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Application of FARM to an IES scenario within the FORCE ecosystem

The FARM (Feasible Actuator Range Modifier) software module is a component of the RAVEN-based FORCE framework for analysis of Integrated Energy Systems (IES). FARM supports the HERON software module in the evaluation of the optimal dispatch by evaluating feasible set-points for the different IES unit components. Set-points are required to satisfy limits on both production variables (i.e., the variables to be optimized such as the electrical power, the hydrogen production rate, etc.) and process variables tied to the service life of equipment (e.g., steam flowrate, vessel pressure, turbine firing temperature, etc.). This problem is addressed by adopting a two-stage approach. First, the HERON power dispatcher determines set-points that meet the constraints on the former variables (e.g., power levels and power ramp rate limits). These constraints are called explicit constraints. Then, FARM adjusts these set-points to ensure the respect of the limits on the latter variables given the knowledge of the system physics acquired through machine learning algorithms. These constraints are called implicit constraints. From this standpoint, FARM constitutes a bridge between the HERON power dispatcher that adopts a simplified description of the IES unit (low-resolution physics) and the HYBRID high-fidelity models (high-resolution physics). The original version of the FARM software module (FARM-Alpha) was released by Argonne National Laboratory in January 2021. In the latest version of the code released in July 2022 (FARM-Delta), the Reference Governor (RG) algorithm was upgraded to a Multi-Input Multi-Output version from its original Single-Input Single-Output form. The RG algorithm acts to enforce constraints. With this improvement an IES unit is now treated as a single dynamic system from the standpoint of control. The crosstalk among components in an IES unit is now fully considered thereby ensuring a true optimization is obtained for those units that have multiple set-points. In this report, the capabilities of FARM-Delta operating within the FORCE ecosystem are demonstrated for an IES test case. The specific configuration of IES unit for this case was selected by the IES team with consultation from the Advanced Reactor IES Expert Group. A full TEA analysis that invoked HERON, HYBRID, FARM, and RAVEN was performed and serves to demonstrate how the latest modification to FARM algorithms (i.e., state variable selection, state-space matrices derivation, set-point verification) can shape setpoints that might otherwise compromise the health of equipment through accelerated wear and tear. In this specific test case, it was demonstrated that these algorithms ensure a more efficient utilization of steam resources to be shared by two different subsystems, namely Balance of Plant (BOP) and High-Temperature Steam Electrolysis (HTSE). Finally, some code improvements that can further enhance the user-friendliness are suggested.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Radiation Testing of a Low Voltage Silicone Nuclear Power Plant Cable.

This report summarizes the results generated in FY13 for cable insulation in support of the Department of Energy's Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program, in collaboration with the US-Argentine Binational Energy Working Group (BEWG). A silicone (SiR) cable, which was stored in benign conditions for %7E30 years, was obtained from Comision Nacional de Energia Atomica (CNEA) in Argentina with the approval of NA-SA (Nucleoelectrica Argentina Sociedad Anonima). Physical property testing was performed on the as-received cable. This cable was artificially aged to assess behavior with additional analysis. SNL observed appreciable tensile elongation values for all cable insulations received, indicative of good mechanical performance. Of particular note, the work presented here provides correlations between measured tensile elongation and other physical properties that may be potentially leveraged as a form of condition monitoring (CM) for actual service cables. It is recognized at this point that the polymer aging community is still lacking the number and types of field returned materials that are desired, but Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) -- along with the help of others -- is continuing to work towards that goal. This work is an initial study that should be complimented with location-mapping of environmental conditions of Argentinean plant conditions (dose and temperature) as well as retrieval, analysis, and comparison with in- service cables.

