Realization of practical multi-kilowatt Nd:garnet lasers will require the scale-up of crystal dimensions as well as more powerful pumping sources. A high average power zigzag slab crystal amplifier testing facility has been established at LLNL which employs two 100 kW{sub e} vortex stabilized arc lamps, cooled reflectors and a cooled, spectrally filtered, crystal slab mounting fixture. The operational characteristics of the first crystal laser to be tested in this setup, a Nd:GGG zigzag oscillator, are presented. A Nd:GGG crystal of dimensions 18 {times} 7 {times} 0.5 cm{sup 3}, doped at 2 {times} 10{sup 20} cm{sup {minus}3} Nd{sup 3+} atomic density, was pumped by up to 40 kW of filtered argon line emission. A small-signal single pass gain (losses excluded) of 1.09 was measured with a probe laser when the DC input to the lamps was 43 kW{sub e}. Our power supply was then modified to operate in a pulsed mode and provided one to three milliseconds pulses at 120 Hz. An average optical output power of 490 watts was obtained at a lamp input power of 93 kW{sub e} in an unoptimized resonator. The laser output power declined after a few tens of seconds since the slab tips were not …

Transient radiated fields due to impulsively excited apertures and aperture response due to incident impulsive waves has been the subject of considerable research in acoustics over the last decade. This research is also of importance to wideband radar. Medical ultrasound steered phased arrays use transmitted pulses consisting of from 1 to 3 cycles of a damped sinusoid, which is similar to certain radar systems. As will be shown, planar arrays using ultra-wide band pulses may be formed with very sparsely spaced elements. This makes feasible very high resolution, economical, and relatively simple, steered beam phased arrays. The resolution may be increased simply by moving the array elements further apart. Grating lobes due to aliasing are not formed when the elements are sparsely spaced. In a very sparse wide band array, element spacing effects the form, or signal shape in time, rather than the peak amplitude of the sidelobe structure. The number of elements in the aperture determines the peak sidelobe level which, in theory, may be decreased without limit. 13 refs., 7 figs.

In experimental studies of the Plasma Wake-field Accelerator performed to date at the Argonne Advanced Accelerator Test Facility, significant nonlinearities in both plasma and beam behavior have been observed. The plasma waves driven in the wake of the intense driving beam in these experiments exhibit three-dimensional nonlinear behavior which has as yet no quantitative theoretical explanation. This nonlinearity is due in part to the self-pinching of the driving beam in the plasma, as the denser self-focused beam can excite larger amplitude plasma waves. The self-pinching is a process with interesting nonlinear aspects: the initial evolution of the beam envelope and the subsequent approach to Bennett equilibrium through phase mixing. 35 refs., 10 figs.

How does one assure that both quality and creativity are obtained in basic research environments QA theoreticians have attempted to develop workable definitions of quality, but in more reflective moments, these definitions often fail to capture the deeper essence of the idea of quality.'' This paper asserts that creativity (as a product of the human mind) is a concrete interface between perfunctory definitions of quality (conformance to specifications) and more philosophical speculations about the nature of quality- related ultimates'' like elegance or beauty. In addition, we describe the distinction between creative ideas and creative acts and highlight one of the major inhibitors of creativity, fear. Finally we show that highly creative people often have an irreverent attitude toward boundaries and established authority, and discuss how one can allow for this when designing a QA program in a basic research environment.

From the outset in the 1950's, fusion research has been motivated by environmental concerns as well as long-term fuel supply issues. Compared to fossil fuels both fusion and fission would produce essentially zero emissions to the atmosphere. Compared to fission, fusion reactors should offer high demonstrability of public protection from accidents and a substantial amelioration of the radioactive waste problem. Fusion still requires lengthy development, the earliest commercial deployment being likely to occur around 2025--2050. However, steady scientific progress is being made and there is a wide consensus that it is time to plan large-scale engineering development. A major international effort, called the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), is being carried out under IAEA auspices to design the world's first fusion engineering test reactor, which could be constructed in the 1990's. 4 figs., 3 tabs.

We present experimental results and a model of Nd:glass disk amplifiers which are used in inertial confinement fusion research. We first review our previous measurements on pulsed xenon flashlamps. We then discuss out measurements on the enhancement of the Nd fluorescence decay rate in laser disks by amplified spontaneous emission. Using these data, we have constructed a model of flashlamp pumping which treats the transfer efficiency of pump light from the flashlamps to the disks as an empirical function. We have found a simple description of this cavity transfer function which provides an excellent fit to the amplifier results for various pump pulselengths. We discuss the concept of the pump area ratio for describing the flashlamp packing density and show that amplifier performance is optimized for values of this parameter near unity. We finally present results for both a single-segment and a multisegment disk amplifier. We have used these devices to investigate new amplifier designs for a large scale fusion driver. 11 refs., 13 figs.

