Oxidation and formation of deposit precursors in hydrocarbon fuels

The oxidation of two jet turbine fuels and some pure hydrocarbons was studied at 130 C with and without the presence of small amounts of N-methyl pyrrole (NMP) or indene. Tendency to form solid-deposit precursors was studied by measuring soluble gum formation as well as dimer and trimer formation using field ionization mass spectrometry. Pure n-dodecane oxidized fastest and gave the smallest amount of procursors. An unstable fuel oil oxidized much slower but formed large amounts of precursors. Stable Jet A fuel oxidized slowest and gave little precursors. Indene either retarded or accelerated the oxidation of n-dodecane, depending on its concentration, but always caused more gum formation. The NMP greatly retarded n-dodecane oxidation but accelerated Jet A oxidation and greatly increased the latter's gum formation. In general, the additive reacted faster and formed most of the gum. Results are interpreted in terms of classical cooxidation theory. The effect of oxygen pressure on gum formation is also reported

Prospects for Higgs Searches via VBF at the LHC with the ATLAS Detector

We report on the potential for the discovery of a Standard Model Higgs boson with the vector boson fusion mechanism in the mass range 115 with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Feasibility studies at hadron level followed by a fast detector simulation have been performed for H\to W^{(*)}W^{(*)}\to l^+l^-\sla{p_T}, $H\to\gamma\gamma$ and $H\to ZZ\to l^+l^-q\bar{q}$. The results obtained show a large discovery potential in the range 115. Results obtained with multivariate techniques are reported for a number of channels.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, contributed to 2003 Les Houches Workshop on Physics at TeV Colliders. Incorporated comments from ATLAS referee

A comparison of ground-based and space flight data: Atomic oxygen reactions with boron nitride and silicon nitride

The effects of atomic oxygen on boron nitride (BN) and silicon nitride (Si3N4) have been studied in low Earth orbit (LEO) flight experiments and in a ground-based simulation facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Both the in-flight and ground-based experiments employed the materials coated over thin (approx 250 Angstrom) silver films whose electrical resistance was measured in situ to detect penetration of atomic oxygen through the BN and Si3N4 materials. In the presence of atomic oxygen, silver oxidizes to form silver oxide, which has a much higher electrical resistance than pure silver. Permeation of atomic oxygen through BN, as indicated by an increase in the electrical resistance of the silver underneath, was observed in both the in-flight and ground-based experiments. In contrast, no permeation of atomic oxygen through Si3N4 was observed in either the in-flight or ground-based experiments. The ground-based results show good qualitative correlation with the LEO flight results, thus validating the simulation fidelity of the ground-based facility in terms of reproducing LEO flight results

Chemistry of fuel deposits and sediments and their predursors

The mechanism of solid deposit formation on hot engine parts from turbine fuels is investigated. Deposit formation is associated with oxidation of the hydrocarbon fuel. Therefore, oxidation rates and soluble gum formation were measured for several jet turbine fuels and pure hydrocarbon mixtures. Experiments were performed at 130 C using thermal initiation and at 100 C using ditertiary butyl peroxide as a chemical initiator. Correlation of the data shows that the ratio of rate of oxidation to rate of gum formation for a single fuel is not much affected by experimental conditions, even though there are differences in the abilities of different hydrocarbons to initiate and continue the oxidation. This indicates a close association of gum formation with the oxidation process. Oxidations of n-dodecane, tetralin and the more unstable jet fuels are autocatalytic, while those of 2-ethylnaphthalene and a stable jet fuel are self-retarding. However, the ratio of oxidation rate to gum formation rate appear to be nearly constant for each substrate. The effect of oxygen pressure on gum and oxidation formation was also studied. Dependence of gum formation on the concentration of initiator at 100 C is discussed and problems for future study are suggested

Entanglement of remote atomic qubits

We report observations of entanglement of two remote atomic qubits, achieved by generating an entangled state of an atomic qubit and a single photon at Site A, transmitting the photon to Site B in an adjacent laboratory through an optical fiber, and converting the photon into an atomic qubit. Entanglement of the two remote atomic qubits is inferred by performing, locally, quantum state transfer of each of the atomic qubits onto a photonic qubit and subsequent measurement of polarization correlations in violation of the Bell inequality |S| <2. We experimentally determine S =2.16 +/- 0.03. Entanglement of two remote atomic qubits, each qubit consisting of two independent spin wave excitations, and reversible, coherent transfer of entanglement between matter and light, represent important advances in quantum information science.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Quantum interference of electromagnetic fields from remote quantum memories

We observe quantum, Hong-Ou-Mandel, interference of fields produced by two remote atomic memories. High-visibility interference is obtained by utilizing the finite atomic memory time in four-photon delayed coincidence measurements. Interference of fields from remote atomic memories is a crucial element in protocols for scalable generation of multi-node remote qubit entanglement.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Influence of surface passivation on ultrafast carrier dynamics and terahertz radiation generation in GaAs

The carrier dynamics of photoexcited electrons in the vicinity of the surface of (NH4)2S-passivated GaAs were studied via terahertz (THz) emission spectroscopy and optical-pump THz-probe spectroscopy. THz emission spectroscopy measurements, coupled with Monte Carlo simulations of THz emission, revealed that the surface electric field of GaAs reverses after passivation. The conductivity of photoexcited electrons was determined via optical-pump THz-probe spectroscopy, and was found to double after passivation. These experiments demonstrate that passivation significantly reduces the surface state density and surface recombination velocity of GaAs. Finally, we have demonstrated that passivation leads to an enhancement in the power radiated by photoconductive switch THz emitters, thereby showing the important influence of surface chemistry on the performance of ultrafast THz photonic devices.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Applied Physics Letter

Centrality, system size and energy dependences of charged-particle pseudo-rapidity distribution

Utilizing the three-fireball picture within the quark combination model, we study systematically the charged particle pseudorapidity distributions in both Au+Au and Cu+Cu collision systems as a function of collision centrality and energy, $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=$ 19.6, 62.4, 130 and 200 GeV, in full pseudorapidity range. We find that: (i)the contribution from leading particles to $dN_{ch}/d\eta$ distributions increases with the decrease of the collision centrality and energy respectively; (ii)the number of the leading particles is almost independent of the collision energy, but it does depend on the nucleon participants $N_{part}$; (iii)if Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at the same collision energy are selected to have the same $N_{part}$, the resulting of charged particle $dN/d\eta$ distributions are nearly identical, both in the mid-rapidity particle density and the width of the distribution. This is true for both 62.4 GeV and 200 GeV data. (iv)the limiting fragmentation phenomenon is reproduced. (iiv) we predict the total multiplicity and pseudorapidity distribution for the charged particles in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}= 5.5$ TeV. Finally, we give a qualitative analysis of the $N_{ch}/$ and $dN_{ch}/d\eta/|_{\eta\approx0}$ as function of $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ and $N_{part}$ from RHIC to LHC.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure