This thesis considers the non-equilibrium and energy transfer processes involved in the evolution of astrophysical gases and plasmas. Momentum-energy transfer in collisions of atoms, molecules and ions governs the evolution of interacting astrophysical gas and plasmas. These collisions require an accurate quantum mechanical description and the work presented here develops a unified kinetic and quantum-mechanical model for this consideration. The multi-scale computational approach implemented here takes into account non-thermal distributions of atomic particles and clarifies their role in the evolution of interstellar gas and planetary atmospheres. As shown, the physical parameters of non-thermal distributions strongly depend on the differential cross sections of atomic, molecular and ion collisions. Readers will find a detailed description of the energy relaxation of energetic atoms, produced in the interstellar gas by the solar and stellar wind plasmas. Computation of the non-thermal diffuse background of energetic helium atoms in the heliosphere is also included for evaluation of the contributions from local and cosmic sources and analysis of related satellite observations. Work involving modeling of energetic particle precipitation into planetary atmospheres and formation of the planetary and exoplanetary escape fluxes has been performed with very accurate cross sections, describing momentum-energy transfer processes with high precision. Results of the Monte Carlo simulations, carried out for the Mars atmosphere at different solar conditions, can be used for analysis of observational data for Mars atmospheric escape and investigation into the history of Martian water.

This book provides a systematic and comprehensive introduction to fusion neutronics, covering all key topics from the fundamental theories and methodologies, as well as a wide range of fusion system designs and experiments. It is the first-ever book focusing on the subject of fusion neutronics research. Compared with other nuclear devices such as fission reactors and accelerators, fusion systems are normally characterized by their complex geometry and nuclear physics, which entail new challenges for neutronics such as complicated modeling, deep penetration, low simulation efficiency, multi-physics coupling, etc. The book focuses on the neutronic characteristics of fusion systems and introduces a series of theories and methodologies that were developed to address the challenges of fusion neutronics. Further, it introduces readers to the unique principles and procedures of neutronics design, experimental methodologies and methodologies for fusion systems. The book not only highlights the latest advances and trends in the field, but also draws on the experiences and skills collected in the author's more than 40 years of research. To make it more accessible and enhance its practical value, various representative examples are included to illustrate the application and efficiency of the methods, designs and experimental techniques discussed.

This book reviews various aspects of molecular spectroscopy and its application in materials science, chemistry, physics, medicine, the arts and the earth sciences. Written by an international group of recognized experts, it examines how complementary applications of diverse spectroscopic methods can be used to study the structure and properties of different materials. The chapters cover the whole spectrum of topics related to theoretical and computational methods, as well as the practical application of spectroscopic techniques to study the structure and dynamics of molecular systems, solid-state crystalline and amorphous materials, surfaces and interfaces, and biological systems. As such, the book offers an invaluable resource for all researchers and postgraduate students interested in the latest developments in the theory, experimentation, measurement and application of various advanced spectroscopic methods for the study of materials.

By year 1911 radioactivity had been discovered for over a decade, but its origin remained a mystery. Rutherford's discovery of the nucleus and the subsequent discovery of the neutron by Chadwick started the field of subatomic physics - a quest for understanding the fundamental constituents of matter.This book reviews the important achievements in subatomic physics in the past century. The chapters are divided into two parts: nuclear physics and particle physics. Written by renowned authors who have made major developments in the field, this book provides the academics and researchers an essential overview of the present state of knowledge in nuclear and particle physics.

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "features cutting-edge articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
Contributions from leading authorities Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "features cutting-edge articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
Key features:

* Contributions from leading authorities * Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "features cutting-edge articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
Key features:

* Contributions from leading authorities * Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "features cutting-edge articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
Key features:

* Contributions from leading authorities * Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "features cutting-edge articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
Key features:

* Contributions from leading authorities * Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

An understanding of the effects of electronic correlations in quantum systems is one of the most challenging problems in physics, partly due to the relevance in modern high technology. Yet there exist hardly any books on the subject which try to give a comprehensive overview on the field covering insulators, semiconductors, as well as metals. The present book tries to fill that gap.It intends to provide graduate students and researchers a comprehensive survey of electron correlations, weak and strong, in insulators, semiconductors and metals. This topic is a central one in condensed matter and beyond that in theoretical physics. The reader will have a better understanding of the great progress which has been made in the field over the past few decades.

The Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), is the cornerstone of non-proliferation and disarmament efforts.Yet its negotiation and success were not inevitable. This book aims to address the developments that led to the negotiation of the treaty, examine its implementation, and address challenges that the NPT faces going forward.

The top quark is by far the heaviest known fundamental particle with a mass nearing that of a gold atom. Because of this strikingly high mass, the top quark has several unique properties and might play an important role in electroweak symmetry breaking-the mechanism that gives all elementary particles mass. Creating top quarks requires access to very high energy collisions, and at present only the Tevatron collider at Fermilab is capable of reaching these energies.

Until now, top quarks have only been observed produced in pairs via the strong interaction. At hadron colliders, it should also be possible to produce single top quarks via the electroweak interaction. Studies of single top quark production provide opportunities to measure the top quark spin, how top quarks mix with other quarks, and to look for new physics beyond the standard model. Because of these interesting properties, scientists have been looking for single top quarks for more than 15 years.