The ETA-II linear induction accelerator (LIA) is designed to drive a microwave free electron laser (FEL). Beam energy sweep must be limited to {plus minus}1% for 50 ns to limit beam corkscrew motion and ensure high power FEL output over the full duration of the beam flattop. To achieve this energy sweep requirement, we have implemented a pulse distribution system and are planning implementation of a tapered pulse forming line (PFL) in the pulse generators driving acceleration gaps. The pulse distribution system assures proper phasing of the high voltage pulse to the electron beam. Additionally, cell-to-cell coupling of beam induced transients is reduced. The tapered PFL compensates for accelerator cell and loading nonlinearities. Circuit simulations show good agreement with preliminary data and predict the required energy sweep requirement can be met.

An analytical technique has been developed that allows laser-based flow cytometric measurement of the frequency of red blood cells that have lost allele-specific expression of a cell surface antigen due to genetic toxicity in bone marrow precursor cells. Previous studies demonstrated a correlation of such effects with the exposure of each individual to mutagenic phenomena, such as ionizing radiation, and the effects can persist for the lifetime of each individual. During the emergency response to the nuclear power plant accident at Chernobyl, Ukraine, USSR, a number of people were exposed to whole body doses of ionizing radiation. Some of these individuals were tested with this laser-based assay and found to express a dose-dependent increase in the frequency of variant red blood cells that appears to be a persistent biological effect. All data indicate that this assay might well be used as a biodosimeter to estimate radiation dose and also as an element to be used for estimating the risk of each individual to develop cancer due to radiation exposure. 17 refs., 5 figs.

Recent developments in the application of damped time advance methods to plasma simulations include the synthesis of implicit and explicit adjustably damped'' second order accurate methods for particle motion and electromagnetic field propagation. This paper discusses this method.

This report discusses the following topics in relationships to plasma simulation: unstructed grids; particle tracking; and field propagation. (LSP)

Soudan 2 is an 1100-ton tracking calorimeter which is being built 713 m underground to search for nucleon decay and to study neutrino and cosmic-ray physics. The detector is assembled from 256 identical 4.3-ton calorimeter modules. Each module consists of finely segmented iron and drift tubes, and records three space coordinates and dE/dx for every tube crossing. It is surrounded on all sides by a 1700 m{sup 2} active shield of proportional tubes. The first atmospheric neutrino interactions and a magnetic monopole search are described. Prospects for cosmic ray studies are summarized.

A 14-MeV deuterium-tritium (D-T) neutron source for accelerated end-of-life testing of fusion reactor materials has been designed on the basis of a linear two-component collisional plasma system. An intense flux (up to 5 {times} 10{sup 18}/m{sup 2}{center dot}s) of 14-MeV neutrons is produced in a fully ionized high-density (n{sub e} {approx equal} 3 {times} 10{sup 21} m{sup {minus}3}) tritium target by transverse injection of 60 MW of neutral beam power. Power deposited in the target is removed by thermal electron conduction to large end chambers, where it is deposited in gaseous plasma collectors. We show in this paper that the major physics issues have now been experimentally demonstrated. These include magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equilibrium and stability, microstability, startup, fueling, Spitzer electron thermal conductivity, and power deposition in a gaseous plasma collector. However, an integrated system has not been demonstrated. 28 refs., 8 figs., 2 tabs.

Creating low-energy electrons in the stratosphere by photoelectric emission has the beneficial effect of suppressing ozone destruction by Cl. This is because Cl is converted to Cl{sup {minus}}, which is less reactive. Critical to the success of this scheme is the ability to attach most of the electrons to Cl{sup {minus}} and its hydrates Cl{sup {minus}} (H{sub 2}O). We found that this attachment efficiency is rather high. This is remarkable given the fact that the electron affinity of Cl{sup {minus}} is less than that of NO{sub 3}{minus}. Photoddetachment of NO{sub 3}{minus} is the key factor that leads to this high efficiency. Computer calculations show that ozone increases with electron injection, and most of the electrons end up attaching to Cl{sup {minus}}(H{sub 2}O). We also point out that 40 km, the altitude at which most of the ozone destruction occurs, is also the optimum altitude for injecting photoelectric electrons. 12 refs., 6 figs.

An introduction to the ideas and current state of weak scale supersymmetry is given. It is shown that LEP data on Z decays has already excluded two of the most elegant models of weak scale supersymmetry. 14 refs.

We have investigated the possibility of focusing x-ray lasers with the use of multilayered mirrors or zone plates. The results indicate that x-ray intensities as high as 10{sup 14} W/cm{sup 2} can be achieved by focusing saturated Ne-like x-ray lasers. These intensities should be adequate for studying nonlinear optical phenomena. 9 refs., 2 figs.

A conceptual design is discussed for a fusion rocket propulsion system based on the magnetic dipole configuration. The dipole is found to have features well suited to space applications. Example parameters are presented for a system producing a specific power of 1 kW/kg, capable of interplanetary flights to Mars in 90 days and to Jupiter in a year, and of extra-solar-system flights to 1000 astronomical units (the Tau mission) in 20 years. This is about 10 times better specific power toward 10 kW/kg are discussed, as in an approach to implementing the concept through proof-testing on the moon. 21 refs., 14 figs., 2 tabs.

Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) in conjunction with high order upwind finite difference methods has been used effectively on a variety of problems. In this paper we discuss an implementation of an AMR finite difference method that solves the equations of gas dynamics with two material species in three dimensions. An equation for the evolution of volume fractions augments the gas dynamics system. The material interface is preserved and tracked from the volume fractions using a piecewise linear reconstruction technique. 14 refs., 4 figs.

The first series of experiments using the Nova laser to investigate mix at an interface between different materials has been completed. Mix was induced by a shock crossing the interface and initiating a Richtmyer-Meshkov instability. Both low and high Atwood number targets were used and the results compare favorably with simulations using a k{var epsilon} mix model. These experiments pave the way for new designs which should provide data needed to develop mix models with predictive capabilities. 9 refs., 8 figs.

The third hypervariable domain (V3) of the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) envelope protein (env) can serve as an epitope for potent type-specific neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) -- thus short peptides predicted on the most commonly found variants of the antigenic tip of the V3 loop have been considered as potential candidates for an HIV peptide vaccine. To evaluate the extent of intrapatient variation in the immunogenic crest of the V3 loop, sequence sets were analyzed from individuals for whom multiple V3 sequences were available. Several strategies for selecting the best sets of hexapeptides to represent the variable tip of the V3 loop were considered and their effectiveness was evaluated by comparing them with the sequence sets from individuals. Most individuals carried at least one, and frequently many, variants that did not match any of the sequences from among the ten most common hexapeptides. Intrapatient viral sequence variation was increased by including sequences derived from brain biopsy specimens as well as from blood. Additionally, sequences obtained from brain specimens of different individuals had common elements which were not conserved in the corresponding blood samples, suggesting that certain amino acids in the V3 loop may be requisite for viral propagation in the …

The third hypervariable domain (V3) of the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) envelope protein (env) can serve as an epitope for potent type-specific neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) -- thus short peptides predicted on the most commonly found variants of the antigenic tip of the V3 loop have been considered as potential candidates for an HIV peptide vaccine. To evaluate the extent of intrapatient variation in the immunogenic crest of the V3 loop, sequence sets were analyzed from individuals for whom multiple V3 sequences were available. Several strategies for selecting the best sets of hexapeptides to represent the variable tip of the V3 loop were considered and their effectiveness was evaluated by comparing them with the sequence sets from individuals. Most individuals carried at least one, and frequently many, variants that did not match any of the sequences from among the ten most common hexapeptides. Intrapatient viral sequence variation was increased by including sequences derived from brain biopsy specimens as well as from blood. Additionally, sequences obtained from brain specimens of different individuals had common elements which were not conserved in the corresponding blood samples, suggesting that certain amino acids in the V3 loop may be requisite for viral propagation in the …

In this paper the effect of changing from the traditional NTP coolant, hydrogen, to several alternative coolants were studied. Hydrogen is generally chosen as an NTP coolant, since its use maximizes the specific impulse for a given operating temperature. However, there are situations in which it may not be available or optimal. The alternative coolants which were considered are ammonia, methane, and carbon dioxide. A particle bed reactor (PBR) generating 200 MW and cooled by hydrogen was used as the baseline against which all the comparisons were made. Both 19 and 37 element cores were considered. The larger number of elements was found to be necessary in the case of carbon dioxide. The coolant reactivity worth was found to be directly proportional to the hydrogen coolant content. It was found that due to differences in the thermophysical proportions of the coolant that it would not be possible to use one reactor for all the coolants. The reactor would have to be constructed specifically for a coolant type.

None

None

Applying the tools of algorithmic information theory, we compare several candidates for an asymptotically machine-independent. absolute measure of the informational or cognitive'' distance between discrete objects x and y. The maximum of the conditional Kolmogorov complexities max[l brace]K(y[vert bar]z) K(m[vert bar]y)[r brace], is shown to be optimal, in the sense of being minimal within an additive constant among semicomputable, symmetric, positive semidefinite functions of z and y satisfying a reasonable normalization condition and obeying the triangle intequality. The optimal metric, in turn, differs by at most an additive logarithmic term from the size of the smallest program for a universal reversible computer to transform x into y. This program functions in a 'catalytic'' capacity, being retained in the computer before, during, and after the computation. Similarly, the sum of the conditional complexities. K(y[vert bar]x) + K(x[vert bar]y), is shown to be equal within a logarithmic term to the minimal amount Of information flowing out and in during a reversible computation in which the program is not retained. Finally. using the physical theory of reversible computation, it is shown that the simple difference K(x) - K(y) is an appropriate (ie universal, antisymmetric, and transitive) measure of the amount of thermodynamic work …