A study of B-meson decays to final states with a single charm baryon is presented based on data recorded by the BABAR detector at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Although the B meson is the lightest bottom-flavored meson, it is heavy enough to decay to a baryon made of three quarks and an antibaryon made of three antiquarks. By studying the baryonic weak decays of the B meson, we can investigate baryon production mechanisms in heavy meson decays. In particular, we measure the rates of the decays B{sup -} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}{bar p}{pi}{sup -} and {bar B}{sup 0} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}{bar p}. Comparing these rates, we confirm an observed trend in baryonic B decays that the decay with the lower energy release, B{sup -} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}{bar p}{pi}{sup -}, is favored over {bar B}{sup 0} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}{bar p}. The dynamics of the baryon-antibaryon ({Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}{bar p}) system in the three-body decay also provide insight into baryon-antibaryon production mechanisms. The B{sup -} {yields} {Lambda}{sub c}{sup +}{bar p}{pi}{sup -} system is a laboratory for searches for excited {Sigma}{sub c} baryon states; we observe the resonant decays B{sup -} {yields} {Sigma}{sub c}(2455){sup 0}{bar p} and B{sup -} …

This dissertation presents the development of the novel mechanical testing technique of in situ nanoindentation in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). This technique makes it possible to simultaneously observe and quantify the mechanical behavior of nano-scale volumes of solids.

The stable boundary layer (SBL) in the atmosphere is of considerable interest because it is often the worse case scenario for air pollution studies and health effect assessments associated with the accidental release of toxic material. Traditional modeling approaches used in such studies do not simulate the non-steady character of the velocity field, and hence often overpredict concentrations while underpredicting spatial coverage of potentially harmful concentrations of airborne material. The challenge for LES is to be able to resolve the rather small energy-containing eddies of the SBL while still maintaining an adequate domain size. This requires that the subgrid-scale (SGS) parameterization of turbulence incorporate an adequate representation of turbulent energy transfer. Recent studies have shown that both upscale and downscale energy transfer can occur simultaneously, but that overall the net transfer is downscale. Including the upscale transfer of turbulent energy (energy backscatter) is particularly important near the ground and under stably-stratified conditions. The goal of this research is to improve the ability to realistically simulate the SBL. The large-eddy simulation (LES) approach with its subgrid-scale (SGS) turbulence model does a better job of capturing the temporally and spatially varying features of the SBL than do Reynolds-averaging models. The scientific objectives …