Progress towards materials science above 1000 GPa (10 Mbar) on the NIF laser

Solid state dynamics experiments at extreme pressures, P > 1000 GPa (10 Mbar), and ultrahigh strain rates (106–108 s−1) are being developed for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser. These experiments will open up exploration of new regimes of materials science at an order of magnitude higher pressures than have been possible to date. Such extreme, solid state conditions can be accessed with a ramped pressure drive. The experimental, computational, and theoretical techniques are being developed and tested on the Omega laser. Constitutive models for solid state strength under these conditions are tested by comparing simulations with experiments measuring perturbation growth from the Rayleigh–Taylor instability in solid state samples of vanadium. Radiography techniques using synchronized bursts of x-rays have been developed to diagnose this perturbation growth. Velocity interferometer measurements (VISAR) establish the high pressure conditions generated by the ramped drive. Experiments on Omega measuring dynamic material strength at peak pressures of ~1 Mbar will be discussed. The time resolved observation of foil cracking and void formation show the need for tamped samples and a planar drive

Performance of the ALEPH detector at LEP

The performance of the ALEPH detector at the LEP e+e− collider is reviewed. The accuracy of the tracking detectors to measure the impact parameter and momentum of charged tracks is specified. Calorimeters are used to measure photons and neutral hadrons, and the accuracy obtained in energy and angle is given. An essential property of the detector is its ability to identify particles; the performance in identification of electrons, muons, neutrinos (from missing energy), charged hadrons, π0's and V0's is described