Nuclear Commons^™

Nucleon Decay, Atmospheric Neutrinos, And Cosmic Rays At Dune: September 2016 Progress Report, E. Church, D. Dwyer, H. Gallagher, M. Goodman, R. Hatcher, J. Hewes, A. Higuera, V. A. Kudryavtsev, L. Lin, N. Martinez, H. Méndez, J. L. Raaf, M. Robinson, G. Santucci, M. Sorel, A. Tonazzo, T. K. Warburton, K. Wood, T. Yang

Progress Reports

We report on the progress made within the Nucleon Decay, Atmospheric Neutrinos, and Cosmogenics Physics Working Groups since the DUNE CDR, and in particular in the period September 2015 { September 2016. This note is also intended to provide input for the September 2016 Preliminary Report of the Far Detector Task Force. We report jointly for the three WGs since they are tightly coupled. They make use of the same DUNE Far Detector for their physics studies, they share the same energy regime, and they are all characterized by random, non-beam triggers. Finally, cosmogenic events are a background for atmospheric neutrino ...

The Rise Of Nuclear Energy In Arab States: Future Impacts, Brittany Broder

Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The signing of the Iranian nuclear deal during the Summer of 2015 highlighted the threat of nuclear proliferation from foreign powers, but largely overlooked the rise of nuclear energy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). With growing energy demands and heightened environmental regulations, countries in this region are turning to nuclear power to fuel their next generation. However, the rise of nuclear power in the MENA region holds serious implications for the future of the area’s energy, economic, and social reforms that have largely gone unexplored as a whole thus far. The purpose of this thesis is ...

Actinium-225 Production Via Proton Irradiation Of Thorium-232, Justin Reed Griswold

Doctoral Dissertations

High energy proton spallation reactions on natural thorium metal targets have been utilized to produce multi mCi [milliCurie] quantities of Actinium-225. Theoretical cross sections for actinium and thorium isotopes as well as for a select number of the fission products produced in these reactions were generated by the Monte Carlo radiation transport code PHITS to simulate the experimental data obtained from sixteen irradiations of thorium metal targets with 25-210 µA [microampere] proton beams ranging in energies from 77 to 192 MeV. Irradiations were conducted at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), while target dissolution and processing ...

A Generalized Method For Fissile Material Characterization Using Short-Lived Fission Product Gamma Spectroscopy, Justin Richard Knowles

Doctoral Dissertations

Characterizing the fissile content of nuclear materials is of particular interest to the safeguards and nuclear forensics communities. Short-lived fission product gamma spectroscopy offers a significant reduction in analysis time and detection limits when compared to traditional non-destructive assay measurements. Through this work, a fully generalizable method that can be applied to variations in fissile compositions and neutron spectra was developed for the modeling and measurement of short-lived fission product gamma-rays. This method uses a 238-group neutron flux that was characterized for two pneumatic tube positions in the High Flux Isotope Reactor using flux monitor irradiations. This flux spectrum was ...

Hyperpolarized 3he Magnetic Resonance Imaging Phenotypes Of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Damien Pike

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death in the world. Identifying clinically relevant COPD phenotypes has the potential to reduce the global burden of COPD by helping to alleviate symptoms, slow disease progression and prevent exacerbation by stratifying patient cohorts and forming targeted treatment plans. In this regard, quantitative pulmonary imaging with hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and thoracic computed tomography (CT) have emerged as ways to identify and measure biomarkers of lung structure and function. 3He MRI may be used as a tool to probe both functional and structural properties of the lung ...

The Beam-Helicity Asymmetry For Two Pseudoscalar Mesons In Photoproduction And A Partial Wave Analysis For Excited Hyperons, Rafael A. Badui

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The first-time measurement of the angular dependence of the beam-helicity asymmetry for $\gamma p \rightarrow pK^{+}K^{-}$ is shown and compared to $\gamma p \rightarrow p\pi^{+}\pi^{-}$. The data obtained were from the CLAS g12 experiment at Jefferson Lab. The experiment utilized a beam of circularly polarized photons with energies between 1.1 and 5.4 GeV incident on an unpolarized liquid hydrogen target, which produced an unprecedented number of strange hadrons in photoproduction. The production mechanism for strange hadrons is not well understood. The beam-helicity asymmetry is a polarization observable that provides information on interfering production mechanisms in ...

