Annual report of the Texas Racing Commission describing goals, activities, and accomplishments during the fiscal year 1999.

August report of the U.S. Congressional Oversight Panel describing their activities and findings regarding the risk of troubled assets, including sections on background information, strategies for dealing with troubled assets, and the future of troubled assets.

We have successfully demonstrated spectrally-resolved x-ray scattering in a variety of dense plasmas as a powerful new technique for providing microscopic dense plasma parameters unattainable by other means. The results have also been used to distinguish between ionization balance models. This has led to 10 published or to be published papers, 8 invited talks and significant interest from both internal and external experimental plasma physicists and the international statistical plasma physics theory community.

The National Ignition Facility (NIF), currently under construction at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is a $2.25B stadium-sized facility containing a 192-beam, 1.8-Megajoule, 500-Terawatt, 351-nm laser system. NIF is being built by the National Nuclear Security Agency and when completed will be the world's largest laser system, providing a national center to study inertial confinement fusion and the physics of extreme energy densities and pressures. In NIF up to 192 energetic laser beams will compress small fusion targets to conditions where they will ignite and burn, liberating more energy than is required to initiate the fusion reactions. NIF experiments will allow the study of physical processes at temperatures approaching 100 million K and 100 billion times atmospheric pressure. These conditions exist naturally only in the interior of stars and in nuclear weapons explosions. In the course of designing the world's most energetic laser system, a number of significant technology breakthroughs have been achieved. Research is also underway to develop a shorter pulse capability on NIF for high power applications. We discuss here the technology challenges and solutions that have made NIF possible along with enhancements to NIF's design that could lead to exawatt power levels.

{l_brace}311{r_brace} defects and dislocation loops are formed after ion-implantation and annealing of a silicon wafer. Recent Transmission Electron Microscopy studies by Li and Jones have shown that sub-threshold dislocation loops nucleate from {l_brace}311{r_brace} defects. In our study, the conjugate gradient method with the Stillinger Weber potential is used to relax different configurations such as {l_brace}311{r_brace} defects with a maximum of five chains and perfect dislocation loops. From the formation energies thus obtained we find that there is an optimal width for each length of the {l_brace}311{r_brace} defects. Moreover the relative stability of {l_brace}311{r_brace}s and loops is studied as a function of defect size. We observe that at very small sizes the perfect loops are more stable than the {l_brace}311{r_brace}s. This may provide an explanation for the experimental observation by Robertson et al that, in an annealing study of end of range damage of amorphized samples, 45% of the loops had nucleated in the first 10 minutes of anneal. We propose that homogeneous nucleation, as against unfaulting of the {l_brace}311{r_brace}s, could be the source of these loops.

A power lead tower containing the multi-tube power leads is designed and under fabrication for the superconducting IR quadrupole magnets in the Beijing Electron Position Collider Upgrade (BEPCII). The lead tower consists of six pairs of gas-cooled leads for seven superconducting coils at various operating currents. The power lead is designed in a modular fashion, which can be easily applied to suit different operating current. The end copper block of the tube lead has a large cold mass that provide a large time constant in case of cooling flow interruption. A novel cryogenic electrical isolator is used for the leads.

A wireless link was designed using a patch antenna. In the process, several different models were tested. Testing proved a patch antenna was a viable solution for building a wireless link within the design specifications. Also, this experimentation provided a basis for future patch antenna design.

Molecular dynamics simulations of a bulk melts of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) are utilized to study chain conformation and ordering under constant uniaxial tension. We find that large extensions induce chain ordering in the direction of applied tension. We also find that voids are created via a cavitation mechanism. This study represents a validation of the current model for PDMS and benchmark for the future study of mechanical properties of PDMS melts enriched with fillers under tension.

The current waste package design for the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain Nevada, USA, employs gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) in fabricating the waste packages. While GTAW is widely used in industry for many applications, it requires multiple weld passes. By comparison, single-pass welding methods inherently use lower heat input than multi-pass welding methods which results in lower levels of weld distortion and also narrower regions of residual stresses at the weld TWI Ltd. has developed a Reduced Pressure Electron Beam (RPEB) welding process which allows EB welding in a reduced pressure environment ({le} 1 mbar). As it is a single-pass welding technique, use of RPEB welding could (1) achieve a comparable or better materials performance and (2) lead to potential cost savings in the waste package manufacturing as compared to GTAW. Results will be presented on the initial evaluation of the RPEB welding on a Ni-Cr-Mo alloy (a candidate alloy for the Yucca Mountain waste packages) in the areas of (a) design and manufacturing simplifications, (b) material performance and (c) weld reliability.

This paper discusses issues with the limited precision of hardware-based volume visualization. We will describe the compositing OVER operator and how fixed-point arithmetic affects it. We propose two techniques to improve the precision of fixed-point compositing and the accuracy of hardware-based volume visualization. The first technique is to perform dithering of color and alpha values. The second technique we call exponent-factoring, and captures significantly more numeric resolution than dithering, but can only produce monochromatic images.

