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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Stimulated excitation of thermal diffusion waves in a magnetized plasma pressure filament

Results are presented from basic heat transport experiments using a magnetized electron temperature filament that behaves as a thermal resonator. Using a small cathode source, low energy electrons are injected along the magnetic field into the afterglow of a pre-existing plasma forming a hot electron filament embedded in a colder plasma. A series of low amplitude, sinusoidal perturbations are added to the cathode discharge bias that creates an oscillating heat source capable of driving large amplitude electron temperature oscillations. Langmuir probes are used to measure the amplitude and phase of the thermal wave field over a wide range of driver frequencies. The results are used to verify the excitation of thermal waves, confirm the presence of thermal resonances, and demonstrate the diagnostic potential of thermal waves through measurement of the parallel thermal diffusivity.

Karbashewski, S. (ORCID:000000034988492X)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Radiation by a laser-driven flying-focus electron wave packet

An exact solution of the Dirac equation in the presence of an arbitrary electromagnetic plane wave is found, which corresponds to a focused electron wave packet, with the focus of the wave packet moving at the speed of light in the opposite direction of the average momentum of the electron wave packet (unless the plane wave is so intense to reflect the electron). The photon spectrum emitted by such an electron wave packet in the presence of a linearly polarized plane wave is studied both analytically and numerically. The spectrum is also compared with the one emitted by a single-momentum, plane-wave electron in the case of the electron being initially counterpropagating (on average for the flying-focus case) with the plane wave and within the locally constant field approximation. It is found that if the electron flying-focus wave packet is focused beyond a Compton wavelength, the angular distribution of the emitted radiation along the magnetic field of the electromagnetic plane wave is broader than for an electron with definite momentum. Corresponding the maximum value of the photon yield on the transverse plane is smaller in the flying-focus electron case. This could represent an experimental signature of a laser-driven flying-focus electron wave packet.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Direct density modulation of photo-assisted field emission from an RF cold cathode

This paper explores direct density modulation of high-current electron beam emission from an RF cold cathode using optical excitation. We theoretically study the photo-assisted field emission of periodically bunched electron beams of various pulse shapes under the combined excitation of an RF field and an optical field, using an exact quantum model. Both continuous-wave (CW) and pulsed optical fields are considered. The emission current pulse amplitude, pulse width, electron number density per pulse, as well as pulse shape and its harmonic contents are investigated in detail. For CW photon sources in the UV to NIR range (i.e., 200–1200 nm), increasing the optical intensity under an RF bias tends to change the current pulse from a Gaussian to sinusoidal-like shape, thus offering strong flexibility to control the frequency components in beam current emission. Pulsed photon sources combined with an RF field can produce sharp, high-current electron bunches with pulse duration comparable with or even less than that of the optical pulse. A contour map of the density modulation depth is constructed for different combinations of RF and laser fields. The results provide insight into unlocking new opportunities to achieve direct density modulation during electron current emission by optical means.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Nonlinear harmonics coupled by parallel wave propagations in a time-dependent plasma flow

In a time-dependent flow, nonlinear harmonics can be excited by coupling between linear waves and flow-induced harmonic waves. Examining the dispersion relations and selection rules for the coupling, we investigate nonlinearly coupled harmonics for waves propagating along the magnetic field line in a magnetized plasma, as well as waves in an unmagnetized plasma. The coupled harmonics in a plasma flow are described by analytic dispersion relations and selection rules. This nonlinear coupling is corroborated by the particle-in-cell simulation. Here, the coupled-harmonics model describes a mechanism for the excitation of nonlinear harmonics from linear waves in a time-dependent flow. The spectral analysis of the dispersion relation provides a useful way to evaluate the spatiotemporal behavior of a plasma flow.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Superconducting Levitated Detector of Gravitational Waves

