Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Path Integral Monte Carlo Simulations Of Positronium Annihilation: From Micropores To Mesopores, Amy Lisa Graves, P. A. Sterne

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

Path integral Monte Carlo (PIMC) can reproduce the results of simple analytical calculations in which a single quantum particle is used to represent positronium within an idealized spherical pore. Our calculations improve on this approach by explicitly treating the positronium as a two-particle e(-), e(+) system interacting via the Coulomb interaction. We study the lifetime and the internal contact density, kappa, which controls the self-annihilation behavior for positronium in model spherical pores as a function of temperature and pore size. We compare the results with both PIMC and analytical calculations for a single-particle model.

A Geologic Record Of Competing Sulfate-Depletion Processes Within Continental-Rise Sediments Overlying Methane Gas Hydrates Of The Blake Ridge Region (Continental Rise, Offshore Southeastern United States), Walter S. Borowski, Kathryn G. Takacs, Matthew K. Thompson

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Geochemical signals locked within sediments and sedimentary rocks record geochemical processes through geologic time. Sulfide minerals (elemental sulfur, iron monosulfides, and pyrite) are formed within marine sediments as dissolved sulfide is produced by various geochemical processes, which include sulfate reduction and anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO). The concentration and sulfur isotopic composition (d³⁴S) of sulfide minerals gives clues about the relative importance of these competing geochemical processes, and consequently about sedimentation rates and upward methane transport.

Marine sediments of the Blake Ridge(offshore South Carolina and Georgia) contain sulfide minerals that point to AMO as an important diagenetic process both …

A Preliminary Comparison Of The Sulfur Geochemistry Between Two Gas Hydrate Terranes, Michael D. Spicer, Walter S. Borowski

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

We compare the authigenic sulfide mineral geochemistry of two, different gas hydrate terranes: the accretionary wedge of the Cascadia continental margin (offshore Oregon) and the passive margin of the Blake Ridge region (offshore southeastern US). We expect diagenetic processes effecting sulfide mineral formation (elemental sulfur, iron monosulfides, and pyrite) within these sediments to respond to differing geologic conditions at each setting. In both settings, methane diffuses upward from gas hydrates to the methane-sulfate interface (SMI), where it is consumed by reaction with sulfate during anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO). This microbially-mediated, diagenetic process produces an interstitial environment conducive to authigenic sulfide …

Combined Radiation Detection Methods For Assay Of Higher Actinides In Separations Processes: Quarterly Progress Report: January-March 2006, Denis Beller, Warnick Kernan

Safeguards Campaign (TRP)

Monitoring of higher actinides (HA--includes neptunium, plutonium, americium, and curium) during the separation of used nuclear fuel has been identified as a critical research area in the U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI). Recycling of used fuel by chemically separating it into uranium, fission products, and HA would be the first step in this new fuel cycle. The Material Protection, Accounting, and Control (MPAC) are necessary for materials accounting, criticality monitoring, and assurance of proliferation resistance. The objective of the MPAC project is to develop technology to detect and accurately measure quantities of higher actinides in used fuel assemblies and …

Neutron Multiplicity Measurements For The Afci Program Final Quarterly Progress Report January-March 2006, Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

This project was developed to test a Russian-built Neutron Multiplicity Detector System (NMDS) for measuring neutrons generated in a central target by a variety of accelerators. To assist in experiment design and evaluation, we use the most advanced high-energy radiation transport code, MCNPX, to model experiments. Experimental results are compared to computational predictions and discrepancies are investigated. Initial plans were to conduct experiments using a 70-MeV proton cyclotron at the Crocker Nuclear Laboratory at the University of California at Davis and/or a 20 to 40 MeV electron linac (linear accelerator) at the Idaho Accelerator Center (IAC) at Idaho State University …

Reactor Physics Studies For The Afci Race Project: Reactor-Accelerator Coupling Experiments Project: Quarterly Progress Report January-March 2006, Denis Beller

