photoproduced unpaired electrons. This is discussed.

The method of detecting unpaired electrons in liquid and solid systems by electron spin resonance is discussed. The significance of the hyperfine structure in electron spin resonance is discussed and the possible use of these structural features of the electron spin resonance spectrum to elucidate the nature of the photoproduced unpaired electrons in photosynthesizing systems is introduced.

The problem of photosynthesis is the problem of defining the way in which green plants are able to convert electromagnetic energy into chemical potential in the form of reduced carbon, usually as carbohydrate, and molecular oxygen. The use of tracer carbon, as carbon-14, has made possible considerable progress in the mapping of the routes taken by the carbon atom from CO2 into plant substances. The techniques of separation and identification that have made this progress possible lie largely in the region of chromatography and radioautography involving fractional-gamma amounts of material. A number of proposals have been made about the photochemical act itself. These proposals have led to the development of direct physical tests of their validity, and some results of these will be described.

Existing experimental information about the nucleon-anitnucleon interaction is reviewed, and a description is given of a theoretical model, based on the Yukawa theory, which seems able to explain the experimental results.

A general method is suggested for analyzing the scattering of particle A by particle B, leading to three or more final particles, in order to obtain the cross section for the interaction of A with a particle which is virtually contained in B. Binding complications are absent if a plausible assumption about the location and residues of poles in the S-matrix is accepted. The method is useful for unstable particles from which free targets cannot be made; the special examples of pion and neutron targets are discussed in detail.

The following document describes the workings of the Astron thermonuclear reactor.

The following report describes the Astron Thermonuclear Program initiated at Livermore, California in 1957.

"The injection of the E-layer electrons into the Astron reactor is described by following the electrons as they emerge from the anode of the 1-Mev electron gun through the various steps up to their injection in the reactor volume. Several problems are imposed by this injection process and their solutions are discussed briefly. The detailed mathematical theory and calculations will be presented in a separate paper now in preparation."

The following report examines the trapping of charged particles, fast electrons especially, within the geomagnetic field.

Report discussing experiments on particle density, plasma compression, electron heating, and electron energy distribution of plasma in a pyrotron. Past experiments that led to this investigation are discussed as well.

This report focuses on the study of the stabilized pinch program made to increase the plasma temperature and improve the plasma conductivity and containment. One method proposed is the usage of a large toroidal stabilized pinch, which is described here.

Report discussing "experimental results on the classical stabilized pinch," "the usefulness of the Levitron in Stellarator-type operation," and "practical details of the levitation process." A configuration is presented which involves a "toroidal pinch tube inside which a rigid toroidal conductor is levitated by means of an induced magnetic field." Additionally, "an alternative scheme is considered, where the toroidal core is suspended from current-carrying wires, but this approach does not appear promising."

There have been numerous independent suggestions to use high speed shocks to heat deuterium gas to thermonuclear temperature (E. Teller, R.R. Wilson, H. Grad, W. Marshall)², and extensive experimental work in this field is being carried on by, e.g., Kolb³, and S. Janes⁴. Our own work in this field has been directed towards a fundamental understanding of the strong shock process in the limit of no particle collision, to find out if within this limit the ion heating following the passage of the shock is large enough to give rise to a thermonuclear reaction.

The LRL portion of the conference will be primarily confined to the isostatic method of pressing explosives inasmuch as this is our main research and production tool. Our conventional ram and die facilities are limited and confined to work involved in making initial studies on new materials available only in small quantities. Our isostatic press facility is designed a a process development facility, and is primarily concerned with the pressing of new materials. This being the case, specialized procedures and pressing techniques not ordinarily employed in pressing more standard materials are often required. This report is intended to provide an overall view of our equipment and its operation.