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Density fluctuations in high temperature fusion plasmas have been a central challenge to the development of fusion power. They are the cause of excessive anomalous losses from the plasma and are still not fully understood. A microwave scattering experiment is performed on the Saskatchewan Torus-Modified (STOR-M) tokamak for the first time to study these density fluctuations with wave-numbers in the range <b><i>k</i></b> = 5 /cm to 10 /cm. The fluctuations are found to follow <i>k¦Ñ_s</i> scaling consistent with ion drift waves; signatures of the electron temperature gradient (ETG) mode connected with anomalous electron losses are not detected. The fluctuation level in the STOR-M is measured to be <i>n_tilda/n</i> ¡Ö 0.1 at a mean perpendicular wave-number of <b><i>k</b>_perp</b></i> ¡Ö 7 /cm and is reported for the first time. The fluctuation levels are inversely proportional to the energy confinement time suggesting that these fluctuations are driving anomalous particle and energy losses from the STOR-M. The system is now fully operational and this work paves the way for future experiments with this equipment.

Density fluctuations in high temperature fusion plasmas have been a central challenge to the development of fusion power. They are the cause of excessive anomalous losses from the plasma and are still not fully understood. A microwave scattering experiment is performed on the Saskatchewan Torus-Modified (STOR-M) tokamak for the first time to study these density fluctuations with wave-numbers in the range <b><i>k</i></b> = 5 /cm to 10 /cm. The fluctuations are found to follow <i>k¦Ñ_s</i> scaling consistent with ion drift waves; signatures of the electron temperature gradient (ETG) mode connected with anomalous electron losses are not detected. The fluctuation level in the STOR-M is measured to be <i>n_tilda/n</i> ¡Ö 0.1 at a mean perpendicular wave-number of <b><i>k</b>_perp</b></i> ¡Ö 7 /cm and is reported for the first time. The fluctuation levels are inversely proportional to the energy confinement time suggesting that these fluctuations are driving anomalous particle and energy losses from the STOR-M. The system is now fully operational and this work paves the way for future experiments with this equipment.

abstract: The properties of materials depend heavily on the spatial distribution and connectivity of their constituent parts. This applies equally to materials such as diamond and glasses as it does to biomolecules that are the product of billions of years of evolution. In science, insight is often gained through simple models with characteristics that are the result of the few features that have purposely been retained. Common to all research within in this thesis is the use of network-based models to describe the properties of materials. This work begins with the description of a technique for decoupling boundary effects from intrinsic properties of nanomaterials that maps the atomic distribution of nanomaterials of diverse shape and size but common atomic geometry onto a universal curve. This is followed by an investigation of correlated density fluctuations in the large length scale limit in amorphous materials through the analysis of large continuous random network models. The difficulty of estimating this limit from finite models is overcome by the development of a technique that uses the variance in the number of atoms in finite subregions to perform the extrapolation to large length scales. The technique is applied to models of amorphous silicon and vitreous silica and compared with results from recent experiments. The latter part this work applies network-based models to biological systems. The first application models force-induced protein unfolding as crack propagation on a constraint network consisting of interactions such as hydrogen bonds that cross-link and stabilize a folded polypeptide chain. Unfolding pathways generated by the model are compared with molecular dynamics simulation and experiment for a diverse set of proteins, demonstrating that the model is able to capture not only native state behavior but also partially unfolded intermediates far from the native state. This study concludes with the extension of the latter model in the development of an efficient algorithm for predicting protein structure through the flexible fitting of atomic models to low-resolution cryo-electron microscopy data. By optimizing the fit to synthetic data through directed sampling and context-dependent constraint removal, predictions are made with accuracies within the expected variability of the native state. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Physics 2011