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

In the RACE Project of the U.S. Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative (AFCI), a series of accelerator driven subcritical systems (ADSS) experiments is being conducted at the Idaho State University’s Idaho Accelerator Center (ISU-IAC) and at the University of Texas (UT) at Austin, and will be conducted at the Texas A&M University. In these experiments electron accelerators are used to induce bremsstrahlung photon-neutron reactions in heavy-metal targets; this source of 10¹⁰ to 10¹³ n/s initiates fission reactions in the subcritical systems. These systems include a compact, transportable assembly at ISU and TRIGA reactors at UT-Austin and Texas A&M. These …

The Electrochemical Separation Of Curium And Americium: Quaterly Report January - March, 2006, David W. Hatchett, Kenneth Czerwinski

Separations Campaign (TRP)

This research report outlines the current status and progress associated with the electrochemical separation of Curium and Americium. For two and a half years, research has been actively performed on this project, and is currently on schedule for the proposed timelines.

Progress:

• The electrochemical characterization of Ce and Eu complexed with EDTA, NTA, and Citrate has been completed.

• Synthesis of the polymer substrate and the chelating ligand is underway. Approximately 50 grams of disulfide has been produced to produce the chelating thiol group required for the last set of studies.

• Gold substrates have been prepared to perform …

Long-Term Mechanical Behavior Of Yucca Mountain Tuff And Its Variability, Jaak J.K. Daemen, Lumin Ma, Guohua Zhao

Publications (YM)

The study of the long term mechanical behavior of Yucca Mountain tuffs is important for several reasons. Long term stability of excavations will affect accessibility (e.g. for inspection purposes), and retrievability. Long term instabilities may induce loading of drip shields and/or emplaced waste, thus affecting drip shield and/or waste package corrosion. Failure of excavations will affect airflow, may affect water flow, and may affect temperature distributions.

The long term mechanical behavior of “hard” rocks remains an elusive topic, loaded with uncertainties. A variety of approaches have been used to improve the understanding of this complex subject, but it is doubtful …

Dissolution, Reactor, And Environmental Behavior Of Zro2-Mgo Inert Fuel Matrix: Quarterly Report, January 2006 To March 2006, Kiel Steven Holliday, Thomas Hartmann, Kenneth Czerwinski

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

This project will examine inert matrix fuels containing ZrO₂ and MgO as the inert matrix, with the relative amount of MgO varied from 30% to 70% in ZrO₂. Reactor physics calculations will be used to examine suitable quantities of burnable poisons from the candidate elements Gd, Er, or Hf with reactor grade Pu providing the fissile component, with up to 10% of ²³⁹Pu. Ceramics will be synthesized and characterized based on the reactor physics results. The solubility of the fuel ceramics, in reactor conditions, reprocessing conditions, and repository conditions, will be investigated in a manner to …

Crystal Structure And Nano Structure Of Oxide-And Nitride Transmutation Fuel – Refinement Of Transmutation Fuel Processing For Surrogate And Radioactive Fuel Systems: Quarterly Report, January 2006 To March 2006, Chinthaka Silva

Fuels Campaign (TRP)

Transmutation-related research work at the National Laboratories, e.g. Los Alamos National Laboratory, is focused on mono-nitride ceramic fuel forms, and consists of closely coordinated “hot” actinide and “cold” inert and surrogate fuels work. Matrix and surrogate materials work involves three major components: (1) fuel matrix synthesis and fabrication, (2) fuel performance, and (3) fuel materials modeling. The synthesis and fabrication component supports basic material studies, as well as actinide fuel fabrication work through fuel fabrication process development.

