Upper limits for the photoproduction cross section for the phi(--)(1860) pentaquark state off the deuteron

We searched for the phi(--)(1860) pentaquark in the photoproduction process off the deuteron in the Xi(-)pi(-)-decay channel using CLAS. The invariant-mass spectrum of the Xi(-)pi(-) system does not indicate any statistically significant enhancement near the reported mass M = 1.860 GeV. The statistical analysis of the sideband-subtracted mass spectrum yields a 90%-confidence-level upper limit of 0.7 nb for the photoproduction cross section of phi(--)(1860) with a consecutive decay into Xi(-)pi(-) in the photon-energy range 4.5 GeV \u3c E-gamma \u3c 5.5 GeV

Outgassing tests on materials used in the DIII-D magnetic fusion tokamak

In order to achieve high performance plasma discharges in the DIII-D magnetic fusion tokamak, impurity levels must be carefully controlled. Since first wall materials can desorb volatile impurities during these discharges, it is important to characterize and control the outgassing of these materials. An outgassing chamber was built to measure the outgassing properties of various materials used in the DIII-D vessel. The results of pump-down tests performed on ATJ graphite, thin Grafoil {reg_sign} gaskets, and MgO coaxial cables will be presented. In addition to pumpdown tests it was desired to study the behavior of the materials at temperatures up to 400 C, which is the maximum temperature to which the DIII-D vessel is baked. The station was modified to include independent heating control of the sample and a simple load-lock chamber

Energy efficiency parametric design tool in the framework of holistic ship design optimization

Recent International Maritime Organization (IMO) decisions with respect to measures to reduce the emissions from maritime greenhouse gases (GHGs) suggest that the collaboration of all major stakeholders of shipbuilding and ship operations is required to address this complex techno-economical and highly political problem efficiently. This calls eventually for the development of proper design, operational knowledge, and assessment tools for the energy-efficient design and operation of ships, as suggested by the Second IMO GHG Study (2009). This type of coordination of the efforts of many maritime stakeholders, with often conflicting professional interests but ultimately commonly aiming at optimal ship design and operation solutions, has been addressed within a methodology developed in the EU-funded Logistics-Based (LOGBASED) Design Project (2004–2007). Based on the knowledge base developed within this project, a new parametric design software tool (PDT) has been developed by the National Technical University of Athens, Ship Design Laboratory (NTUA-SDL), for implementing an energy efficiency design and management procedure. The PDT is an integral part of an earlier developed holistic ship design optimization approach by NTUA-SDL that addresses the multi-objective ship design optimization problem. It provides Pareto-optimum solutions and a complete mapping of the design space in a comprehensive way for the final assessment and decision by all the involved stakeholders. The application of the tool to the design of a large oil tanker and alternatively to container ships is elaborated in the presented paper

Glow discharge initiation with electron gun assist

Helium glow discharge conditioning is used before every discharge in the D3-D Tokamak to desorb hydrogen and low Z impurities from the graphite and Inconel plasma facing surfaces. However high gas pressure is required to initiate each glow discharge session and this requires frequent cycling of valves to protect pressure sensitive devices. To alleviate this mechanical fatigue an electron gun assisted glow system (EAG) is being installed on the D3-D vessel to lower the initiation pressure. Through the injection of electrons the initiation pressure of the helium glow discharge has been lowered by a factor of 70, bringing the initiation pressure within a factor of 2 of the minimum sustaining pressure of the glow discharge. This might also make possible pulsed glow conditioning which would allow a lower average pressure during glow conditioning reducing the heat load on proposed cryogenic pumping panels. Experimental results of the electron assist on He glow initiation and a scaling model for the electron gun assisted glow will be presented. The electron gun can also be used as a diagnostic. Without a glow discharge, the electron gun has been pulsed into the wall and desorbed gas measured by a Residual Gas Analyzer. We are attempting to correlate the desorbed gas with recycling or vessel cleanliness

