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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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Relative outcomes of climate change mitigation related to global temperature versus sea-level rise
There is a common perception that, if human societies make the significant adjustments necessary to substantively cut emissions of greenhouse gases, global temperature increases could be stabilized, and the most dangerous consequences of climate change could be avoided. Here we show results from global coupled climate model simulations with the new representative concentration pathway mitigation scenarios to 2300 to illustrate that, with aggressive mitigation in two of the scenarios, globally averaged temperature increase indeed could be stabilized either below 2 °C or near 3 °C above pre-industrial values. However, even as temperatures stabilize, sea level would continue to rise. With little mitigation, future sea-level rise would be large and continue unabated for centuries. Though sea-level rise cannot be stopped for at least the next several hundred years, with aggressive mitigation it can be slowed down, and this would buy time for adaptation measures to be adopted.
Probing disorder in isometric pyrochlore and related complex oxides
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Tuning piezoelectric properties through epitaxy of La 2 Ti 2 O 7 and related thin films
Current piezoelectric sensors and actuators are limited to operating temperatures less than ~200ºC due to the low Curie temperature of the piezoelectric material. The strengthening the piezoelectric coupling of high-temperature piezoelectric materials, such as La 2 Ti 2 O 7 (LTO), would allow sensors to operate across a broad temperature range. The crystalline orientation and piezoelectric coupling direction of LTO thin films can be controlled by epitaxial matching to SrTiO 3 (001), SrTiO 3 (110), and rutile TiO 2 (110) substrates via pulsed laser deposition. The structure and phase purity of the films are investigated by x-ray diffraction and scanning transmission electron microscopy. Piezoresponse force microscopy is used to measure the in-plane and out-of-plane piezoelectric coupling in the films. The strength of the out-of-plane piezoelectric coupling can be increased when the piezoelectric direction is rotated partially out-of-plane via epitaxy. The strongest out-of-plane coupling is observed for LTO/STO(001). Deposition on TiO 2 (110) results in epitaxial La 2/3 TiO 3 , an orthorhombic perovskite of interest as a microwave dielectric material and an ion conductor. La 2/3 TiO 3 can be difficult to stabilize in bulk form, and epitaxial stabilization on TiO 2 (110) is a promising route to realize La 2/3 TiO 3 for both fundamental studies and device applications. Overall, these results confirm that control of the crystalline orientation of epitaxial LTO-based materials can govern the resulting functional properties.
Overcoming ammonia synthesis scaling relations with plasma-enabled catalysis
Correlations between the energies of elementary steps limit the rates of thermally catalysed reactions at surfaces. Here, we show how these limitations can be circumvented in ammonia synthesis by coupling catalysts to a non-thermal plasma. We postulate that plasma-induced vibrational excitations in N 2 decrease dissociation barriers without influencing subsequent reaction steps. We develop a density-functional-theory-based microkinetic model to incorporate this effect, and parameterize the model using N 2 vibrational excitations observed in a dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma. We predict plasma enhancement to be particularly great on metals that bind nitrogen too weakly to be active thermally. Ammonia synthesis rates observed in a dielectric-barrier-discharge plasma reactor are consistent with predicted enhancements and predicted changes in the optimal metal catalyst. The results provide guidance for optimizing catalysts for application with plasmas.
Thickness dependence of spin polarization and electronic structure of ultra-thin films of MoS2 and related transition-metal dichalcogenides
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On a Riesz basis of exponentials related to the eigenvalues of an analytic operator and application to a non-selfadjoint problem deduced from a perturbation method for sound radiation
In the present paper, we prove that the family of exponentials associated to the eigenvalues of the perturbed operator T(ε) ≔ T{sub 0} + εT{sub 1} + ε{sup 2}T{sub 2} + … + ε{sup k}T{sub k} + … forms a Riesz basis in L{sup 2}(0, T), T > 0, where ε∈C, T{sub 0} is a closed densely defined linear operator on a separable Hilbert space H with domain D(T{sub 0}) having isolated eigenvalues with multiplicity one, while T{sub 1}, T{sub 2}, … are linear operators on H having the same domain D⊃D(T{sub 0}) and satisfying a specific growing inequality. After that, we generalize this result using a H-Lipschitz function. As application, we consider a non-selfadjoint problem deduced from a perturbation method for sound radiation.
Relation between delayed feedback and delay-coupled systems and its application to chaotic lasers
We present a systematic approach to identify the similarities and differences between a chaotic system with delayed feedback and two mutually delay-coupled systems. We consider the general case in which the coupled systems are either unsynchronized or in a generally synchronized state, in contrast to the mostly studied case of identical synchronization. We construct a new time-series for each of the two coupling schemes, respectively, and present analytic evidence and numerical confirmation that these two constructed time-series are statistically equivalent. From the construction, it then follows that the distribution of time-series segments that are small compared to the overall delay in the system is independent of the value of the delay and of the coupling scheme. By focusing on numerical simulations of delay-coupled chaotic lasers, we present a practical example of our findings.