White, II, Gregory Von↗

String Potentiometers for Supersonic Split-Line Thrust Vector Amplification Factor Verification

The static fire of NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) first stage Solid Rocket Motor (SRM1) Demonstration Motor-1 (DM-1) occurred at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) on April 7, 2023. Among other objectives, this test successfully demonstrated the Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system, including the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the Supersonic Split-Line (SSSL) nozzle. An essential characteristic of the SSSL is the thrust vector amplification factor (TVAF) it exhibits; however, empirically quantifying this behavior is difficult due to the limitations of measuring the internal nozzle gas dynamics of a Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) during burn. Using four string potentiometers mounted inside the test chamber connected to the nozzle and motor case and a thrust measurement system (TMS), the TVAF can be derived from the known nozzle and motor geometry. Increasing the accuracy of the TVAF is essential for certain groups working on the MAV including the Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) group, who prior to DM-1, solely relied on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data in their Monte Carlo simulations for TVAF. The methodology shown in this paper can be generally applied to any test article implementing a SSSL nozzle, presuming string potentiometers are a viable option and the facility is conducive of their implementation.

Supersonic Split-Line↗

The yield and patient factors associated with CT colonography C-RADS results in a non-screening patient population

Objectives: To determine the proportion of diagnostic computed tomography colonography (CTC) Reporting and Data System (C-RADS) categories in a non-screening population, and which patient factors are associated with a positive CTC (C2–4), a non-diagnostic CTC (C0), and potentially relevant extracolonic findings (ECF, E3–4). Methods: Diagnostic CTCs performed at a single academic center from 2017 to 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. For each examination, the indications, age, sex, admission status, and C-RADS categories were recorded. Multivariate logistic regression was performed of patient demographic factors and clinical indications, with adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals. Results: 1373 CTCs were included. The mean age was 66.4 ± 13 years (range 24–97). There were 782 women and 75 inpatients. The number of CTCs reported as C0–C4 were 194/1373 (14.1%), 970/1373 (70.6%), 77/1373 (5.6%), 86/1373 (6.3%), and 46/1373 (3.4%), respectively, and 134/1373 (9.8%), 960/1373 (69.9%), 173/1373 (12.6%), and 106/1373 (7.7%) CTCs were reported as E1–4, respectively. Factors that demonstrated the strongest associations were as follows: with C2–4, age groups 50–79 (OR 2.8, 95% confidence interval 1.4–6.1), 80–89 (6.2, 2.9–14.5) and ≥ 90 (7.6, 2.0–29.1), and inpatients (3.4, 1.8–6.4); with C0, age groups 50–79 (5.9, 2.2–24.4), 80–89 (9.8, 3.4–41.8), and ≥ 90 (22.5, 5.8–113.0), incomplete colonoscopy (3.2, 2.0–5.1) and melena or gastrointestinal bleeding (4.1, 1.8–9.4); and with E3–4, age groups 50–79 (1.6, 1.0–2.9), 80–89 (2.0, 1.1–3.9), and ≥ 90 (3.2, 1.2–8.8), and inpatients (2.3, 1.3–3.9). Conclusion: Older age is increasingly associated with a positive test, a non-diagnostic test and potentially relevant ECF. Inpatients are also associated with positive tests and E3–4 findings. Symptoms are not strongly associated with a positive CTC.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Methods Studies on System Identification from Transient Rotor Tests

Some of the more important methods are discussed that have been used or proposed for aircraft parameter identification. The methods are classified into two groups: Equation error or regression estimates and Bayesian estimates and their derivatives that are based on probabilistic concepts. In both of these two groups the cost function can be optimized either globally over the entire time span of the transient, or sequentially, leading to the formulation of optimum filters. Identifiability problems and the validation of the estimates are briefly outlined, and applications to lifting rotors are discussed.