Improvements to the Cryogenic Control System on Diii-D

OAK-B135 The cryogenic facility that is part of the DIII-D tokamak system supplies liquid nitrogen and liquid helium to the superconducting magnets used for electron cyclotron heating, the D{sub 2} pellet injection system, cryopumps in the DIII-D vessel, and cryopanels in the neutral beam injection system. The liquid helium is liquefied on site using a Sulzer liquefier that has a 150 l/h liquefaction rate. Control of the cryogenic facility at DIII-D was initially accomplished through the use of three different programmable logic controllers (PLCs). Recently, two of those three PLCs, a Sattcon PLC controlling the Sulzer liquefier and a Westinghouse PLC, were removed and all their control logic was merged into the remaining PLC, a Siemens T1555. This replacement was originally undertaken because the removed PLCs were obsolete and unsupported. However, there have been additional benefits from the replacement. The replacement of the RS-232 serial links between the graphical user interface and the PLCs with a high speed Ethernet link allows for real-time display and historical trending of nearly all the cryosystem's data. this has greatly increased the ability to troubleshoot problems with the system, and has permitted optimization of the cryogenic system's performance because of the increased system integration. To move the control logic of the Sattcon control loops into the T1555, an extensive modification of the basic PID control was required. These modifications allow for better control of the control loops and are now being incorporated in other control loops in the system

Characterization of wall conditions in DIII-D

Wall conditioning in DIII-D is one of the most important factors in achieving reproducible high confinement discharges. For example, the very high confinement mode (VH-mode) was only discovered after boronization, a CVD technique to deposit a thin boron film over the entire surface of the tokamak. In order to evaluate wall conditions and provide a data base to correlate these wall conditions with tokamak discharge performance, a series of nominally identical reference VH-mode discharges (1.6 MA, 2.1 T, double-null diverted) were taken at various times during a series of experimental campaigns with evolving wall conditions. These reference discharges have allowed a quantitative determination of how the wall conditions have evolved. For instance, core carbon and oxygen levels in the VH-mode phase remains at historically low levels during the 1995 run year and there was also a steady decrease in the oxygen levels at plasma initiation during this period. The authors discuss the long term changes in low Z impurities and the effect of wall conditioning techniques such as boronization and baking on these impurities. In addition, the evolution of the deuterium recycling rates will be discussed

The HPS electromagnetic calorimeter

The Heavy Photon Search experiment (HPS) is searching for a new gauge boson, the so-called “heavy photon.” Through its kinetic mixing with the Standard Model photon, this particle could decay into an electron-positron pair. It would then be detectable as a narrow peak in the invariant mass spectrum of such pairs, or, depending on its lifetime, by a decay downstream of the production target. The HPS experiment is installed in Hall-B of Jefferson Lab. This article presents the design and performance of one of the two detectors of the experiment, the electromagnetic calorimeter, during the runs performed in 2015–2016. The calorimeter's main purpose is to provide a fast trigger and reduce the copious background from electromagnetic processes through matching with a tracking detector. The detector is a homogeneous calorimeter, made of 442 lead-tungstate (PbWO4) scintillating crystals, each read out by an avalanche photodiode coupled to a custom trans-impedance amplifier

Evidence for the Onset of Color Transparency in ρ0 Electroproduction off Nuclei

We have measured the nuclear transparency of the incoherent diffractive A( e , e ′ ρ0 ) process in 12C and 56Fe targets relative to 2H using a 5 GeV electron beam. The nuclear transparency, the ratio of the produced ρ0 ʼs on a nucleus relative to deuterium, which is sensitive to ρA interaction, was studied as function of the coherence length (lc), a lifetime of the hadronic fluctuation of the virtual photon, and the four-momentum transfer squared (Q2). While the transparency for both 12C and 56Fe showed no lc dependence, a significant Q2 dependence was measured, which is consistent with calculations that included the color transparency effects

Measurement of the Partial Cross Sections s(TT), s(LT) and [s(T)+epsilon*s(L)] of the p(e,e' pi+)n Reaction in the Delta(1232) Resonance

We report new precision p(e,e' pi+})n measurements in the Delta(1232) resonance at Q2 = 0.127(GeV/c)2 obtained at the MIT-Bates Out-Of-Plane scattering facility. These are the lowest, but non-zero, Q2 measurements in the pi+ channel. The data offer new tests of the theoretical calculations, particularly of the background amplitude contributions. The chiral effective field theory and Sato-Lee model calculations are not in agreement with this experiment

Measurements of the Generalized Electric and Magnetic Polarizabilities of the Proton at Low Q2 Using the VCS Reaction

The mean square polarizability radii of the proton have been measured for the first time in a virtual Compton scattering experiment performed at the MIT-Bates out-of-plane scattering facility. Response functions and polarizabilities obtained from a dispersion analysis of the data at Q2=0.06 GeV2/c2 are in agreement with O(p3) heavy baryon chiral perturbation theory. The data support the dominance of mesonic effects in the polarizabilities, and the increase of beta with increasing Q2 is evidence for the cancellation of long-range diamagnetism by short-range paramagnetism from the pion cloud