Apresentamos uma teoria para obtenção de seções de choque de espalhamento inelástico de luz via mecanismos de flutuações de densidade de carga e spin em um gás de elétrons não-uniforme formado por um sistema multi-camadas de GaAs periodicamente &#948-dopadas com concentração eletrônica relativamente alta. Os cálculos, onde estão inclusos efeitos da interação coulombiana entre os portadores, efeitos de correlação e troca dinâmicos e o acoplamento com fônons LO, foram efetuados em condições de extrema ressonância com o gap de split-off do GaAs. Em tais condições, a estrutura detalhada dos níveis de energia dos buracos de spin-split torna-se extremamente importante e é fundamental para o surgimento do espectro de partícula independente apresentado nos espectros polarizados. Este comportamento é revelado através da seção de choque de espalhamento que consiste da parte imaginária de uma função resposta constituída de um termo de caráter de partícula independente e outro de caráter coletivo. De forma a levar em conta o amortecimento das flutuações de densidade, propõe-se uma função espectral baseada na conservação da corrente local. Comparação com formas de linha experimentais disponíveis para o caso de espectros despolarizados mostram excelente concordância. No caso dos espectros polarizados a concordância se deu em nível semi-quantitativo, já que excitações de caráter coletivo obtidas experimentalmente apresentaram intensidade menor do que aquelas fornecidas pela teoria. Tal discrepância é atribuída a efeitos de desordem introduzidas no processo de dopagem e que implicam na quebra das regras de conservação de momentum. / We present a theory for the inelastic light scattering cross-section for the mechanisms of charge and spin-density fluctuations in the relatively high concentration of the non-uniform electron gas of a multi-layered &#948-doped GaAs system. The calculations are done in conditions of extreme resonance with the spin-split edge of GaAs and include the effects of Coulomb interactions between the carriers, dynamical exchange-correlations and coupling with LO phonons. In such conditions, the detailed energy level structure of the spin-split holes becomes extremely important and is responsible by the single-particle behavior presented in the polarized spectrum. This behavior revealed by the scattering cross-section derived from the imaginary part of a response function, consists of a term showing single particle character and another displaying collective character. To include the damping of the density fluctuations, a spectral function is proposed based on the foreknowledge that the local current must be conserved. Comparison with the available experimental line-shapes for the depolarized spectra show excellent agreement. In the case of polarized spectra the agreement was given in semi-quantitative terms as experimental collective excitations present less intensity than those calculated by the theory. Such difference is attributed to disorder effects produced during the doping process which results in break down of momentum conservation rules.

Apresentamos uma teoria para obtenção de seções de choque de espalhamento inelástico de luz via mecanismos de flutuações de densidade de carga e spin em um gás de elétrons não-uniforme formado por um sistema multi-camadas de GaAs periodicamente &#948-dopadas com concentração eletrônica relativamente alta. Os cálculos, onde estão inclusos efeitos da interação coulombiana entre os portadores, efeitos de correlação e troca dinâmicos e o acoplamento com fônons LO, foram efetuados em condições de extrema ressonância com o gap de split-off do GaAs. Em tais condições, a estrutura detalhada dos níveis de energia dos buracos de spin-split torna-se extremamente importante e é fundamental para o surgimento do espectro de partícula independente apresentado nos espectros polarizados. Este comportamento é revelado através da seção de choque de espalhamento que consiste da parte imaginária de uma função resposta constituída de um termo de caráter de partícula independente e outro de caráter coletivo. De forma a levar em conta o amortecimento das flutuações de densidade, propõe-se uma função espectral baseada na conservação da corrente local. Comparação com formas de linha experimentais disponíveis para o caso de espectros despolarizados mostram excelente concordância. No caso dos espectros polarizados a concordância se deu em nível semi-quantitativo, já que excitações de caráter coletivo obtidas experimentalmente apresentaram intensidade menor do que aquelas fornecidas pela teoria. Tal discrepância é atribuída a efeitos de desordem introduzidas no processo de dopagem e que implicam na quebra das regras de conservação de momentum. / We present a theory for the inelastic light scattering cross-section for the mechanisms of charge and spin-density fluctuations in the relatively high concentration of the non-uniform electron gas of a multi-layered &#948-doped GaAs system. The calculations are done in conditions of extreme resonance with the spin-split edge of GaAs and include the effects of Coulomb interactions between the carriers, dynamical exchange-correlations and coupling with LO phonons. In such conditions, the detailed energy level structure of the spin-split holes becomes extremely important and is responsible by the single-particle behavior presented in the polarized spectrum. This behavior revealed by the scattering cross-section derived from the imaginary part of a response function, consists of a term showing single particle character and another displaying collective character. To include the damping of the density fluctuations, a spectral function is proposed based on the foreknowledge that the local current must be conserved. Comparison with the available experimental line-shapes for the depolarized spectra show excellent agreement. In the case of polarized spectra the agreement was given in semi-quantitative terms as experimental collective excitations present less intensity than those calculated by the theory. Such difference is attributed to disorder effects produced during the doping process which results in break down of momentum conservation rules.

