The Petrochemical Industrial Complex of the St. Charles Parish Industrial Corridor and its Influence on Urbanization Patterns

This thesis explores the impact that the petrochemical industry has had on the built environment of Norco, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Previous scholars have suggested that heavy industry in Norco consumes a majority of the Mississippi River\u27s natural levee, which is the most elevated and flood resistant land in the town. In order to test these observations, the author of this thesis has collected parcel-level land use data in Norco to determine the flood hazard and topographical characteristics of these various land uses. Spatial calculations, run using Geographic Information System software, have determined that heavy industrial land uses in Norco consume a vast majority of the Mississippi River\u27s natural levee

Status of CMS Commissioning

The status of the installation of the detectors for the CMS experiment and the global commissioning campaign by May 2008 are summarized

Measurement of the azimuthal angle distribution of leptons from\u3ci\u3eW\u3c/i\u3e boson decays as a function of the \u3ci\u3eW\u3c/i\u3e transverse momentum in \u3ci\u3epp̅\u3c/i\u3e collisions at √s = 1.8 TeV

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 νe and W → e νe 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 azimuthal angle of the charged lepton in the Collins-Soper rest-frame of the W boson. The angular coefficients are measured as a function of the transverse momentum of the W boson. The electron, muon, and combined results are in good agreement with the standard model prediction, up to order αs2 in QCD

Direct photon cross section with conversions at CDF

We present a measurement of the isolated direct photon cross section in pp̅ collisions at √s =1.8 TeV and |η|0→γγ and η→γγ events from the data we use a new background subtraction technique which takes advantage of the tracking information available in a photon conversion event. We find that the shape of the cross section as a function of photon pT is poorly described by next-to-leading-order QCD predictions, but agrees with previous CDF measurements

Measurement of the J/ Ψ meson and b-hadron production cross sections in \u3ci\u3epp̅\u3c/i\u3e collisions at √S =1960 GeV

We present a new measurement of the inclusive and differential production cross sections of J/ψ mesons and b hadrons in proton-antiproton collisions at √s=1960 GeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 39.7 pb-1l collected by the CDF run II detector. We find the integrated cross section for inclusive J/ψ production for all transverse momenta from 0 to 20 GeV/c in the rapidity range |y|-0.33+0.36 (syst) µb. We separate the fraction of J/ψ events from the decay of the long-lived b hadrons using the lifetime distribution in all events with pT(J/ψ)\u3e1.25 GeV/c. We find the total cross section for b hadrons, including both hadrons and antihadrons, decaying to J/ψ with transverse momenta greater than 1.25 GeV/c in the rapidity range |y (J/ψ)|-0.33+0.36 (syst) µb. Using a Monte Carlo simulation of the decay kinematics of b hadrons to all final states containing a J/ψ, we extract the first measurement of the total single b-hadron cross section down to zero transverse momentum at √s =1960 GeV. We find the total single b-hadron cross section integrated over all transverse momenta for b hadrons in the rapidity range |y|-2.3+2.5(syst) µb

Search for scalar leptoquark pairs decaying to νν̅ qq̅ in \u3ci\u3epp̅\u3c/i\u3e collisions at √s=1.96 TeV

We report on a search for the pair production of scalar leptoquarks (LQ), using 191 pb-1 of proton-antiproton collision data recorded by the CDF experiment during Run II of the Tevatron. The leptoquarks are sought via their decay into a neutrino and quark yielding missing transverse energy and several jets of large transverse energy. No evidence for LQ production is observed, and limits are set on sigma(pp̅→LQ L̅Q̅X→ νν̅qq̅X). Using a next-to-leading order theoretical prediction of the cross section for LQ production, we exclude first-generation LQ in the mass interval 78 to 117 GeV/c2 at the 95% confidence level for BR(LQ→νq)=100%

Measurement of the Cross Section for Prompt Diphoton Production in \u3ci\u3epp̅\u3c/i\u3e Collisions at √s =1.96 TeV

We report a measurement of the rate of prompt diphoton production in pp̅ collisions at √s =1.96 TeV using a data sample of 207 pb-1 collected with the upgraded Collider Detector at Fermilab. The background from nonprompt sources is determined using a statistical method based on differences in the electromagnetic showers. The cross section is measured as a function of the diphoton mass, the transverse momentum of the diphoton system, and the azimuthal angle between the two photons and is found to be consistent with perturbative QCD predictions

Search for radiative \u3ci\u3eb,\u3c/i\u3e-hadron decays in \u3ci\u3epp̅\u3c/i\u3e collisions at √s=1.8 TeV

We have performed a search for radiative b-hadron decays using events produced in pp̅ collisions at √s=1.8 TeV and collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The decays we considered were B̅d0→K*0(→K-π+) γ, B̅s0→φ(→K+K-) γ, Λb0→ Λ(→pπ-) γ, and their charge conjugates. Two independent methods to identify photons from such decays were employed. In the first method, the photon was detected in the electromagnetic calorimeter. In the second method, the photon was identified by an electron-positron pair produced through the external photon conversion before the tracking detector volume. By combining the two methods we obtain upper limits on the branching fractions for the Bd0, B̅s0, and Λb0 radiative decays which, at the 95% confidence level, are found to be B( B̅d0→K*0 γ)\u3c1.4×10-4, B(B̅s0→φ γ)\u3c1.6×10-4, and B( Λb0→ Λ γ)\u3c1.9×10-3