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No description available.

No description available.

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The electroweak standard model, as well-known, has been remarkably successful in describing a broad spectrum of high energy physics and has also given a satisfactory and consistent theoretical description of all the experimental data which has been obtained so far. The aim of the present work is to investigate some of the most important processes associated with the standard model which involve the charged intermediate bosons W(^±), the neutral intermediate boson Z, the pair production of weak gauge bosons and the Higgs boson. First of all we start with the study of the effect of the strong interaction on the direct production of weak gauge boson production at hadron colliders. We calculate the first order perturbative QCD corrections O(a(_s)) to the lowest order cross sections for photon and Z pair production at hadron colliders. The calculation contains divergences, represented in dimensional regularisation by poles of order O(1/ϵ) and O(1/ϵ(^2)), where ϵ = 4-n(_2). The order O(1/ϵ(^2)) terms are eliminated when real and virtual corrections are combined, and the remaining 0(1/ϵ) corrections will be absorbed into the quark momentum distribution functions. We then study the production rate of weak gauge boson pairs for proton- proton and proton-antiproton colliders using single and double parton scattering mechanisms. We extrapolate to the next generation of hadron colliders with centre-of-mass energy E(_cm)= 10-200 TeV. We find comparable values for the single and double scattering cross sections at very high energies. To expand our investigation, we study also the production rate of multiple gauge bosons at hadron supercolliders using the double parton scattering mechanism. These kinds of processes are important and represent a potential significant background for Higgs boson production. Finally, and for completeness, we study Higgs boson phenomenology, which now forms a substantial part of the physics program at the next generation of high-energy colliders. The calculation covers the production rate of single and double Higgs production at hadron colliders via gluon-gluon fusion, their branching ratios and decay widths.

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The processing characteristics of PVC compounds play a major role on the ability of the equipment to control the final properties of the product. Therefore, information on the effect of processing conditions on such characteristics. and its influence on the final properties can lead to an optimization of the extrusion process. In this work. a statistically based experimental design was used in order to investigate the role of the operating conditions on the extrusion of a simple lead based PVC formulation. Both a single and a twin screw extruder were used - they were instrumented, and data collected by computer. A die was designed for the formulation used. with both shear and extensional flows being taken into account. These experiments produced both core samples along the screw(s) and final products with varying states of fusion. The fusion mechanism on processing was monitored with the help of electron and light microscopy techniques. thermal analysis and density measurements. In both types of extruders the primary particles were found to fuse well before the grains, but the overall mechanism differs for each type of machine. An experimental technique was developed for the study of the Residence Time (RT) and Residence Time Distribution (RTD) of the material in the processing equipment. These functions were related to the operating conditions and compared with the available models for extrusion. The degree of fusion of the processed products was assessed by rheology and thermal analysis. A range of mechanical properties, relevant to the general end - use of rigid PVC formulations. was analysed: flexural. tensile and impact properties were found to be directly related with fusion level. Hardness, measured using a newly developed apparatus. proved to be a potential technique for the degree of gelation of PVC formulations.

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No description available.