Hohenemser, K. H.↗

Impacts of Surface Site Coordination on Arsenate Adsorption: Macroscopic Uptake and Binding Mechanisms on Aluminum Hydroxide Surfaces

Aluminum hydroxides play important roles in regulating the fate and transport of contaminants and nutrients in soils and aquatic systems. Like many metal oxides, these minerals display surface functional groups in a series of coordination states, each of which may differ in its affinity for adsorbates. The distribution of functional group types varies among distinct surfaces of aluminum hydroxides, and we thus hypothesize that the adsorption behavior and mechanisms will show a dependence on particle morphology. To test this hypothesis, we investigate arsenate adsorption on two aluminum hydroxide polymorphs with distinct particle morphologies, gibbsite [γ-Al(OH) 3 ] and bayerite [α-Al(OH) 3 ], at pH 4 and 7. Synthetic gibbsite platelets expose large (001) basal surfaces predicted to be terminated by doubly coordinated functional groups (>Al 2 OH). In contrast, synthetic bayerite microrods display mainly edge surfaces (parallel to the c axis) containing abundant singly coordinated functional groups (>AlOH 2 ). Macroscopic adsorption studies show that gibbsite adsorbs less arsenate per unit surface area than bayerite at both pH values and suggest that two surface complexes form on each material. Similar electrokinetic behavior is displayed at the same relative coverages of arsenate, suggesting that similar reactive surface groups (>AlOH 2 ) control the surface charging on both particles. EXAFS spectroscopy shows that there is no variation in arsenate surface speciation on a given mineral with surface coverage or pH. Whereas bidentate binuclear inner-sphere species are the dominant complexes present, the EXAFS result suggest that outer-sphere species also occur on both minerals, with a greater abundance on gibbsite. This binding mode likely involves adsorption to >Al 2 OH sites, which have a slow ligand exchange rate that inhibits inner-sphere binding. Lastly, these results demonstrate that adsorption mechanisms and capacity, even when normalized for specific surface area, vary with metal oxide particle morphology because of the distribution of distinct functional groups.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The Effect of Surface Chemical Functionality Upon Ice Adhesion

In nature, anti-freeze proteins present in fish utilize specific organic functionalities to disrupt ice crystal formation and propagation. Based on these structures, surfaces with controlled chemical functionality and chain length were evaluated both experimentally and computationally to assess the effect of both parameters in mitigating ice formation. Linear aliphatic dimethylethoxysilanes terminated with methyl or hydroxyl groups were prepared, characterized, and used to coat aluminum. The effect upon icing using a microdroplet freezing apparatus and the Adverse Environment Rotor Test Stand found hydroxyl-terminated materials exhibited a greater propensity for ice formation and adhesion. Molecular dynamics simulations of a silica substrate bearing functionalized species of similar composition were brought into contact with a pre-equilibrated ice crystal. Several parameters including chain mobility were monitored to ascertain the size of a quasi-liquid layer. The studies suggested that chain mobility affected the interface between ice and the surface more than terminal group chemical composition.

Smith, Joseph G., Jr.↗

Instrumentation for the In-Core Real-Time Mechanical Testing of Structural Materials (INCREASE) Project

Idaho National Laboratory (INL), in collaboration with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the French Atomic and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), the Joint Research Center (JRC), the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG), and the Research Center Rez (CVR), started a Joint Experimental Program (JEEP) project that operates within the Nuclear Energy Agency’s Framework for Irradiation Experiments (FIDES II) program in order to develop capabilities for the in-core real-time mechanical testing of structural materials. This effort will focus on designing a shared capsule capable of housing a variety of in-core mechanical testing instrumentation allowing enhanced experiments for the material science community. The outcome of the project would be high-priority, stress relaxation data for stainless-steel-based materials provided by EPRI and CEA. Stress relaxation is a major phenomenon that contributes to material degradation in nuclear reactor components. Currently, nuclear material stress relaxation is assessed both before and after irradiation, using complex and costly post-irradiation examination (PIE) activities. In-situ data would support the development of precision modeling and simulation of this degradation phenomena and would provide validation and benchmarking for existing models using the PIE data. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Sensor and Instrumentation (ASI) program, INL has fabricated and tested out-of-core mechanical test instrumentation. This instrumentation was designed for easy adaptation to the irradiation capsule proposed under this JEEP, and can be deployed to measure real-time stress relaxation under pressurized-water reactor (PWR) conditions. This initial effort will partially serve to replace the testing capabilities lost because of shutting down the Halden Boiling Water Reactor (HBWR). The project would provide these capabilities to the international community via a shared capsule design that is easily adaptable to additional material test reactors. The design features will incorporate expansion to PWR and non-light-water reactor (LWR) environments that will be developed in future work. The capsule and instrumentation will be demonstrated in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR) for phase I and the Petten High Flux Reactor (HFR) for phase II irradiations to deliver real-time stress relaxation data on high priority stainless steel structural materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Countermeasures for Mitigation of Sensorimotor Decrements Following Head-Down Bed Rest