Suppression Of High Transverse Momentum Charged Hadrons In Au+Au Collisions At 200 Gev Nucleon-Nucleon Center Of Mass Energy, Jason B. Bryslawskyj

All Graduate Works by Year: Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The dynamical properties of quark gluon plasma are studied in heavy ion collisions. Gold ions are accelerated with the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory and collided at energies up to 200 GeV per nucleon. Collision products and their properties are detected and measured with the PHENIX detector. At these energies the colliding ions may form a thermalized distribution of quarks and gluons called the Quark-Gluon Plasma. The suppression of single hadrons still provides one of the strongest constraints on energy loss mechanisms in the Quark-Gluon Plasma. Presently, neutral pions provide the best measurement at RHIC of ...

Studies On The Daq System Of Grinch Detector, Peibo An

College of William & Mary Undergraduate Honors Theses

The A1 n experiment at Jefferson Lab Hall A is designed to precisely measure the virtual photon asymmetry of neutrons in the Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) region using Hall A polarized 3He target and BigBite spectrometers. Even though both electrons and pions will be scattered, the BigBite spectrometer is designed to measure electrons only. Thus the Gas Ring Imaging Cherenkov (GRINCH) detector is vital, given its capacity to reject pions. The standard Fastbus Data Acquisition (DAQ) system used at Hall A lacks efficiency facing the increasing beam intensity. Thus it is impossible to generate directly a trigger for ...

Quantifying The Sensitivity Of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis To Isospin Breaking, Matthew Ramin Hamedani Heffernan

College of William & Mary Undergraduate Honors Theses

We perform a quantitative study of the sensitivity of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) to the two sources of isospin breaking in the Standard Model (SM), the splitting between the down and up quark masses, delta_q = 1/2 (m_d - m_u) and the electromagnetic coupling constant, alpha_fs. To very good approximation, the neutron-proton mass splitting, delta m = m_n - m_p, depends linearly upon these two quantities. In turn, BBN is very sensitive to m. A simultaneous study of both of these sources of isospin violation had not yet been performed.

Quantifying the simultaneous sensitivity of BBN to delta_q and alpha_fs. is interesting as ...

Fundamental Physics With Cold Neutron Beams, Kyle Brandon Grammer

Doctoral Dissertations

The neutron exhibits rich physics both as a tool for studying materials, particle and nuclear physics, as well as the object of experimental study. The neutron lifetime is an important input to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis models and is currently known only to approximately 0.3\% with the most precise measurements from two different experimental techniques in disagreement by more than 3$\sigma$ [sigma]. Parity violation has been the subject of study since its discovery in 1957. Parity violation experiments provide access to studying the hadronic weak interaction, which is otherwise suppressed by several orders of magnitude below that of the ...

Neutron-~Gamma Discrimination In Elpasolite Scintillator Detector, Brittany Morgan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Existing nuclear stockpiles and weapons-making capabilities imperil the global community. Current nonproliferation efforts involve the research and development of newer, more efficient detection systems that can be deployed for the interdiction and monitoring of special nuclear materials (SNM). Spontaneous and induced fission events in SNM produce neutrons and gamma rays, which can be detected and analyzed, in particular, using scintillator detectors. Various electronic data acquisition systems and data analysis methods have been employed to record and characterize neutron and photon signatures. The goal of this thesis is to develop a new method of discrimination between neutrons and photons in the ...

Mcnp6 Computational-~Based Sensitivity Propagation Analysis Of Continuous Neutron Cross-~Sections Using The Godiva (Hmf-~001) And The Godiver (Hmf-~004) Benchmark Criticality Study Cases, Lawrence James Lakeotes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There has been a reduction in funding for theoretical and applied research for improving the nation's database of continuous neutron cross-sections at BNL-NNDC. From 1940 through the late 1980s, research and applied development produced volumes of reliable neutron continuous cross-sections for many isotopes. Currently, the cross-section work has been mainly computational. The focus of this research is mainly centered on the requirements for improving thermal cross-sections to support reactor operations and fuel storage. The research efforts will also helpfully aid in the fast fission spectrum in order to support fast reactor designs for improving safety analysis and feedback coefficients ...