No / The in-line development of crystalline morphology and orientation during melt extrusion of low density polyethylene (LDPE) tape at nil and low haul-off speeds has been investigated using Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering (SAXS). The processing parameters, namely haul-off speed and distance down the tape-line have been varied and the resulting crystalline morphology is described from detailed analysis of the SAXS data. Increasing haul-off speed increased orientation in the polymer tape and the resulting morphology could be described in terms of regular lamellar stacking perpendicular to the elongation direction. In contrast, under nil haul-off conditions the tape still showed some orientation down the tape-line, but a shish-kebab structure prevails. The final lamellae thickness (similar to 50 angstrom) and bulk crystallinity (similar to 20%), were low at, for all processing conditions investigated, which is attributed to the significant short-chain branching in the polymer acting as point defects limiting lamellae crystal growth. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nous présentons dans ce manuscrit des mesures de corrélations spatiales à un et deux corps effectuées sur un gaz de bosons unidimensionnel et ultra-froid piégé à la surface d'une microstructure. Les corrélations à deux corps sont mises en évidence par des mesures de fluctuations de densité in situ ; les corrélations à un corps sont sondées grâce à des mesures de distributions en impulsion. Nous avons observé des fluctuations de densité sub-poissoniennes dans le régime d'interactions faibles, mettant ainsi en évidence pour la première fois le sous-régime du régime de quasi-condensat dans lequel la fonction de corrélation à deux corps est dominée par les fluctuations quantiques. Nous avons également observé des fluctuations sub-poissoniennes quelle que soit la densité dans le régime d'interactions fortes ; notre mesure constitue la première observation d'un unique gaz de bosons unidimensionnel dans ce régime. Le piège magnétique que nous avons utilisé est un piège modulé qui possède la propriété remarquable de découplage entre confinements transverse et longitudinal. Cette spécificité nous a permis de façonner à volonté la forme du confinement longitudinal. En particulier, nous avons pu obtenir des pièges harmoniques et quartiques. Nous avons également utilisé les propriétés de ce piège modulé afin de réaliser une lentille magnétique longitudinale. Cette technique nous a permis de mesurer la distribution en impulsion du gaz, dans le régime d'interactions faibles. Nous présentons deux résultats, obtenus de part et d'autre de la transition molle entre les régimes de gaz de Bose idéal et de quasi-condensat. Sur le plan théorique, nous montrons qu'une théorie de champ classique ne suffit pas à décrire quantitativement cette transition molle pour les paramètres typiques de l'expérience. Nous avons donc recours à des calculs Monte-Carlo quantiques. La température extraite de l'ajustement de nos donnée par ces calculs est en bon accord avec celle obtenue en ajustant les fluctuations de densité in situ avec la thermodynamique de C. N. Yang et C. P. Yang. Enfin, nous démontrons une méthode de compensation de la gravité (piégeage harmonique résiduel) lors de la phase de lentille magnétique, qui nous permet d'améliorer considérablement la résolution en impulsion de cette technique. / In this manuscript, we present spatial one and two-body correlation measurements performed on a one-dimensional gas of ultra-cold bosons trapped at the surface of a microstructure. Two body correlations are highlighted by measurements of in situ density fluctuations and one-body correlations are probed through measurements of momentum distributions.We observed sub-Poissonian density fluctuations in the regime of weak interactions, thus demonstrating for the first time the regime of quasi-condensate in which the two-body correlation function is dominated by quantum fluctuations. We also observed sub-Poissonian fluctuations regardless of the density in the regime of strong interactions. Our measurement is the first observation of a single one-dimensional gas of bosons in this regime.The magnetic trap that we used is a modulated trap that has the remarkable property of decoupling between transverse and longitudinal confinements. This specificity has enabled us to engineer at will the shape of the longitudinal confinement. In particular, we were able to obtain harmonic and quartic traps.