BACKGROUND Decrements in functional performance of tasks requiring postural and locomotor control remain common among crewmembers returning to Earth after6months on the International Space Station (ISS). These impairments will presumably be exacerbated after longer exploration-class missions with fewer exercise hardware options. Our recent studies suggest that an in-flight proprioceptive countermeasure may keep the proprioceptive system tuned to respond to upright balance challenges in a gravitational environment. Before testing a proprioceptive countermeasure in-flight, we must conduct an initial proof-of-concept study to determine its potential efficacy in a controlled unloading analog setting. OBJECTIVES We will determine if proprioceptive training during 60 days of 6° head down bed rest (HDBR) mitigates declines in functional task performance. We consider it critical to characterize the interaction between proprioceptive training and exercise. Thus, we will compare 3groupsof subjects(N=12 each): a proprioceptive training group, an exercise plus proprioceptive training group, and a control group(i.e. no training or exercise).The primary outcome measure will be the well-established and operationally relevant seat egress and walk test (also referred to as the functional mobility test)performed before and after HDBR. Other functional tests will also represent high priority exploration mission tasks that require high demand for dynamic control of postural stability. Additional measures will be used to identify the key physiological factors contributing to countermeasure benefits. COUNTERMEASURE METHODS We will use a ground version of our countermeasure to test the efficacy of proprioceptive training while maintaining HDBR constraints. Subjects will remain in the horizontal supine position on a sled that moves freely on air-bearings, similar to a puck on an air hockey table. Subjects will be loaded axially up to one full body weight via lateral cable pulleys towards their feet on an instrumented tilt board using a harness and weights system. Visual feedback of board tilt will be used to guide subjects while they make active tilts. Exercise and proprioceptive training prescriptions will represent those expected to be implemented during exploration spaceflight missions(e.g.20-minute proprioceptive training sessions3 times per week). RELEVANCE The deliverable from this project will be a proof-of-concept countermeasure design that has been fully assessed for efficacy in a spaceflight analog. The findings and lessons learned from this study will be translated for validation of this countermeasure on the ISS. An effective countermeasure will be added to the suite of operationally implemented in-flight sensorimotor countermeasures.

T R Macaulay↗

Clinical significance of incidentally discovered renal cysts in pediatric patients

Purpose: To determine the clinical significance of incidentally discovered renal cysts in pediatric patients and identify imaging predictors of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Methods: A retrospective search of radiology reports from 2000 to 2016 was performed to identify patients < 18 years old with an imaging exam identifying at least one renal cyst and a ≥ 1-year follow-up renal imaging exam for cyst evaluation and/or diagnosis of ADPKD. Cysts with clear solid mass components were excluded. Results: 84 pediatric patients with renal cysts were identified (mean age, 9.5 years), including 76 patients with incidentally discovered cysts and 8 patients with cysts identified from screening for ADPKD family history. Among the incidentally discovered cyst group, 7.9% were found to have ADPKD compared with 100% of patients with cysts and ADPKD family history. Maximum cyst diameter was significantly increased in patients with ADPKD compared to patients without ADPKD (22.0 mm vs 12.7 mm; P < 0.001, Fisher’s Exact test). Multiple cysts or bilateral cysts were imaging features associated with a significantly higher (P < 0.01) incidence of ADPKD, both for the entire study population and the incidentally discovered cyst group. An increase in cyst size on the follow-up study was associated with higher incidence of ADPKD (P < 0.05). No malignancies were identified. Conclusions: Incidentally discovered renal cysts in pediatric patients are associated with a small but non-zero risk of ADPKD. Among cyst characteristics, bilaterality, multiplicity, large size, and increased size on follow-up imaging were associated with a statistically significant elevation of ADPKD risk, and should prompt diagnostic evaluation.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Structural Damage Prediction and Analysis for Hypervelocity Impact. UDRI Light Gas Gun Test Data Summaries