A magnetically levitated mass couples to gravity and can act as an effective gravitational wave detector. We show that a superconducting sphere levitated in a quadrupolar magnetic field, when excited by a gravitational wave, will produce magnetic field fluctuations that can be read out using a flux tunable microwave resonator. With a readout operating at the standard quantum limit, such a system could achieve broadband strain noise sensitivity of h ≲ 10 − 20 / Hz for frequencies of 1 kHz–1 MHz, opening new corridors for astrophysical probes of new physics. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Scalar field in Reissner–Nordström spacetime: Bound state and scattering state (with appendix on eliminating oscillation in partial sum approximation of periodic function)

Highlights: • Bound-state and scattering-state solutions of massive scalar fields in R-N spacetime. • Bound-state wave functions and eigenvalues of massive scalar fields in R-N spacetime. • Solving explicit expressions of scattering phase shifts by integral equation methods. • Introducing tortoise coordinates for R-N spacetime. • Eliminating oscillations in the partial sum approximation of periodic functions. In this paper, we solve the massive scalar field in the Reissner–Nordström spacetime. The scalar field in the Reissner–Nordström spacetime has both bound states and scattering states. For bound states, we solve the bound-state wave function and the eigenvalue spectrum. For scattering states, we solve the scattering wave function and give an explicit expression for scattering phase shift by the integral equation method. Especially, we introduce the tortoise coordinate for the Reissner–Nordström spacetime. Moreover, in the calculation of scattering cross sections, we encounter a difficulty in partial sum approximation. If the sum of partial waves cannot be performed exactly, one has to turn to the partial sum approximation which approximates a function by the first several terms of the series. However, in the partial sum approximation there exists an incorrect oscillation which cannot be eliminated by keeping more terms. In the appendix we suggest an approach for eliminating such oscillations in the partial sum.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Perpendicular magnetofluid theory for magnetically confined plasmas in the collisionless limit

Note that the magnetically confined plasmas in thermonuclear fusion turn to be collisionless. Some particles are trapped by the inhomogeneous equilibrium field or by the waves, while some others keep circulating. One cannot expect the charged particles to be collectively localized in space by collisions along the magnetic field lines. Consequently, the fluid parameters relating to the parallel motion, such as parallel fluid velocity, become inadequate. In this paper, the perpendic- ular magnetofluid theory for magnetically confined plasmas in the collisionless limit is developed. It revises Braginskii’s transport theory by releasing the collisional dominance assumption. In the perpendicular direction, the particle spatial localization is solo resulted from the strong magnetic field, while the finite Larmor radius (FLR) effects are taken into account in the next order. In the parallel direction, the particle mobility feature is fully retained by constructing only the per- pendicular moments. Therefore, besides the FLR effects till order O($k$ $^{2}_{⊥}$ $ρ$ $^{2}_{i}$ ), the Landau damping, the trapped particle effects, and other parallel kinetic effects are all kept in the current formalism. Here, k ⊥ is the perpendicular wave number and ρ i is the ion Larmor radius. Here, the theory can be used both for the analytical and numerical studies of magnetically confined plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Theory and phase-field simulations of electrical control of spin cycloids in a multiferroic

Cycloidal spin orders are common in multiferroics. One of the prototypical examples is BiFeO 3 (BFO) which shows a large polarization and a cycloidal antiferromagnetic (AFM) order at room temperature. Here, we employ Landau theory and phase-field simulations to analyze the coupled switching dynamics of polarization and cycloidal AFM orders in BFO. We identify 14 types of transitional spin structures between two cycloids and nine electric-field-induced spin switching paths. We demonstrate the electric-field-induced rotation of wave vectors of the cycloidal spins and discover two types of cycloidal spin switching dynamics: fast local spin flips and slow rotation of wave vectors. Also, we construct roadmaps to achieve the switching between any two spin cycloids through multistep applications of electric fields. Furthermore, this paper provides a theoretical framework for the phenomenological description of spin cycloids and a fundamental understanding of the switching mechanisms to achieve electrical control of magnetic orders.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Entanglement-enhanced matter-wave interferometry in a high-finesse cavity

