COMMENT ON THE KAMIOKANDE ATMOSPHERIC NEUTRINO DEFICIT

I describe an attempt to understand the significance of the atmospheric neutrino deficit observed by the Kamiokande neutrino detector. In particular, I am concerned with the statistical significance quoted for the zenith-angle dependence of the deficit, which has been cited as evidence for neutrino flavor oscillations free of systematic uncertainties.Comment: 2pp. LATEX format. No figures. Postscript available at ftp://fnald.fnal.gov/usr$root39/saltzberg/nu.p

Ross Ice Shelf in situ radio-frequency ice attenuation

We have measured the in situ average electric field attenuation length for radio-frequency signals broadcast vertically through the Ross Ice Shelf. We chose a location, Moore Embayment, south of Minna Bluff, known for its high reflectivity at the ice-sea interface. We confirmed specular reflection and used the return pulses to measure the average attenuation length from 75-1250 MHz over the round-trip distance of 1155 m. We find the average electric field attenuation length to vary from 500 m at 75 MHz to 300 m at 1250 MHz, with an experimental uncertainty of 55 to 15 m. We discuss the implications for neutrino telescopes that use the radio technique and include the Ross Ice Shelf as part of their sensitive volume.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, Fig. 7 updated and minor text changes made since the published versio

Alternative Detection Methods for Highest Energy Neutrinos

Several experimental techniques are currently under development, to measure the expected tiny fluxes of highest energy neutrinos above 10**18 eV. Projects in different stages of realisation are discussed here, which are based on optical and radio as well as acoustic detectors. For the detection of neutrino events in this energy range a combination of different detector concepts in one experiment seems to be most promising.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures, to be published in Nuclear Physics B (Proceedings Supplement): Proceedings of the XXIst International Conference on Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, Paris, June 14-19, 200

Evaluation of Giga-bit Ethernet Instrumentation for SalSA Electronics Readout (GEISER)

An instrumentation prototype for acquiring high-speed transient data from an array of high bandwidth antennas is presented. Multi-kilometer cable runs complicate acquisition of such large bandwidth radio signals from an extensive antenna array. Solutions using analog fiber optic links are being explored, though are very expensive. We propose an inexpensive solution that allows for individual operation of each antenna element, operating at potentially high local self-trigger rates. Digitized data packets are transmitted to the surface via commercially available Giga-bit Ethernet hardware. Events are then reconstructed on a computer farm by sorting the received packets using standard networking gear, eliminating the need for custom, very high-speed trigger hardware. Such a system is completely scalable and leverages the hugh capital investment made by the telecommunications industry. Test results from a demonstration prototype are presented.Comment: 8 pages, to be submitted to NIM

Tempting the miracle : sacred theatre, or exploring Suzuki/Viewpoints and composition in directing John Pielmeier's Agnes of God : an auto/ethnographic memoir

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on June 2, 2011).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. M. Heather Carver.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2011."May 2011"In December of 2008, I directed John Pielmeier's Agnes of God as part of the University of Missouri-Columbia's academic year season. I took this opportunity to seize the moment and, through intense actor training and an auteur directorial approach, develop a performative manifesto that sought no less than the revitalization of the live theatrical event within the cultural economy. The production asked, and attempted to answer the following: What is the sacred?; What is its relationship to theatre and performance?, Can it be conjured in theatrical time and space?, If so, how?, and finally: What is the experience that sacred theatre can deliver to performers and spectators alike? For my Agnes of God collaborators and me, this involved a full-scale "theatreing of the sacred," an extra-ordinary event tempted - through tenacity, diligence, and a belief in the miraculous - via Tadashi Suzuki's Method of Actor Training and Anne Bogart's Viewpoints training and Composition method of performance-making. This dissertation, conceived as a piece of performative auto/ethnographic writing, explores the accidents and unpredictabilities that made the production process so wonder-full and, in endeavoring to evoke what it names, so tempts the reader's active, subjective and vulnerable participation.Includes bibliographical reference