This project, task 28, supports the TRP program by delivering structural data on surrogate and radioactive fuels. Crystal structure and nanostructures of the …

Training Opportunities Available To Ohio Lake Erie Basin Local Decision-Makers Regarding The Economic And Fiscal Benefits Of Coastal And Watershed Stewardship, Wendy A. Kellogg, Erica Matheny

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This paper presents new knowledge about the current status of training on the economic value of stewardship practices in the Ohio Lake Erie basin. Local decision-makers shape coastal and watershed conditions but often do not appreciate the economic, fiscal, and ecological benefits that could be gained from sound stewardship practices. This study investigated the information and training about economic benefits available in the Ohio Lake Erie basin. Training providers and technical assistance professionals helped identify key training needs and challenges to decision-maker awareness of benefits. We found relatively few organizations offering training that incorporate economic or fiscal benefits into their …

Learning Real-Time A* Path Planner For Unmanned Air Vehicle Target Sensing, Jason K. Howlett, Timothy W. Mclain, Michael A. Goodrich

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a path planner for sensing closely-spaced targets from a fixed-wing unmanned air vehicle (UAV) having a specified sensor footprint. The planner is based on the learning real-time A* (LRTA*) search algorithm and produces dynamically feasible paths that accomplish the sensing objectives in the shortest possible distance. A tree of candidate paths that span the area of interest is created by assembling primitive turn and straight sections of a specified step size in a sequential fashion from the starting position of the UAV. An LRTA* search of the tree produces feasible paths any time during its execution and …

A General Theory Of Almost Convex Functions, S J. Dilworth, Ralph Howard, James W. Roberts

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Scoping Summary Report: Development Of Lower Basin Shortage Guidelines And Coordinated Management Strategies For Lake Powell And Lake Mead, Particularly Under Low Reservoir Conditions, U.S. Department Of The Interior, Bureau Of Reclamation

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) acting on behalf of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior (Secretary) proposes to take action to adopt specific Colorado River Lower Basin shortage guidelines and coordinated reservoir management strategies to address operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead, particularly under low reservoir conditions. This proposed Action will provide a greater degree of certainty to all water users and managers in the Colorado River Basin by providing more detailed guidelines for the operation of Lake Powell and Lake Mead and by allowing water users in the Lower Basin to know when, and by how …

Summary Of Public Scoping Comments For The Oil Shale And Tar Sands Resources Leasing Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Argonne National Laboratory

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

Section 369(d)(1) of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58 (H.R. 6), enacted August 8, 2005, directs the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for a commercial leasing program for oil shale and tar sands (OSTS) resources on public lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming (see Figure 1). Through the Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resources Leasing PEIS, the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will evaluate decisions regarding which public lands will be open for leasing in the three-state area and under what constraints. The PEIS will …

Inital Starting Point Analysis For K-Means Clustering: A Case Study, Amy Apon, Frank Robinson, Denny Brewer, Larry Dowdy, Doug Hoffman, Baochuan Lu

Publications

Workload characterization is an important part of systems performance modeling. Clustering is a method used to find classes of jobs within workloads. K-Means is one of the most popular clustering algorithms. Initial starting point values are needed as input parameters when performing k-means clustering. This paper shows that the results of the running the k-means algorithm on the same workload will vary depending on the values chosen as initial starting points. Fourteen methods of composing initial starting point values are compared in a case study. The results indicate that a synthetic method, scrambled midpoints, is an effective starting point method …

Multiframe Shift Estimation, Stephen A. Bruckart

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop a fundamental framework for a new approach to multiframe translational shift estimation in image processing. This thesis sought to create a new multiframe shift estimator, to theoretically prove and experimentally test key properties of it, and to quantify its performance according to several metrics. The new estimator was modeled successfully and was proven to be an unbiased estimator under certain common image noise conditions. Furthermore its performance was shown to be superior to the cross correlation shift estimator, a robust estimator widely used in similar image processing cases, according to several criteria. …

Metamorphism As A Software Protection For Non-Malicious Code, Thomas E. Dube

Theses and Dissertations

Most organizations are aware that threats from trusted insiders pose a great risk to their organization and are very difficult to protect against. Auditing is recognized as an effective technique to detect malicious insider activities. However, current auditing methods are typically applied with a one-size-fits-all approach and may not be an appropriate mitigation strategy, especially towards insider threats. This research develops a 4-step methodology for designing a customized auditing template for a Microsoft Windows XP operating system. Two tailoring methods are presented which evaluate both by category and by configuration. Also developed are various metrics and weighting factors as a …