An ensemble of atoms can operate as a quantum sensor by placing atoms in a superposition of two different states. Upon measurement of the sensor, each atom is individually projected into one of the two states. Creating quantum correlations between the atoms, that is entangling them, could lead to resolutions surpassing the standard quantum limit set by projections of individual atoms. Large amounts of entanglement involving the internal degrees of freedom of laser-cooled atomic ensembles have been generated in collective cavity quantum-electrodynamics systems, in which many atoms simultaneously interact with a single optical cavity mode. Here we report a matter-wave interferometer in a cavity quantum-electrodynamics system of 700 atoms that are entangled in their external degrees of freedom. In our system, each individual atom falls freely under gravity and simultaneously traverses two paths through space while entangled with the other atoms. In this work, we demonstrate both quantum non-demolition measurements and cavity-mediated spin interactions for generating squeezed momentum states with directly observed sensitivity $3.4^{+1.1}_{–0.9}$dB and $2.5^{+0.6}_{–0.6}$dB below the standard quantum limit, respectively. We successfully inject an entangled state into a Mach–Zehnder light-pulse interferometer with directly observed sensitivity $1.7^{+0.5}_{–0.5}$dB below the standard quantum limit. The combination of particle delocalization and entanglement in our approach may influence developments of enhanced inertial sensors, searches for new physics, particles and fields, future advanced gravitational wave detectors and accessing beyond mean-field quantum many-body physics.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Accurate simulation of direct laser acceleration in a laser wakefield accelerator

In a laser wakefield accelerator (LWFA), an intense laser pulse excites a plasma wave that traps and accelerates electrons to relativistic energies. When the pulse overlaps the accelerated electrons, it can enhance the energy gain through direct laser acceleration (DLA) by resonantly driving the betatron oscillations of the electrons in the plasma wave. The traditional particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm, although often the tool of choice to study DLA, contains inherent errors due to numerical dispersion and the time staggering of the electric and magnetic fields. Furthermore, conventional PIC implementations cannot reliably disentangle the fields of the plasma wave and laser pulse, which obscures interpretation of the dominant acceleration mechanism. Here, a customized field solver that reduces errors from both numerical dispersion and time staggering is used in conjunction with a field decomposition into azimuthal modes to perform PIC simulations of DLA in an LWFA. Comparisons with traditional PIC methods, model equations, and experimental data show improved accuracy with the customized solver and convergence with an order-of-magnitude fewer cells. Furthermore, the azimuthal-mode decomposition reveals that the most energetic electrons receive comparable energy from DLA and LWFA.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Lower‐Hybrid Wave Structures and Interactions With Electrons Observed in Magnetotail Reconnection Diffusion Regions

Abstract We investigate waves close to the lower‐hybrid frequency in 12 magnetotail reconnection electron diffusion region (EDR) events with guide field levels of near‐zero to 30%. In about half of the events, the wave vector has a small component along the current sheet normal, consistent with known lower‐hybrid drift wave properties, but the perpendicular magnetic field fluctuations can be comparable or greater than the parallel component, a feature unique to the waves inside and adjacent to EDRs. Another new wave property is that the wave vector has a significant component along the current sheet normal in some events and completely along the normal for one event. In 1/4 of the events, the term has a significant contribution to the wave electric field, possibly a feature of lower‐hybrid waves more likely to exist in the diffusion region than further away from the X‐line. Electron temperature variations are correlated with the wave potential, due to wave electric field acceleration and crossings at the corrugated separatrix region with different amounts of mixing between reconnection inflowing and outflowing populations. The latter also leads to the anti‐correlation between parallel and perpendicular temperature components. Using four‐spacecraft measurements, the magnetic field line twisting is demonstrated by the correlated fluctuations in and . The lower‐hybrid wave in the EDR of weak guide field reconnection may be generated near separatrices and penetrate to the mid‐plane or locally generated, and the latter possibility is beyond the prediction of previous reconnection simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Magnon interactions in the quantum paramagnetic phase of CoNb 2 O 6