This thesis presents the first discovery of single top quark production. It documents one of the flagship measurements of the D0 experiment, a collaboration of more than 600 physicists from around the world. It describes first observation of a physical process known as "single top quark production," which had been sought for more than 10 years before its eventual discovery in 2009. Further, his thesis describes, in detail, the innovative approach Dr. Gillberg took to this analysis. Through the use of Boosted Decision Trees, a machine-learning technique, he observed the tiny single top signal within an otherwise overwhelming background.

This Doctoral Thesis has been accepted by Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada."

This thesis investigates the transitions from one electronically excited state to another. Such processes - the fastest of events in chemistry - can be studied with femtosecond resolution, and Thomas S. Kuhlman approaches the question both with experimental and theoretical methods. His approach contributes to explain processes of high importance to all scientific fields concerned with the interaction between light and matter: the deactivation of the electronically excited states after excitation. Thomas S. Kuhlman concludes in this thesis that the electronic transition proceeds before the entire set of available degrees of freedom are active - 'It is as simple as that' !

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "merges two long-running serials--"Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics" and "Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy."
This series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
Key features:

* Contributions from leading authorities * Informs and updates on all the latest developments in the field

This thesis presents neutron scattering data that contribute to the understanding of four distinct areas of condensed matter physics, including iso-compositional liquid-liquid phase transitions and the glass formation in rare earth doped BaTi2O5.

In situ aerodynamic levitation with laser heating was combined with neutron scattering in order to study both liquid-liquid phase transitions in (Y2O3)x(Al2O3)1-x and the atomic and magnetic ordering in liquid Invar. Among several significant results, obtained in this case from small angle neutron scattering, wasthe absence of a phase transition across a range of temperatures and compositions in the yttria aluminates.As these are a principal system in which liquid-liquid phase transitions have been hypothesized, this is an important contribution in a contentious area."

"Advances in Imaging and Electron Physics "merges two long-running serials--"Advances in Electronics and Electron Physics" and "Advances in Optical and Electron Microscopy."
This series features extended articles on the physics of electron devices (especially semiconductor devices), particle optics at high and low energies, microlithography, image science and digital image processing, electromagnetic wave propagation, electron microscopy, and the computing methods used in all these domains.
* Contributions from leading international scholars and industry experts
* Discusses hot topic areas and presents current and future research trends
* Invaluable reference and guide for physicists, engineers and mathematicians

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a mega-scale, technically complex project, requiring large financial resources and cooperation of thousands of scientists and engineers from all over the world. Such a big and expensive project has to be discussed publicly, and the planned goals have to be clearly formulated. This book advocates for the demand for the project, motivated by the current situation in particle physics. The natural and most powerful way of obtaining new knowledge in particle physics is to build a new collider with a larger energy. In this approach, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was created and is now operating at the world record center of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Although the design of colliders with a larger energy of 50-100 TeV has been discussed, the practical realization of such a project is not possible for another 20-30 years. Of course, many new results are expected from LHC over the next decade. However, we must also think about other opportunities, and in particular, about the construction of more dedicated experiments. There are many potentially promising projects, however, the most obvious possibility to achieve significant progress in particle physics in the near future is the construction of a linear e+e- collider with energies in the range (250-1000) GeV. Such a project, the ILC, is proposed to be built in Kitakami, Japan. This book will discuss why this project is important and which new discoveries can be expected with this collider.

This thesis describes the experimental work that finally led to a successful measurement of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering-a process proposed forty-three years ago. The experiment was performed at the Spallation Neutron Source facility, sited at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Tennessee. Of all known particles, neutrinos distinguish themselves for being the hardest to detect, typically requiring large multi-ton devices for the job. The process measured here involves the difficult detection of very weak signals arising from nuclear recoils (tiny neutrino-induced "kicks" to atomic nuclei), but leads to a much larger probability of neutrino interaction when compared to all other known mechanisms. As a result of this, "neutrino technologies" using miniaturized detectors (the author's was handheld and weighed only 14 kg) become a possibility. A large community of researchers plans to continue studying this process, facilitating an exploration of fundamental neutrino properties that is presently beyond the sensitivity of other methods.

This book highlights the latest advances and outlines future trends in aqueous solvation studies from the perspective of hydrogen bond transition by charge injection, which reconciles the solvation dynamics, molecular nonbond interactions, and the extraordinary functionalities of various solutes on the solution bond network and properties. Focus is given on ionic and dipolar electrostatic polarization, O:H nonbond interaction, anti-HB and super-HB repulsion, and solute-solute interactions. Its target audience includes researchers, scientists, and engineers in chemistry, physics, surface and interface science, materials science and engineering.

"Tokamak Engineering Mechanics" offers concise and thorough coverage of engineering mechanics theory and application for tokamaks, and the material is reinforced by numerous examples. Chapter topics include general principles, static mechanics, dynamic mechanics, thermal fluid mechanics and multiphysics structural mechanics of tokamak structure analysis. The theoretical principle of the design and the methods of the analysis for various components and load conditions are presented, while the latest engineering technologies are also introduced. The book will provide readers involved in the study of mechanical/fusion engineering with a general understanding of tokamak engineering mechanics.
Yuntao Song is Head of the Tokamak Design Division at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academic of Science (ASIPP), China.

Vortices comprising swirling motion of matter are observable in classical systems at all scales ranging from atomic size to the scale of galaxies. In quantum mechanical systems, such vortices are robust entities whose behaviours are governed by the strict rules of topology. The physics of quantum vortices is pivotal to basic science of quantum turbulence and high temperature superconductors, and underpins emerging quantum technologies including topological quantum computation. This handbook is aimed at providing a dictionary style portal to the fascinating quantum world of vortices.