No abstract available

[en] An interferometer described in the Boston, 1992, meeting of the Beacon Satellite Symposium has been in full operation for over a year now. It consists of four autonomous stations; three are in a triangle 70 km on a side and one is in the center. The stations receive the VHF beacons from two geosynchronous satellites, GOES-2 and ATS-3. The phases of the beacons are tracked at each station by referring them to an extremely stable rubidium oscillator. The studies of the two satellites are virtually separate experiments. The received phase of the beacon is retarded by the increased Total-Electron-Content of the dense regions of waves in the ionosphere. By comparing the phase history at four spatially separated stations, the authors can determine the two-dimensional propagation vector of the waves. This array is optimal for wavelengths of 70--300 km (periods of 300--3,000 seconds). Since the measurement is of the phase of the signal rather than the difference between the O-mode and X-mode phases, and since the beacons are in the VHF rather than in the L-band of GPS beacons, the array is very sensitive. It has a noise level of 10¹³ electrons/m², or 10^-4 of the normal daytime TEC. This has been verified by operating two stations in the same location, so that they saw the same ionosphere. The first interesting results from a year's study is that the authors do not see the same TID's when looking at the two satellites. One conclusion they draw is that they do not see evidence of ionospheric winds

[en] The authors report observations of perturbations in the ionosphere total electron content (TEC) caused by acoustic waves propagating from a large chemical explosion in souther New Mexico at the earth's surface. Fluctuations in TEC were measured by two arrays of receivers that monitor the phase of the 136 MHz beacons on two geostationary satellites. One array, located in northern New Mexico, observed fluctuations in the region where acoustic waves from the blast impinged directly on the ionosphere, while the second array, in Texas, was located to observe fluctuations caused by ducted acoustic waves. The TEC disturbance at the New Mexico array had an amplitude of about 2 x 10¹⁴ m^-2 (more than 10 times the array noise level), while the amplitude at the Texas array, at a range of 900 km, was only a few times the instrumental noise level. Noise background analysis shows that the probability that a comparable or larger response at the New Mexico array might have been caused by a background noise event was less than 1%. The corresponding probability for the Texas array was 3%

No abstract available

[en] The results of Monte Carlo radiation shielding study performed with the MARS15 code for the vertical test facility at the A0 north cave enclosure at Fermilab are presented and discussed. The vertical test facility at the A0 north cave is planned to be used for testing 1.3 GHz single-cell superconducting RF cavities with accelerating length of 0.115 m. The operations will be focused on high accelerating gradients--up to 50 MV/m. In such a case the facility can be a strong radiation source (1). When performing a radiation shielding design for the facility one has to take into account gammas generated due to interactions of accelerated electrons with cavity walls and surroundings (for example, range of 3.7-MeV electrons in niobium is approximately 3.1 mm while the thickness of the niobium walls of such RF cavities is about 2.8 mm). The electrons are usually the result of contamination in the cavity. The radiation shielding study was performed with the MARS15 Monte Carlo code (2). A realistic model of the source term has been used that describes spatial, energy and angular distributions of the field-emitted electrons inside the RF cavities. The results of the calculations are normalized using the existing experimental data on measured dose rate in the vicinity of such RF cavities

[en] Although the dominant fields in accelerator electromagnets are proportional to the excitation current, precise control of accelerator parameters requires a detailed understanding of the fields in Main Injector magnets including contribution from eddy currents, magnet saturation, and hysteresis. Operation for decelerating beam makes such considerations particularly significant. Analysis of magnet measurements and design of control system software is presented. Field saturation and its effects on low field hysteresis are accounted for in specifying the field ramps for dipole, quadrupole and sextupole magnets. Some simplifying assumptions are made which are accepted as limitations on the required ramp sequences. Specifications are provided for relating desired field ramps to required current ramps for the momentum, tune, and chromaticity control

[en] Characterizing percolation patterns in unsaturated fractured rock has posed a greater challenge to modeling investigations than comparable saturated zone studies, because of the heterogeneous nature of unsaturated media and the great number of variables impacting unsaturated flow. This paper presents an integrated modeling methodology for quantitatively characterizing percolation patterns in the unsaturated zone of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, a proposed underground repository site for storing high-level radioactive waste. The modeling approach integrates a wide variety of moisture, pneumatic, thermal, and isotopic geochemical field data into a comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model for modeling analyses. It takes into account the coupled processes of fluid and heat flow and chemical isotopic transport in Yucca Mountain's highly heterogeneous, unsaturated fractured tuffs. Modeling results are examined against different types of field-measured data and then used to evaluate different hydrogeological conceptualizations and their results of flow patterns in the unsaturated zone. In particular, this model provides a much clearer understanding of percolation patterns and flow behavior through the unsaturated zone, both crucial issues in assessing repository performance. The integrated approach for quantifying Yucca Mountain's flow system is demonstrated to provide a practical modeling tool for characterizing flow and transport processes in complex subsurface systems

[en] Nb/Cu technology for superconducting cavities has proven to be over the years a viable alternative to bulk niobium. Energetic vacuum deposition is a very unique alternative method to grow niobium thin film on copper. Single crystal growth of niobium on sapphire substrate has been achieved as well as good surface morphology of niobium on small copper samples. The design of a cavity deposition system is in development. This paper presents the exploratory studies of the influence of the deposition energy on the Nb thin film properties. Several possible venues to achieve Nb/Cu cavity deposition with this technique are also discussed along with the design of the cavity deposition setup under development

[en] Although cavity optical inspection systems provide a huge amount of qualitative information about surface features, the amount of quantitative topographic informa-tion is limited. Here, we report the use of silicone-based RTV for replicas and moldings that provide increased details of topographic data associated with the optical cavity images. Profilometry scans of the molds yield mi-crometer-scale details associated with equator weld struc-tures and weld pits. This confirms at least two different types of pits, one which is bowl-shaped, and one which has a small peak at the bottom. The contour information extracted from profilometry can be used to evaluate mechanisms by which pits and other features limit RF performance. We present calculations based on a con-formal transformation of the profiles above. We also show that application of the replica followed by rinsing does not adversely affect the cavity performance.

[en] In extended technicolor (ETC) theories, while the sideways ETC boson exchange decreases the width Γ_b≡Γ(Z→b bar b), the flavor-diagonal ETC boson exchange tends to increase it, and the ETC-corrected R_b≡Γ_b/Γ_had value could agree with recent measurements. The τ asymmetry parameter may also increase in a way consistent with experiment. The weak-interaction ρ parameter receives a correction from diagonal ETC exchange which is just barely acceptable by experiments