Radiative Electron Capture Into High- Z Few-Electron Ions: Alignment Of The Excited Ionic States, Andrey S. Surzhykov, Ulrich D. Jentschura, Th H. Stohlker, Stephan Fritzsche

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

We lay out a unified formalism for the description of radiative electron capture into excited states of heavy, few-electron ions and their subsequent decay, including a full account of many-electron effects and higher-order multipoles of the radiation field. In particular, the density-matrix theory is applied to explore the magnetic sublevel population of the residual ions, as described in terms of alignment parameters. For the electron capture into the initially hydrogenlike U⁹¹⁺ and lithiumlike U⁸⁹⁺ uranium projectiles, the alignment parameters are calculated, within the multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock approach, as a function of the collision energy and for different ionic states. …

The Simulation Of Off-Axis Laser Propagation Using Heleeos, Scott L. Belton

Theses and Dissertations

Emerging technology high energy laser (HEL) weapon systems create a myriad of new threats to safety as well as security. One of the primary causes of these concerns is off-axis laser propagation caused by ever-present particulate and molecular scattering medium in the atmosphere. The scatter from these aerosols and molecules can redirect some of the HEL's concentrated energy towards unintended targets such as the eyes of pilots, friendly fighters on the surface, or innocent bystanders. Of particular interest to the laser intelligence (LASINT) community is the possibility that off-axis irradiance from HEL weapon systems could be covertly measured with enough …

Spatially-Resolved Temperature Diagnostic For Supersonic Flow Using Cross-Beam Doppler-Limited Laser Saturation Spectroscopy, Grady T. Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

Optical techniques for measuring the temperature in three-dimensional supersonic reactive flows have typically depended on lineshape measurements using single-beam laser absorption spectroscopy. However, absorption over extended path lengths in flows with symmetric, turbulent eddies can lead to systematically high extracted temperatures due to Doppler shifts resulting from flow along the absorption path. To eliminate these problems, Cross-Beam Saturation Absorption Spectroscopy (CBSAS) and Cross-Beam Inter-Modulated Fluorescence (CBIMF) have been developed which utilize two crossed and nearly copropogating laser beams.to record the spectral signal of an I₂ ro-vibrational line in a small three-dimensional volume using a tunable CW dye laser. Temperature …

Selecting Energy Efficient Building Envelope Retrofits To Existing Department Of Defense Building Using Value Focused Thinking, David M. Pratt

Theses and Dissertations

The Department of Defense (DoD) has hundreds of thousands of facilities in its inventory, which consume billions of BTUSs of energy per year. Much of that energy is used to heat and cool the facility, and a great deal of this energy is lost through the building envelope. While new military construction works towards energy efficiency, the majority of DoD facilities were built over forty years ago with little regard to energy efficiency, and it is these facilities that have the greatest potential for energy efficient building envelope retrofits. There are hundreds of various new building envelope technologies available to …

Solutions Through Science: Reducing Damage Caused By Vultures

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Vultures play an important role in ecosystems by cleaning up animal carcasses, but vultures also cause problems in both rural and urban settings. In recent years, vulture populations have increased as these adaptable birds have adjusted to higher levels of human activity. As a result, the birds are coming into ever more conflict with people.

Vultures often damage residential and business property. Their droppings can kill trees and create unsanitary and unsafe working conditions at power plants, refineries, and communication towers. Their aggressiveness unsettles park users and homeowners. Vultures harass and kill livestock. In flight, they can be a danger …

Toward The Static Detection Of Deadlock In Java Software, Jose E. Fadul

Theses and Dissertations

Concurrency is the source of many real-world software reliability and security problems. Concurrency defects are difficult to detect because they defy conventional software testing techniques due to their non-local and non-deterministic nature. We focus on one important aspect of this problem: static detection of the possibility of deadlock - a situation in which two or more processes are prevented from continuing while each waits for resources to be freed by the continuation of the other. This thesis proposes a flow-insensitive interprocedural static analysis that detects the possibility that a program can deadlock at runtime. Our analysis proceeds in two steps. …