We present results from 14 nights of observations of Titan in 1996-1998 using near-infrared (centered at 2.1 microns) speckle imaging at the 10-meter W.M. Keck Telescope. The observations have a spatial resolution of 0.06 arcseconds. We detect bright clouds on three days in October 1998, with a brightness about 0.5% of the brightness of Titan. Using a 16-stream radiative transfer model (DISORT) to model the central equatorial longitude of each image, we construct a suite of surface albedo models parameterized by the optical depth of Titan's hydrocarbon haze layer. From this we conclude that Titan's equatorial surface albedo has plausible values in the range of 0-0.20. Titan's minimum haze optical depth cannot be constrained from this modeling, but an upper limit of 0.3 at this wavelength range is found. More accurate determination of Titan's surface albedo and haze optical depth, especially at higher latitudes, will require a model that fully considers the 3-dimensional nature of Titan's atmosphere.

This work investigates a control system for HCCI engines, where thermal energy from exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) and compression work in the supercharger are either recycled or rejected as needed. HCCI engine operation is analyzed with a detailed chemical kinetics code, HCT (Hydrodynamics, Chemistry and Transport), that has been extensively modified for application to engines. HCT is linked to an optimizer that determines the operating conditions that result in maximum brake thermal efficiency, while meeting the restrictions of low NO{sub x} and peak cylinder pressure. The results show the values of the operating conditions that yield optimum efficiency as a function of torque and RPM. For zero torque (idle), the optimizer determines operating conditions that result in minimum fuel consumption. The optimizer is also used for determining the maximum torque that can be obtained within the operating restrictions of NO{sub x} and peak cylinder pressure. The results show that a thermally controlled HCCI engine can successfully operate over a wide range of conditions at high efficiency and low emissions.

Multiresolution methods provide a means for representing data at multiple levels of detail. They are typically based on a hierarchical data organization scheme and update rules needed for data value computation. We use a data organization that is based on what we call n{radical}2 subdivision. The main advantage of subdivision, compared to quadtree (n = 2) or octree (n = 3) organizations, is that the number of vertices is only doubled in each subdivision step instead of multiplied by a factor of four or eight, respectively. To update data values we use n-variate B-spline wavelets, which yields better approximations for each level of detail. We develop a lifting scheme for n = 2 and n = 3 based on the n{radical}2-subdivision scheme. We obtain narrow masks that could also provide a basis for view-dependent visualization and adaptive refinement.

Two points in our recent article on Edward Teller's scientific life (Physics Today, August 2004, page 45) require correction. In our description of Teller's students, we incorrectly stated that Arthur Kantrowitz's thesis was on the generation of hypersonic molecular beams. Actually, his thesis was on heat capacity lags in gas dynamics. Kantrowitz's invention of high intensity sources for molecular beams came later in his career. Maurice Goldhaber has emphasized that the situation with respect to possible nuclear resonances in ({gamma},n) or ({gamma},fission) reactions was quite unclear at the time of George C. Baldwin and G. Stanley Klaiber's papers on these reactions. This was because the rapid rise of their yield to a prominent peak with increasing energy, followed by a slower fall off was then thought to have been due to the competition between the rapidly rising density of nuclear states and the eventual domination of other reaction channels at higher energies. Goldhaber realized, however, that there could be an analogy between a possible collective nuclear resonance and the restrahl resonance (essentially the transverse optical phonon mode) in polar crystals. Goldhaber sought out Teller because of his paper with Russell Lyddane and Robert Sachs, relating the restrahl frequency to the …

Linear stability analysis of a two-cylinder approximation to gun injection--one cylinder to represent the confined spheromak and another to represent the gun--is shown to yield equilibria in which tearing modes exist simultaneously at the magnetic axis and at the geometric (gun) axis, as might be required to sustain helicity injection. These equilibria are MHD stable at the two axes but may have localized MHD instability at an interior minimum in the q profile. The theory predicts two tearing thresholds with successively deeper q minima as the gun current is increased at constant bias flux.

Recent measurements of the infrared (IR) absorption coefficient of CH and CD capsules differ significantly from earlier estimated values from thin flat samples. The optimum wavelength for IR enhanced layering of DT and D{sub 2} ice layers inside of a NIF scale hohlraum depends on the relative ice and capsule absorption coefficients. This update of a previous memo shows the maximum ice heating with IR as a function of ice and capsule absorption instead of at discrete wavelengths. Also discussed is the leverage of other parameters, such as the IR absorption of the hohlraum wall and thermal conductivities of the support rods and exchange gas. The most likely capsule and ice absorption values limit the IR heating to between 2-7 Q{sub DT}. We find most leverage of the IR heating comes from increasing the ice to capsule absorption ratio. As before, this is the conduction only limit to IR, with convection potentially playing a large role.