The HEX bumper was originally developed for use with the Defensive Shields Demonstration (DSD) Program. The University of Dayton Research Institute was a subcontractor to the Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver Colorado at the time the HEX bumper was designed for use on the DSD Program. The design originated at the University and was essentially made available to interested parties. All HEX bumpers used in the DSD Program were fabricated at the University by rolling sheet stock through a special set of rollers. Two pieces of 3003-H14 aluminum sheet were rolled to produce the bumpers evaluated in Shots 4-1302 and 4-1304. A brief summary of the results of these tests is given in below. Contact prints of the multiple-exposure, orthogonal view radiographs of the debris clouds produced by the tests are attached. A sketch of the HEX bumper design is also attached.

Source record↗

Analysis of impact toughness scatter in simulated coarse-grained HAZ of E550 grade offshore engineering steel from the aspect of crystallographic structure

Highlights: • Crystallographic structure evolution in CGHAZ caused by variation of prior austenite grain size was analyzed quantitatively. • Variant selection rules changed from CP (close-packed plane) to Bain grouping with decreasing of prior austenite grain size. • A possible correlation between impact toughness scatter and crystallographic structure was established. - Abstract: This study aims at providing a new insights into the impact toughness scatter from the aspect of crystallographic structure. It demonstrated that the large impact toughness scatter associated much to the microstructure diversity. The crystallographic structure with evident scatter will display obvious discrepancy. In this work, three groups of samples simulated coarse-grained heat affected zone (CGHAZ) of an offshore engineering steel were obtained at different cooling rates. The Charpy test results showed that the toughness decreases dramatically with the decrease of cooling rate. However, the largest scatter in impact toughness occurred in the sample with medium cooling rate (15 °C/s), which was attributed to the heterogeneity in crystallographic structures. The visualization of crystallographic features showed that the prior austenite grain size has a significant effect on bainitic variant selection, which governed the effective grain size and crack propagation mechanism. CP (close-packed plane) grouping of variants is more likely to take place in large austenite grain, indicating that the size of CP region is larger than Bain zone, and the crack is short and flexural. On the contrary, in smaller austenite grain, Bain grouping of variants that always forms low angle grain boundary and favors crack propagation dominates the transformation, and it will promote the crack to propagate through the entire Bain zone and then yield large long crack. However, these two cases can co-exist in the same sample at medium cooling rate, indicating that the cleavage fracture is controlled by the effective grain size (Bain-zone size) and the scatter in impact toughness is associated much to the proportion and relative location between fine and coarse Bain zones.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Non-Precious Metal Catalysts Prepared By Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks: The Ligand Influence to Morphology and Performance

A new, “one-pot” synthesis to produce highly active non-PGM electrocatalysts for PEM fuel cells was previously developed by pyrolyzing Fe doped zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) materials prepared by solid-state interaction. Excellent catalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activities were found through rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE) and single fuel cell tests. In this study, we compared the ORR activities and structural properties of two catalysts derived from ZIFs containing imidazole and methyl imidazole ligands, respectively. Our results indicate that alkyl group substitution in the imidazolate ligand has a profound effect on the final catalyst performance.

