This thesis presents a method for a small, inexpensive mobile robot equipped with a single high resolution scintillation detector to quickly survey an area and convey information about local sources of gamma radiation to a remote human operator. This is achieved by surrounding the detector with a lead sheath that blocks all gamma rays except those incident along the detector???s axial direction. A horizontal scan is performed by rotating the detector and a directional profile of gamma radiation is constructed. In addition a visual panorama of the local area is assembled using a camera mounted on the detector. A plot of the detector signal versus angle is then overlaid on top of the visual panorama and visible peaks clearly indicate the direction of local gamma radiation sources. Moreover, measuring the energy spectrum of gamma rays in each direction produces a 2D count frequency histogram where distinct peaks indicate the energy and direction of local gamma ray sources allowing the identification of different radio-isotopes.

The H.E.S.S. array is a third generation Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope (IACT) array. It is located in the Khomas Highland in Namibia, and measures very high energy (VHE) gamma-rays. In Phase I, the array started data taking in 2004 with its four identical 13 m telescopes. Since then, H.E.S.S. has emerged as the most successful IACT experiment to date. Among the almost 150 sources of VHE gamma-ray radiation found so far, even the oldest detection, the Crab Nebula, keeps surprising the scientific community with unexplained phenomena such as the recently discovered very energetic flares of high energy gamma-ray radiation. During its most recent flare, which was detected by the Fermi satellite in March 2013, the Crab Nebula was simultaneously observed with the H.E.S.S. array for six nights. The results of the observations will be discussed in detail during the course of this work. During the nights of the flare, the new 24 m × 32 m H.E.S.S. II telescope was still being commissioned, but participated in the data taking for one night. To be able to reconstruct and analyze the data of the H.E.S.S. Phase II array, the algorithms and software used by the H.E.S.S. Phase I array had to be adapted. The most prominent advanced shower reconstruction technique developed by de Naurois and Rolland, the template-based model analysis, compares real shower images taken by the Cherenkov telescope cameras with shower templates obtained using a semi-analytical model. To find the best fitting image, and, therefore, the relevant parameters that describe the air shower best, a pixel-wise log-likelihood fit is done. The adaptation of this advanced shower reconstruction technique to the heterogeneous H.E.S.S. Phase II array for stereo events (i.e. air showers seen by at least two telescopes of any kind), its performance using MonteCarlo simulations as well as its application to real data will be described. / Das H.E.S.S. Experiment misst sehr hochenergetische Gammastrahlung im Khomas Hochland von Namibia. Es ist ein sogenanntes abbildendes atmosphärisches Cherenkov-Teleskopsystem welches in der 1. Phase, die im Jahr 2004 mit der Datennahme begann, aus vier identischen 13 m Spiegelteleskopen bestand. Seitdem hat sich H.E.S.S. als das erfolgreichstes Experiment in der bodengebundenen Gammastrahlungsastronomie etabliert. Selbst die älteste der mittlerweile fast 150 entdeckten Quellen von sehr hochenergetischer Gammastrahlung, der Krebsnebel, fasziniert immernoch Wissenschaftler mit neuen bisher unbekannten und unerwarteten Phänomenen. Ein Beispiel dafür sind die vor kurzem entdeckten sehr energiereichen Ausbrüche von hochenergetischer Gammastrahlung. Bei dem letzten deratigen Ausbruch des Krebsnebels im März 2013 hat das H.E.S.S. Experiment für sechs Nächte simultan mit dem Fermi-Satelliten, welcher den Ausbruch entdeckte, Daten genommen. Die Analyse der Daten, deren Ergebnis und deren Interpretation werden im Detail in dieser Arbeit vorgestellt. Während dieser Beobachtungen befand sich ein neues 24 m × 32 m großes Spiegelteleskop, das H.E.S.S. II- Teleskop, noch in seiner Inbetriebnahme, trotzdem hat es für eine dieser sechs Nächte an der Datennahme des gesamten Teleskopsystems teilgenommen. Um die Daten rekonstruieren und analysieren zu können, mussten die für die 1. Phase des Experiments entwickelten Algorithmen und die Software des H.E.S.S.- Experiments angepasst werden. Die fortschrittlichste Schauerrekonstruktionsmethode, welche von de Naurois und Rolland entwickelt wurde, basiert auf dem Vergleich von echten Schauerbildern, die mit Hilfe der Cherenkov-Kameras der einzelnen Teleskope aufgenommen wurden, mit Schauerschablonen die mit Hilfe eines semianalytischen Modells erzeugt wurden. Das am besten passende Bild und damit auch alle relevanten Schauerparameter, wird mit Hilfe einer pixelweisen Loglikelihood-Anpassung ermittelt. Die nötigen Änderungen um Multiteleskopereignisse, welche vom heterogenen H.E.S.S. Phase II Detektor gemessen wurden, mit Hilfe dieser fortschrittlichen Schauerrekonstruktionsmethode analysieren zu können, sowie die resultierenden Ergebnisse von MonteCarlo-Simulationen, als auch die Anwendung auf echte Daten, werden im Rahmen dieser Arbeit präsentiert.