In this work, we study effects of magnon interactions in the excitation spectrum of CoNb 2 O 6 in the quantum paramagnetic phase in transverse field, where the 1/S spin-wave theory exhibits unphysical divergences at the critical field. We propose a self-consistent Hartree-Fock approach that eliminates such unphysical singularities while preserving the integrity of the singular threshold phenomena of magnon decay and spectrum renormalization that are present in both theory and experiment. With the microscopic parameters adopted from previous studies, this method yields a close quantitative agreement with the available experimental data for CoNb 2 O 6 in the relevant regime. Furthermore, insights into the general structure of the spin-anisotropic model of CoNb 2 O 6 and related zigzag chain materials are also provided and a discussion of the effects of additional longitudinal field on the spectrum is given.

1-dimensional spin chains↗
DOE OSTI2021

Effect of Mechanical Deformation on the Dielectric Electric Field in Dynamic Umbilical Cables

Wave energy converter (WEC) systems have unique umbilical cable design requirements compared to conventional marine designs. Due to their dynamic nature, WEC umbilical cables are required to handle increased loads and larger motions over longer deployment scenarios. However, the life expectancy of dynamic umbilical cables is predominantly analyzed for mechanical fatigue, with little consideration given to the effect of mechanical stress on the response of the dielectric as it has been previously assumed that the non-polymeric components will fail prior to the polymeric components. In this work, we explore the effects of mechanical bending on the concentration of the electric field in the insulation of a conceptual three-core dynamic umbilical cable to determine the limiting requirements for life expectancy. A conceptual industrial schematic of a medium voltage dynamic umbilical cable was used as the basis for the WEC system under study. Simulations on the dynamic umbilical cable were performed using COMSOL Multiphysics®. Mechanical loads up to the calculated limit (2.64 m minimum bend radius or 388 kN transverse load) were applied to the dynamic umbilical in a step-wise fashion with one end of the umbilical cable fixed. One-way coupling in three-dimensions was conducted by first determining the engineering strains, then using the engineering strains as the initial condition for determination of the Green-Lagrange strains, and lastly calculating the electric field in the deformed dielectric. Based upon the input load, deformation of the dielectric at the minimum bend radius produced an increase in the electric field of more than 12% when compared to the undeformed umbilical cable, which may lead to dielectric breakdown of the insulation prior to mechanical failure of the umbilical cable.

Spencer, Mychal P.↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Particle-in-Cell Method for Plasmas with a Generalized Momentum Formulation, Part I: Model Formulation

Here, this paper formulates a new particle-in-cell method for the Vlasov–Maxwell system. Under the Lorenz gauge condition, Maxwell’s equations for the electromagnetic fields can be written as a collection of scalar and vector wave equations. The use of potentials for the fields motivates the adoption of a Hamiltonian formulation for particles that employs the generalized (conjugate) momentum. A notable advantage offered by the Hamiltonian formulation is the elimination of time derivatives in the Lorenz gauge formulation that are required by the standard Newton–Lorentz treatment of the particles. This allows the fields to retain the full time-accuracy guaranteed by the field solver. The resulting updates for particles require only knowledge of the fields and their spatial derivatives. An analytical method for constructing these spatial derivatives is presented that exploits the underlying integral solution used in the field solver for the wave equations. Moreover, these derivatives are demonstrated to converge at the same rate as the fields in both time and space. The Method of Lines Transpose field solver we consider in this work is globally first-order accurate in time and high-order accurate in space (e.g., fourth- and fifth-order) and belongs to a larger class of methods which are unconditionally stable, can address geometry, and leverage $\mathcal {O}(N)$ fast summation methods for efficiency. We demonstrate the method on several well-established benchmark problems on bounded domains, including a plasma sheath as well as a relativistic particle beam. The efficacy of the proposed formulation is established by comparing with a second-order accurate finite-difference time-domain method that employs a leapfrog time advance for particles and a charge conserving map suitable for bounded domains. The new method shows mesh-independent numerical heating properties even in cases where the plasma Debye length is smaller than the grid spacing. This is an important feature of the new method for problems defined on bounded domains, because it permits the use of coarser grids in space in the representation of the fields. Such a capability has significant implications for the simulation of plasmas in bounded domains with complex geometry, where the ratio between the largest and smallest cells can vary significantly. The use of high-order spatial approximations in the new method also means that fewer grid points are required in order to achieve a fixed accuracy. Our results also suggest that the new method can be used with fewer simulation particles per cell compared to the benchmark explicit method, which permits further computational savings.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Band Engineering of Dirac Semimetals Using Charge Density Waves