Catalyst↗

Stereo advantage for a peg-in-hole task using a force-feedback manipulator

An improved assessment methodology has been implemented at NOSC and tested using an instrumented peg-in-hole (PiH) taskboard. Several aspects of the methodology are discussed in light of their implications for future studies of manipulator performance. Using a simple (but high-fidelity) force-feedback manipulator, a group of 9 trained operators showed a consistent advantage for stereoscopic TV viewing over monoscopic TV viewing when performing the PiH task. To introduce a controlled element of spatial uncertainty into the testing procedure, taskboard orientation relative to the manipulator and remote video camera head was changed in a randomized order on a trial-by-trial basis. The stereoscopic advantage demonstrated by this study can reasonably be expected to be even more pronounced as the quality of the stereo TV interface is improved and force-feedback provided through the manipulator system is diminished and/or distorted.

Spain, Edward H.↗

Cavity Production and Testing of the First C75 Cryomodule for CEBAF

The CEBAF cryomodule rework program was updated over the last few years to increase the energy gain of refurbished cryomodules to 75 MeV. The concept recycles the waveguide end-groups from original CEBAF cavities fabricated in the 1990s and replaces the five elliptical cells in each with a new optimized cell shape fabricated from large-grain, ingot Nb material. Eight cavities were fabricated at Research Instruments, Germany, and two cavities were built at Jefferson Lab. Each cavity was processed by electropolishing and tested at 2.07 K. The best eight cavities were assembled into ’cavity pairs’ and re-tested at 2.07 K, before assembly into the cryomodule. All but one cavity in the cryomodule were within 10% of the target accelerating gradient of 19 MV/m with a quality factor of 8·10⁹. The performance limitations were field emission and multipacting.

Ciovati, G.↗

Cavity Production and Testing of the First C75 Cryomodule for CEBAF

The CEBAF cryomodule rework program was updated over the last few years to increase the energy gain of refurbished cryomodules to 75 MeV. The concept recycles the waveguide end-groups from original CEBAF cavities fabricated in the 1990s and replaces the five elliptical cells in each with a new optimized cell shape fabricated from large-grain, ingot Nb material. Eight cavities were fabricated at Research Instruments, Germany, and two cavities were built at Jefferson Lab. Each cavity was processed by electropolishing and tested at 2.07 K. The best eight cavities were assembled into ’cavity pairs’ and re-tested at 2.07 K, before assembly into the cryomodule. All but one cavity in the cryomodule were within 10% of the target accelerating gradient of 19 MV/m with a quality factor of 8·10⁹. The performance limitations were field emission and multipacting.

Ciovati, G.↗

The eROSITA Final Equatorial-Depth Survey (eFEDS)