In this study, two methods of analysing activity concentrations of natural radionuclides (U, Th and K) in soil are critically compared. These are the Window Analysis (WA) and Full Spectrum Analysis (FSA). In the usual WA method, the activity concentrations are determined from the net counts of the windows set around individual &gamma / -ray peaks associated with the decay of U, Th and K. In the FSA method, the full energy spectrum is considered and the measured spectrum is described as the sum of the three standard spectra (associated with U, Th and K, respectively), each multiplied by an unknown concentration. The concentrations are determined from the FSA and correspond to the activity concentrations of U, Th and K in the soil. The standard spectra derived from separate calibration measurements using the HPGe detector, represents the response of the HPGe to a Marinelli sample beaker containing an activity concentration of 1 Bq/kg.

The seabed is envisaged to meet the increased future demands for minerals from the rapidly growing industrialized societies of the world. Shipboard analysis of cores can significantly reduce the cost and time spent at the exploratory drilling stage by obviating the need to go back to land for analysis. It can further speed the exploration process by enabling a quick modification of the exploration plan based on the results of the shipboard analysis. A ²⁵²Cf-based analyzer utilizing the prompt gamma neutron activation analysis technique has been designed. The analyzer is a spherical iron shell with the source at its center. The seabed core is passed through a hollow composite tube which is positioned a short distance directly below the source and the resulting prompt gamma rays are collimated to a HPGe detector. The rest of the sphere is filled with paraffin. The gamma ray flux at the detector is converted into a count rate by using a semi-empirical detector response function. This count rate data are then used to determine the sensitivity and detection limits for the chosen elements (Mg, Al, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni and Cu). Monte Carlo simulations using the Monte Carlo neutron photon coupled transport code, MCNP, were carried out for a parametric study of important variables influencing the design of the analyzer. These parameters included the moderator type, source to sample distance and sample porosity. MCNP was then used to model the analyzer and to generate the neutron flux profiles in the sample and the prompt gamma flux at the detector. Due to the non-availability of the prompt gamma data for most of the elements of economic interest in the ENDF/B-V cross section libraries associated with MCNP, the point kernel photon transport code ISOSHLD-II (modified for high energy gamma rays) was used to generate the gamma flux at the detector for specific elements. The ISOSHLD-II source term was calculated based on known gamma production data (thermal capture only) and the thermal neutron flux in the sample obtained from MCNP computations. The sensitivity and detection limits obtained from the isotopic source based analyzer were compared for the case of aluminum with values reported from reactor facilities. The results obtained indicate that the analyzer designed in this work could prove suitable for the on-line analysis of many elements of economic interest in seabed cores at the 1 weight percent level. / Graduation date: 1992

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2002. / Adviser: Alexander Vilenkin. Submitted to the Dept. of Physics. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-98). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Geology, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 32-35).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

abstract: Nuclear proliferation concerns have resulted in a desire for radiation detectors with superior energy resolution. In this dissertation a Monte Carlo code is developed for calculating energy resolution in gamma-ray detector materials. The effects of basic material properties such as the bandgap and plasmon resonance energy are studied using a model for inelastic electron scattering based on electron energy-loss spectra. From a simplified "toy model" for a generic material, energy resolution is found to oscillate as the plasmon resonance energy is increased, and energy resolution can also depend on the valence band width. By incorporating the model developed here as an extension of the radiation transport code Penelope, photon processes are also included. The enhanced version of Penelope is used to calculate the Fano factor and average electron-hole pair energy in semiconductors silicon, gallium arsenide, zinc telluride, and scintillators cerium fluoride and lutetium oxyorthosilicate (LSO). If the effects of the valence band density-of-states and phonon scattering are removed, the calculated energy-resolution for these materials is fairly close to that for a toy model with a uniform electron energy-loss probability density function. This implies that the details of the electron cascade may in some cases have only a marginal effect on energy resolution. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Physics 2011