New developments in the field of topological matter are often driven by materials discovery, including novel topological insulators, Dirac semimetals and Weyl semimetals. In the last few years, large efforts have been performed to classify all known inorganic materials with respect to their topology. Unfortunately, a large number of topological materials suffer from non-ideal band structures. For example, topological bands are frequently convoluted with trivial ones, and band structure features of interest can appear far below the Fermi level. This leaves just a handful of materials that are intensively studied. Finding strategies to design new topological materials is a solution. Here we introduce a new mechanism that is based on charge density waves and non-symmorphic symmetry to design an idealized Dirac semimetal. We then show experimentally that the antiferromagnetic compound GdSb 0.46 Te 1.48 is a nearly ideal Dirac semimetal based on the proposed mechanism, meaning that most interfering bands at the Fermi level are suppressed. Finally, its highly unusual transport behavior points to a thus far unknown regime, in which Dirac carriers with Fermi energy very close to the node seem to gradually localize in the presence of lattice and magnetic disorder.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Some aspects of the five-dimensional Lovelock black hole spacetime: Strong homotopy retract, perihelion precession and quasistationary levels

Highlights: • Some topological aspects are explored. • The perihelion precession is calculated. • The general Heun functions are applied to obtain analytical solutions. • The quasibound states and the radial wave eigenfunctions are obtained. In this work we explore some mathematical physics aspects of the spherically symmetric Lovelock black hole in high dimensions. Intended for this aim, we thoroughly consider the metric corresponding to the five-dimensional Lovelock black hole spacetime. We construct the strong retractions by the geodesic equations on the background under consideration. As a result, from the topological point of view, we construct the theory of strong homotopy retract, which will allow us, in principle, to better understand some of its suitable applications on astrophysics and cosmology, in particular, in the analysis of the spacetime singularities. We find the solutions of the equation of motion for both radial and angular coordinates, and then we describe the outer (“exterior”) and lower (“interior”) apparent horizons. Indeed, the outer apparent horizon is the last surface from which the light waves could still escape from the black hole. Thus, it is meaningful to analyze some physical phenomena related to quantum particles propagating outside the exterior apparent horizon, in particular, we discuss the quasistationary levels of scalar fields and their radial wave functions, which are given in terms of the general Heun functions. We also calculate the perihelion precession in this background.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Anomalous compressible mode generation by global frame projections of pure Alfven mode

Alfven wave is the single most important physical phenomenon of magneto-hydrodynamic turbulence and has far-reaching impact to almost all studies related to astrophysical magnetic field. Yet the restoration of the Alfven wave fluctuations from a given magnetic field, aka the local Alfven wave problem, is never properly addressed in literature albeit its importance. Previous works model the Alfven wave fluctuation as the perturbation along a straight-line, constant magnetic field. However, Lazarian & Pogosyan (2012) suggested that the decomposition of Alfven wave along a straight line, aka. the global frame decomposition, has a factor of discrepancy to the true local Alfven wave fluctuation. Here, in this paper, we provide a geometric interpretation on how the local Alfven wave is related to the global frame through the use of vector frame formulation. We prove both analytically and numerically that the local frame Alfven wave is an orthogonal transformation of that of the global frame and related by the local Alfvenic Mach number. In other words, when we observe Alfven wave in the global frame of reference, some of the Alfven wave will be mistaken as compressible waves. The importance of frame choices have a far-reaching impact to the analytical studies of MHD turbulence. Combining the frame formalism and the new techniques we can have accurate measurement to some of the fundamental turbulence properties like the inclination angle of mean magnetic field relative to the line of sight.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