In 2019, the eROSITA telescope on board the Russian-German satellite Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) began to perform a deep all-sky X-ray survey with the aim of identifying ~100 000 clusters and groups over the course of four years. As part of its performance verification phase, a ~140 deg 2 survey, called eROSITA Final Equatorial-Depth Survey (eFEDS), was performed. With a depth typical of the all-sky survey after four years, it allows tests of tools and methods as well as improved predictions for the all-sky survey. As part of this effort, a catalog of 542 X-ray selected galaxy group and cluster candidates was compiled. Here, in this paper, we present the optical follow-up, with the aim of providing redshifts and cluster confirmation for the full sample. Furthermore, we aim to provide additional information on the dynamical state, richness, and optical center of the clusters. Finally, we aim to evaluate the impact of optical cluster confirmation on the purity and completeness of the X-ray selected sample. We used optical imaging data from the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program and from the Legacy Survey to identify optical counterparts to the X-ray detected cluster candidates. We make use of the multi-component matched filter cluster confirmation tool (MCMF), as well as of the optical cluster finder CAMIRA to derive cluster redshifts and richnesses. MCMF provided the probabilities with which an optical structure would be a chance superposition with the X-ray candidate. These probabilities were used to identify the best optical counterpart as well as to confirm an X-ray candidate as a cluster. The impact of this confirmation process on catalog purity and completeness was estimated using optical to X-ray scaling relations as well as simulations. The resulting catalog was furthermore matched with public group and cluster catalogs. Optical estimators of the cluster dynamical state were constructed based on density maps of the red-sequence galaxies at the cluster redshift. By providing redshift estimates for all 542 candidates, we construct an optically confirmed sample of 477 clusters and groups with a residual contamination of 6%. Of these, 470 (98.5%) are confirmed using MCMF, and 7 systems are added through cross-matching with spectroscopic group catalogs. Using observable-to-observable scaling and the applied confirmation threshold, we predict that 8 ± 2 real systems have been excluded with the MCMF cut required to build this low-contamination sample. This number agrees well with the 7 systems found through cross-matching that were not confirmed with MCMF. The predicted redshift and mass distribution of this catalog agree well with simulations. Thus, we expect that these 477 systems include >99% of all true clusters in the candidate list. Using an MCMF-independent method, we confirm that the catalog contamination of the confirmed subsample is 6 ± 3%. Application of the same method to the full candidate list yields 17 ± 3%, consistent with estimates coming from the fraction of confirmed systems of ~17% and with expectations from simulations of ~20%. We also present a sample of merging cluster candidates based on the derived estimators of the cluster dynamical state.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Toward UV models of kinetic mixing and portal matter. VI. A more complex dark matter sector?

Portal matter (PM), having both Standard Model (SM) and dark sector charges, can induce kinetic mixing between the 𝑈⁢(1) 𝐷 dark photon and the SM gauge fields at the 1-loop level offering an attractive mechanism by which light (≲1 GeV) thermal dark matter (DM) can interact with visible matter and obtain its observed relic density. In doing so, if the DM is fermionic, the CMB and other astrophysical observations inform us that it must be Majorana/pseudo-Dirac in nature to avoid velocity/temperature-independent 𝑠-wave annihilation to SM final states. How does this idea fit into a more UV-complete picture also including the SM interactions? There are some reasons to believe that at least a first step along this path may not lie too far away in energy due to the renormalization group equations running of the dark gauge coupling, which for a significant range of parameters, becomes nonperturbative at/before the ∼10’s of TeV energy range. This implies that 𝑈⁢(1) 𝐷 must become embedded in an asymptotically free, non-Abelian group, 𝐺 𝐷 , before this can occur. The breaking of this larger group then produces the masses for the PM and the additional gauge fields associated with 𝐺 𝐷 then can lead to new interactions between the SM and the dark sector. Following several bottom-up approaches, we have examined a set of distinctive and testable phenomenological features associated with this general setup, based upon a number of simplifying assumptions. Clearly, it behooves us to explore the impact of these specific assumptions on these predictions for the array of possible experimental tests of this class of models. In most past analyses it has been assumed that DM is a vectorlike, complex singlet under the group 𝐺 𝐷 . If this assumption is relaxed, the dark sector must be augmented by additional fermion(s) and the associated scalar fields needed to break the gauge symmetries while generating the needed Majorana-like mass terms for the DM. In this paper, we analyze the simplest extension of this kind wherein the DM lies in a vectorlike doublet of 𝐺 𝐷 , which we take to have the structure 𝑆⁢𝑈⁢(2) 𝐼 ×𝑈⁢(1) 𝑌 𝐼 as in earlier work, leading to new phenomenological implications. We find, for example, that given the current LHC search constraints on the masses of heavy gauge bosons, the production of these new dark states with large rates is unlikely to occur at colliders unless they are produced singly in 𝑔⁡𝑔 fusion or their pair production cross sections are resonantly enhanced. Here, we also find that an additional mechanism arises to generate hierarchal neutrino masses in such a setup.

Extensions of Higgs sector↗

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