Measurement Of The Azimuthal Angle Distribution Of Leptons FromW Boson Decays As A Function Of The W Transverse Momentum In Pp̅ Collisions At √S = 1.8 Tev, Darin Acosta, Kenneth A. Bloom, Fermilab Collaboration

Kenneth Bloom Publications

We present the first measurement of the A₂ and A₃ angular coefficients of the W boson produced in proton-antiproton collisions. We study W → e ν_e and W → e ν_e candidate events produced in association with at least one jet at CDF, during Run Ia and Run Ib of the Tevatron at √s =1:8 TeV. The corresponding integrated luminosity was 110 pb^-1. The jet balances the transverse momentum of the W and introduces QCD effects in W boson production. The extraction of the angular coefficients is achieved through the direct measurement of the …

Expedition 302 Summary, Jan Backman, Kathryn Moran, Larry A. Mayer

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

The first scientific drilling expedition to the central Arctic Ocean was completed in September 2004. Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 302, Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX), recovered sediment cores to 428 meters below seafloor (mbsf) in water depths of ~1300 m, 250 km from the North Pole. Expedition 302’s destination was the Lomonosov Ridge, hypothesized to be a sliver of continental crust that broke away from the Eurasian plate at ~56 Ma. As the ridge moved northward and subsided, marine sedimentation occurred and continues to the present, resulting in what was anticipated from seismic data to be a continuous paleoceanographic record. …

Optimization Of A Multi-Echelon Repair System Via Generalized Pattern Search With Ranking And Selection: A Computational Study, Derek D. Tharaldson

Theses and Dissertations

With increasing developments in computer technology and available software, simulation is becoming a widely used tool to model, analyze, and improve a real world system or process. However, simulation in itself is not an optimization approach. Common optimization procedures require either an explicit mathematical formulation or numerous function evaluations at improving iterative points. Mathematical formulation is generally impossible for problems where simulation is relevant, which are characteristically the types of problems that arise in practical applications. Further complicating matters is the variability in the simulation response which can cause problems in iterative techniques using the simulation model as a function …

Flashlight: A Dynamic Detector Of Shared State, Race Conditions, And Locking Models In Concurrent Java Programs, Scott C. Hale

Theses and Dissertations

Concurrent Java programs are difficult to understand and implement correctly. This difficultly leads to code faults that are the source of many real-world reliability and security problems. Many factors contribute to concurrency faults in Java code; for example, programmers may not understand Java language semantics or, when using a Java library or framework, may not understand that their resulting program is concurrent. This thesis describes a dynamic analysis tool, named FlashLight, that detects shared state and possible race conditions within a program. FlashLight illuminates the concurrency within a program for programmers who are wholly or partially "in the dark" about …

Evolving Self-Organized Behavior For Homogeneous And Heterogeneous Uav Or Ucav Swarms, Ian C. Price

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation uses a self-organization (SO) approach to enable cooperative search and destruction of retaliating targets with swarms of homogeneous and heterogeneous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). To facilitate specific system design, a facilitating SO algebraic framework is created that emphasizes scalability, robustness, and flexibility. This framework is then used to implement a UAV behavior architecture relying upon rules governing formation and target interaction. Sets of applicable behaviors are created by weighted summation of the rules where different weights act as distinct behavior archetypes. Appropriate behavior archetypes are based upon sense information distilled from the environment and a simple perceptron mapping. …

A Real-Time Wireless Sensor Media Access Control (Mac) Protocol, Barry W. Park

Theses and Dissertations

Wireless sensor networks are rapidly becoming a platform for applications such as battlefield monitoring, intelligence gathering, environmental monitoring, and emergency response. Inherent in these applications is a priority and urgency of the information or messages. This means the messages must be delivered in a timely manner for them to be useful. This research assigns a message priority level and provides high-priority messages quicker access to the channel. Using MICA2 sensors and a modified Media Access Control (MAC) layer, real-time message End-to-End (ETE) delay was reduced by 50 percent. Coupled with this decrease in delay, these same real-time messages also had …