Bypassing the structural bottleneck in the ultrafast melting of electronic order

The emergent properties of quantum materials, such as symmetry-broken phases and associated spectral gaps, can be effectively manipulated by ultrashort photon pulses. Impulsive optical excitation generally results in a complex non-equilibrium electron and lattice dynamics that involves multiple processes on distinct timescales, and a common conception is that for times shorter than about 100 fs the gap in the electronic spectrum is not seriously affected by lattice vibrations. Here, we directly monitor the photo-induced collapse of the spectral gap in a canonical charge-density-wave material, blue bronze Rb0.3MoO3. We find that ultra-fast (about 60 fs) vibrational disordering due to efficient hot-electron energy dissipation quenches the gap significantly faster than the typical structural bottleneck time corresponding to one half-cycle oscillation (about 315 fs) of the coherent charge-density-wave amplitude mode. This result not only demonstrates the importance of incoherent lattice motion in the photo-induced quenching of electronic order, but also resolves the perennial debate about the nature of the spectral gap in a coupled electron-lattice system

Standard Model Higgs Physics at a 4 TeV Upgraded Tevatron

We compute an array of Standard Model Higgs boson (\hsm) signals and backgrounds for a possible upgrade of the Tevatron to E_{\rm cm}=4\tev. Taking \mt\geq 140\gev, and assuming a total accumulated luminosity of L=30\fbi, we find that a Standard Model Higgs boson with \mhsm\lsim 110\gev could almost certainly be detected using the \wpm\hsm\rta l\nu b\anti b mode. A Higgs boson with mass between \sim 120\gev and \sim 140\gev or above \sim 230-250\gev almost certainly would not be seen. A Higgs boson with \mhsm\sim 150\gev or 200\lsim\mhsm\lsim 230-250\gev has a decent chance of being detected in the ZZ\rta 4l mode. There would also be some possibility of discovering the \hsm in the WW\rta l\nu jj mode for 150\lsim\mhsm\lsim 200\gev. Finally, hints of an event excess in the WW\rta ll \nu\nu mode due to the \hsm might emerge for 140\lsim\mhsm\lsim 180\gev. Given the difficult nature of the Higgs boson signals for \mhsm values beyond the reach of LEP-200, and the discontinuous \mhsm range that could potentially be probed, justification of an upgrade of the Tevatron to 4\tev on the basis of its potential for Standard Model Higgs boson discovery would seem inappropriate.Comment: 21 pages; requires phyzzx.tex and tables.tex; full postscript file including embedded figures available via anonymous ftp at ucdhep.ucdavis.edu as [anonymous.gunion]4tev.ps, preprint UCD-94-1

The importance of tau leptons for supersymmetry searches at the Tevatron

Supersymmetry is perhaps most effectively probed at the Tevatron through production and decay of weak gauginos. Most of the analyses of weak gaugino observables require electrons or muons in the final state. However, it is possible that the gauginos will decay primarily to tau leptons, thus complicating the search for supersymmetry. The motivating reasons for high tau multiplicity final states are discussed in three approaches to supersymmetry model building: minimal supergravity, gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking, and more minimal supersymmetry. The concept of ``e/mu/tau candidate'' is introduced, and an observable with three e/mu/tau candidates is defined in analog to the trilepton observable. The maximum mass reach for supersymmetry is then estimated when gaugino decays to tau leptons have full branching fraction.Comment: 9 pages, latex, 2 figures. Presented at the D0 New Phenomena Workshop, UC Davis, 26-28 March 199

Service Learning Manual for Coupeville High School

This project examined the need for increased service learning in schools as well as current practices being used by educators who employ service learning as a regular part of curriculum. The review of literature found that service learning, when conducted properly, has shown benefits to students, educators, and communities. In addition, there were five main components of an effective service learning program: preparation, action, reflection, presentation, and recognition. Included is a service learning manual, specifically designed for Coupeville High School, focused on the five pa1is of a service learning program. The overall purpose of the manual was to ensure that Coupeville\u27s service learning program could maintain sustainability, relevance, and rigor

SPIN-MIMS simplifying the SPIN-MAS instrumentation for online measurement of 15N-abundances of ammonium, nitrite and nitrate in aqueous solutions

Common methods for measuring selectively the 15N abundances in individual N-species such as NH4+, NO2- and NO3- in samples with multiple N-species are laborious and time consuming. The SPIN-MAS technique (Stange et al. 2007) offers an automated, rapid and selective determination of 15N abundances in NH4+, NO2- and NO3- in aqueous samples. During a SPIN-MAS measurement one of three different reaction solutions is mixed with the aqueous sample in a Sample Preparation unit for Inorganic N-species (SPIN). The reaction solution is chosen in dependence on the N-species of interest. The gaseous reaction products (N2 or NO) are then conducted to a quadrupole mass spectrometer (MAS) in a helium stream. This measurement technique is not commonly used due to its complex instrumentation. The instrumentation can be significantly simplified by the use of a membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS). The presented SPIN-MIMS approach relies on the use of a reaction capillary in which the sample containing the N-species of interest is mixed with the corresponding reaction solution. The mixture of reaction solution and sample is pumped from the reaction capillary directly to the membrane inlet of the mass spectrometer. The reaction products (N2 or NO) formed during the reaction of NH4+, NO2- and NO3- with the reaction solutions are passed through the gas-permeable membrane of the inlet directly into the ion source of the mass spectrometer. 15N standards with different at% 15N (NH4+, NO2- and NO3- respectively in dist. Water) were used to assess the performance of the system. Overall, SPIN-MIMS measurements showed a good agreement between measured and expected 15N abundances (range 0.36 – 10 at% 15N deviations: <0.5 at% 15N for NH4+-, <0.23 for NO2-- and <0.15 at% 15N for NO3-- standards)