JUNO Conceptual Design Report

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is proposed to determine the neutrino mass hierarchy using an underground liquid scintillator detector. It is located 53 km away from both Yangjiang and Taishan Nuclear Power Plants in Guangdong, China. The experimental hall, spanning more than 50 meters, is under a granite mountain of over 700 m overburden. Within six years of running, the detection of reactor antineutrinos can resolve the neutrino mass hierarchy at a confidence level of 3-4$\sigma$, and determine neutrino oscillation parameters $\sin^2\theta_{12}$, $\Delta m^2_{21}$, and $|\Delta m^2_{ee}|$ to an accuracy of better than 1%. The JUNO detector can be also used to study terrestrial and extra-terrestrial neutrinos and new physics beyond the Standard Model. The central detector contains 20,000 tons liquid scintillator with an acrylic sphere of 35 m in diameter. $\sim$17,000 508-mm diameter PMTs with high quantum efficiency provide $\sim$75% optical coverage. The current choice of the liquid scintillator is: linear alkyl benzene (LAB) as the solvent, plus PPO as the scintillation fluor and a wavelength-shifter (Bis-MSB). The number of detected photoelectrons per MeV is larger than 1,100 and the energy resolution is expected to be 3% at 1 MeV. The calibration system is designed to deploy multiple sources to cover the entire energy range of reactor antineutrinos, and to achieve a full-volume position coverage inside the detector. The veto system is used for muon detection, muon induced background study and reduction. It consists of a Water Cherenkov detector and a Top Tracker system. The readout system, the detector control system and the offline system insure efficient and stable data acquisition and processing.Comment: 328 pages, 211 figure

America in Space - the First Decade. Linking Man and Spacecraft

NASA methods, systems, equipment, and facilities for information transfer between spacecraft and eart

Advanced photonic and electronic systems - WILGA 2017

WILGA annual symposium on advanced photonic and electronic systems has been organized by young scientist for young scientists since two decades. It traditionally gathers more than 350 young researchers and their tutors. Ph.D students and graduates present their recent achievements during well attended oral sessions. Wilga is a very good digest of Ph.D. works carried out at technical universities in electronics and photonics, as well as information sciences throughout Poland and some neighboring countries. Publishing patronage over Wilga keep Elektronika technical journal by SEP, IJET by PAN and Proceedings of SPIE. The latter world editorial series publishes annually more than 200 papers from Wilga. Wilga 2017 was the XL edition of this meeting. The following topical tracks were distinguished: photonics, electronics, information technologies and system research. The article is a digest of some chosen works presented during Wilga 2017 symposium. WILGA 2017 works were published in Proc. SPIE vol.10445

The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment: Exploring Fundamental Symmetries of the Universe

The preponderance of matter over antimatter in the early Universe, the dynamics of the supernova bursts that produced the heavy elements necessary for life and whether protons eventually decay --- these mysteries at the forefront of particle physics and astrophysics are key to understanding the early evolution of our Universe, its current state and its eventual fate. The Long-Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE) represents an extensively developed plan for a world-class experiment dedicated to addressing these questions. LBNE is conceived around three central components: (1) a new, high-intensity neutrino source generated from a megawatt-class proton accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, (2) a near neutrino detector just downstream of the source, and (3) a massive liquid argon time-projection chamber deployed as a far detector deep underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility. This facility, located at the site of the former Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, is approximately 1,300 km from the neutrino source at Fermilab -- a distance (baseline) that delivers optimal sensitivity to neutrino charge-parity symmetry violation and mass ordering effects. This ambitious yet cost-effective design incorporates scalability and flexibility and can accommodate a variety of upgrades and contributions. With its exceptional combination of experimental configuration, technical capabilities, and potential for transformative discoveries, LBNE promises to be a vital facility for the field of particle physics worldwide, providing physicists from around the globe with opportunities to collaborate in a twenty to thirty year program of exciting science. In this document we provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess.Comment: Major update of previous version. This is the reference document for LBNE science program and current status. Chapters 1, 3, and 9 provide a comprehensive overview of LBNE's scientific objectives, its place in the landscape of neutrino physics worldwide, the technologies it will incorporate and the capabilities it will possess. 288 pages, 116 figure

Study on Energy Accumulation and Dissipation Associated with Coal Burst

Coal burst, which refers to the brittle failure of coal, has been a serious hazard for underground coal mining, particularly at greater depth. Massive energy accumulated in coal could be dissipated almost instantaneously in the form of kinetic energy when the loading stress exceeding the ultimate strength of coal. This thesis qualitatively and quantitatively examines the energy accumulation and dissipation process associated with coal burst through a comprehensive research program of literature review, theoretical analysis and experimental studies. The energy accumulation sources, dissipation forms and its influencing factors of coal burst are reviewed based on the energy conservation law and the static-dynamic loads superposition theory. The burst energy is provided by static loads including gravitational and abutment stress, and dynamic loads including fault slipping and roof weighting. Studies indicated that the main driving energy source of coal burst occurred in Australian coal mines resulted from elastic energy storage that has been accumulated during the loading process of coal

Maximizing the value of information from high-frequency downhole dynamics data

Downhole drilling dynamics are poorly understood. Neither models nor experiments seem capable of fully describing the movements and forces of the drillstring during drilling. Downhole measurements could potentially hold the key to those missing insights, however data is not yet used to its full potential. This work addresses the barriers to obtaining value from downhole dynamics data and offers solutions to overcome them. A novel kinematic model was developed that fully accounts for sensor position and measurement design. It supports the hypothesis that lateral vibrations cause high-frequency fluctuations of tangential accelerations. Hence, against currently prevailing scientific opinion, “high-frequency torsional oscillations” (HFTO) are not actually a torsional phenomenon, but the consequence of a lateral vibration. A downhole measurement tool under off-center rotation captures particular high-frequency data patterns that can be considered a sensor artifact. If ignored, these artifacts can impact the calculations of RPM and other derived measurements from downhole data. An extensive set of downhole data was analyzed to improve downhole dynamics data collection schemes for detecting drilling dysfunctions. For each prominent type of dysfunction, minimum data collection frequencies are specified. Such guidelines assist in collecting downhole data at sampling rates that are high enough to draw meaningful conclusions, but low enough to not flood limited available bandwidth and memory capacities. Even though a sensor is set up to measure only a single parameter along a single axis, it captures a variety of downhole events, which may lead to misinterpretations. These events can still be differentiated based on their typical frequency ranges. It is further shown how ‘noisy’ frequency ranges can be detected and selectively removed by combining multiple downhole measurements. A lack of transparency and inefficient processes around sensor design, data collection, processing, and transfer cause misinterpretation and under-utilization of drilling downhole data. A review of tool design and sensor identifies sources of bad data quality. Eventually, defined data quality requirements will offer sustainable sensor data improvement. To work with downhole data generated under current circumstances, data processing techniques are developed and demonstrated. Algorithms that combine data, drilling processes, and physics automatically correct sensor errors. Further, a machine learning approach for automated vibration classification based on patterns is developed. A standardized structure to transfer downhole data from the service provider to the end user is suggested. The structure does not only define how the data should be shared, but also what additional data (metadata) is required. Specifications of such informational requirements improve transparency and comparability of measurements. Therefore, the proposed data format is a prerequisite for automated drilling data analysis.Petroleum and Geosystems Engineerin