We report on the subject of temperature and/or pressure induced solid-solid phase transitions of energetic molecular crystals. Over the last three years we have applied experimental techniques that when used simultaneously provide insight into some of the complexities that govern reaction rate processes. After more than 55 years of study a global kinetics model describing the P-T phase space transition kinetics of such materials as HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine) is not only missing, but from a formal perspective is perhaps as many years away from completion. The essence of this report describes what material parameters affect first-order reaction rates of the CHNO moiety of molecular crystals and introduces the application of new experimental tools thus permitting quantifiable studies of important rate limiting mechanisms.

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A pair of superconducting interaction region quadrupole magnets for BEPCII was designed and fabricated at Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA. The cryogenic system for the IR magnets was designed at Harbin Institute of Technology, China. This paper provides the results of thermal fluid modeling for the magnet cryostat. The numerical analyses were carried out for two types of cooling methods, the subcooled liquid helium and the supercritical helium flow. The pressure and temperature changes in the cooling circuits are given.

Radiative corrections to the decay rate of n = 2 states of hydrogenic ions are calculated. The transitions considered are the M1 decay of the 2s state to the ground state and the E1(M2) decays of the 2p{sub 1/2} and 2p{sub 3/2} states to the ground state. The radiative corrections start in order {alpha}(Z{alpha}){sup 2}, but the method used sums all orders of Z{alpha}. The leading {alpha}(Z{alpha}){sup 2} correction for the E1 decays is calculated and compared with the exact result. The extension of the calculational method to parity nonconserving transitions in neutral atoms is discussed.

Large simulation codes can take on the order of hours to compile from scratch. In Kull, which uses generic programming techniques, a significant portion of the time is spent generating and compiling template instantiations. I would like to investigate methods that would decrease the overall compilation time for large codes. These would be methods which could then be applied, hopefully, as standard practice to any large code. Success is measured by the overall decrease in wall clock time a developer spends waiting for an executable. Analyzing the make system of a slow to build project can benefit all developers on the project. Taking the time to analyze the number of processors used over the life of the build and restructuring the system to maximize the parallelization can significantly reduce build times. Distributing the build across multiple machines with the same configuration can increase the number of available processors for building and can help evenly balance the load. Becoming familiar with compiler options can have its benefits as well. The time improvements of the sum can be significant. Initial compilation time for Kull on OSF1 was {approx} 3 hours. Final time on OSF1 after completion is 16 minutes. Initial compilation time …

The U.S. Department of Energy's Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) construction project was completed at BNL in 1999, with the first data-taking runs in the summer of 2000. Since then the early measurements at RHIC have yielded a wealth of data, from four independent detectors, each with its international collaboration of scientists: BRAHMS, PHENIX, PHOBOS, and STAR [1]. For the first time, collisions of heavy nuclei have been carried out at colliding-beam energies that have previously been accessible only for high-energy physics experiments with collisions of ''elementary'' particles such as protons and electrons. It is at these high energies that the predictions of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the fundamental theory that describes the role of quarks and gluons in nuclear matter, come into play, and new phenomena are sought that may illuminate our view of the basic structure of matter on the sub-atomic scale, with important implications for the origins of matter on the cosmic scale. The RHIC experiments have recorded data from collisions of gold nuclei at the highest energies ever achieved in man-made particle accelerators. These collisions, of which hundreds of millions have now been examined, result in final states of unprecedented complexity, with thousands of produced particles radiating …

A four-chamber piston pump is powered by decomposed 85% hydrogen peroxide. The performance envelope of the evolving 400 gram pump has been expanded to 172 cc/s water flow at discharge pressures near 5 MPa. A gas generator cycle system using the pump has been tested under similar conditions of pressure and flow. The powerhead gas is derived from a small fraction of the pumped hydrogen peroxide, and the system starts from tank pressures as low as 0.2 MPa. The effects of steam condensation on performance have been evaluated.

Measuring the violence of a thermal explosion of a cased explosive is important for evaluating safety issues of explosive devices in fires. A sympathetic initiation scenario was studied here where a 9.0 cm diameter by 2.5 cm thick disc of PBX 9501 donor charge encased in a 304 stainless steel assembly was heated on top and bottom flat surfaces until it thermally exploded. The initial heating rate at the metal/explosive interface was 5 C per minute until it reaches 170 C; then this temperature is held for 35 minutes to allow temperature equilibration to within a few degrees throughout the explosive. The heating resumed at a rate of 1 C per minute until the PBX 9501 donor thermally exploded. A PBX 9501 acceptor charge with carbon resistor and manganin foil pressure gauges inserted at various depths was placed at a 10 cm standoff distance from the donor charge's top steel cover plate. Piezoelectric arrival time pins were placed in front of the acceptor surface to measure the velocity and shape of the impacting plate. The stainless steel cover plate of the donor charge had a nominal velocity of 0.55 {+-} 0.04 mm/{micro}s upon impact and was non-symmetrically warped. The impact …