Control System Requirements For A Nuclear Thermal Propulsion System, Adam Hasse, Michael Smith, Bradley Pershke, Andrew Adams, Stephen GilliAm

University of Tennessee Honors Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

An Old And New Start To Russian—United States Nuclear Arms Control Agreements, Samantha Pitz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Russian Federation and the United States of America signed on April 8, 2010 the New START nuclear arms control treaty. The New START treaty replaced the lackluster SORT treaty in order to establish a nuclear agreement that would put new limits on numbers of weapons and delivery vehicles while also establishing an innovative framework for transparency and data transfer to allow confidence building between two countries that have not always seen eye-to-eye. Through academic analysis, treaty text, and four formal interviews, the context and trajectory of Russian-United States’ arms control treaties has formed to portray New START as a ...

Hard Qcd Processes In The Nuclear Medium, Adam Freese

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The environment inside the atomic nucleus is one of the most fascinating arenas for the study of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). The strongly-interacting nature of the nuclear medium affects the nature of both QCD processes and the quark-gluon structure of hadrons, allowing several unique aspects of the strong nuclear force to be investigated in reactions involving nuclear targets. The research presented in this dissertation explores two aspects of nuclear QCD: firstly, the partonic structure of the nucleus itself; and secondly, the use of the nucleus as a micro-laboratory in which QCD processes can be studied.

The partonic structure of the nucleus ...

The Gluex Start Counter & Beam Asymmetry $\Sigma$ In Single $\Pi^{0}$ Photoproduction, Eric J. Pooser

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The GlueX experiment aims to study meson photoproduction while utilizing the coherent bremsstrahlung technique to produce a 9 GeV linearly polarized photon beam incident on a liquid $\mathrm{H_{2}}$ target. A Start Counter detector was fabricated to properly identify the accelerator electron beam buckets and to provide accurate timing information. The Start Counter detector was designed to operate at photon intensities of up to $\mathrm{10^{8}\gamma/s}$ in the coherent peak and provides a timing resolution $\mathrm{\sim 300\ ps}$ so as to provide successful identification of the electron beam buckets to within 99\% accuracy. Furthermore, the ...

Archive - A Data Management Program, James Devilbiss, C. Steven Whisnant, Yasmeen Shorish

Yasmeen Shorish

To meet funding agency requirements, a portable data management solution is presented for small research groups. The database created is simple, searchable, robust, and can reside across multiple hard drives. Employing a standard metadata schema for all data, the database ensures a high level of standardization, findability, and organization. The software is written in Perl, runs on UNIX, and presents a web-based user interface. It uses a fast, portable log-in scheme, making it easy to export to other locations. As research continues to move towards more open data sharing and reproducibility, this database solution is agile enough to accommodate external ...

Elastic Compton Scattering From Deuterium Near 100 Mev, Khayrullo Shoniyozov

Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy

Tagged photons from 81 to 116 MeV were used to measure elastic Compton scat- tering cross sections from deuterium and carbon targets at the MAX-lab facility in Lund. Scattered gamma rays were detected in three very large NaI(Tl) crystals with sufficient energy resolution to isolate deuterium elastic yields at scattering angles of 60°, 90°, 120° and 150°. Calculations indicate that back-angle Compton scattering on deuterium in this energy range is sensitive to the electric and magnetic polarizabilities of the nucleon. Results of this research were obtained with improved beam tagging system conditions compared to previous elastic Compton scattering experiments ...

Magnetic Field Non-Uniformity Challenges In Neutron Electric Dipole Moment Experiments, Nima Nouri

Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy

A new neutron Electric Dipole Moment (nEDM) experiment was proposed to be commissioned at the Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The underlying theme of this experiment (first conceived by Golub and Lamoreaux in 1994) is the search for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. The discovery of a non-zero nEDM would be of revolutionary importance to physics, with the discovery of such providing for evidence for new-beyond-the-Standard-Model physics required for a resolution to the unresolved puzzle of why the universe is dominated by matter, as ...

Measurements Of Photon Beam Intensity At The High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source (Higs) Facility For Astrophysically Relevant Photodisintegration Reaction Cross Section, Evan G. Meekins

Senior Honors Projects

How nuclear reactions in stars and stellar explosions such as supernovae have forged the elements out of hydrogen and helium leftover from the Big Bang is a longstanding, still timely research topic in nuclear astrophysics. Although there is a fairly complete understanding of the production of the chemical elements and their isotopes up to iron by nuclear fusion in stars, important details concerning the production of the elements from iron to uranium remain puzzling. Current knowledge is that the nucleosynthesis beyond iron proceeds mainly via neutron capture reactions and subsequent electron decays to stability. However, some 35 proton-rich stable isotopes ...