State-of-the-art of non-destructive testing methods and technologies for application to nuclear power plant safety-related concrete structures
The inspection of nuclear power plant concrete structures presents challenges different from conventional civil engineering structures. Wall thicknesses can be in excess of one meter and the structures often have increased steel reinforcement density with more complex detailing. The accessibility for any testing method may be limited due to the presence of liners and other components and there can be a number of penetrations or cast-in-place items present. The objective of the report is to present the state-of-the art of non-destructive testing methods and technologies for the inspection of thick, heavily-reinforced nuclear power plant concrete cross-sections with particular respect to: •locating steel reinforcement and identification of its cover depth •locating tendon ducts and identification of the condition of the grout materials •detection of cracking, voids, delamination, and honeycombing in concrete structures •detection of inclusions of different materials or voids adjacent to the concrete side of the containment liner •methods capable of identification of corrosion occurrence on the concrete side of the containment liner.
Fast, purely growing collisionless reconnection as an eigenfunction problem related to but not involving linear whistler waves
If either finite electron inertia or finite resistivity is included in 2D magnetic reconnection, the two-fluid equations become a pair of second-order differential equations coupling the out-of-plane magnetic field and vector potential to each other to form a fourth-order system. The coupling at an X-point is such that out-of-plane even-parity electric and odd-parity magnetic fields feed off each other to produce instability if the scale length on which the equilibrium magnetic field changes is less than the ion skin depth. The instability growth rate is given by an eigenvalue of the fourth-order system determined by boundary and symmetry conditions. The instability is a purely growing mode, not a wave, and has growth rate of the order of the whistler frequency. The spatial profile of both the out-of-plane electric and magnetic eigenfunctions consists of an inner concave region having extent of the order of the electron skin depth, an intermediate convex region having extent of the order of the equilibrium magnetic field scale length, and a concave outer exponentially decaying region. If finite electron inertia and resistivity are not included, the inner concave region does not exist and the coupled pair of equations reduces to a second-order differential equation having non-physical solutions at an X-point.
Band gap estimation from temperature dependent Seebeck measurement—Deviations from the 2e|S|maxTmax relation
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Dynamic crossover in deeply cooled water confined in MCM-41 at 4 kbar and its relation to the liquid-liquid transition hypothesis
With quasi-elastic neutron scattering, we study the single-particle dynamics of the water confined in a hydrophilic silica material, MCM-41, at 4 kbar. A dynamic crossover phenomenon is observed at 219 K. We compare this dynamic crossover with the one observed at ambient pressure and find that (a) above the crossover temperature, the temperature dependence of the characteristic relaxation time at ambient pressure exhibits a more evident super-Arrhenius behavior than that at 4 kbar. Especially, at temperatures below about 230 K, the relaxation time at 4 kbar is even smaller than that at ambient pressure. This feature is different from many other liquids. (b) Below the crossover temperature, the Arrhenius behavior found at ambient pressure has a larger activation energy compared to the one found at 4 kbar. We ascribe the former to the difference between the local structure of the low-density liquid (LDL) phase and that of the high-density liquid (HDL) phase, and the latter to the difference between the strength of the hydrogen bond of the LDL and that of the HDL. Therefore, we conclude that the phenomena observed in this paper are consistent with the LDL-to-HDL liquid-liquid transition hypothesis.
Investigating flow patterns and related dynamics in multi-instability turbulent plasmas using a three-point cross-phase time delay estimation velocimetry scheme
Complexities of flow patterns in the azimuthal cross-section of a cylindrical magnetized helicon plasma and the corresponding plasma dynamics are investigated by means of a novel scheme for time delay estimation velocimetry. The advantage of this introduced method is the capability of calculating the time-averaged 2D velocity fields of propagating wave-like structures and patterns in complex spatiotemporal data. It is able to distinguish and visualize the details of simultaneously present superimposed entangled dynamics and it can be applied to fluid-like systems exhibiting frequently repeating patterns (e.g., waves in plasmas, waves in fluids, dynamics in planetary atmospheres, etc.). The velocity calculations are based on time delay estimation obtained from cross-phase analysis of time series. Each velocity vector is unambiguously calculated from three time series measured at three different non-collinear spatial points. This method, when applied to fast imaging, has been crucial to understand the rich plasma dynamics in the azimuthal cross-section of a cylindrical linear magnetized helicon plasma. The capabilities and the limitations of this velocimetry method are discussed and demonstrated for two completely different plasma regimes, i.e., for quasi-coherent wave dynamics and for complex broadband wave dynamics involving simultaneously present multiple instabilities.
A single amino acid distorts the Fc γ receptor IIIb/CD16b structure upon binding immunoglobulin G1 and reduces affinity relative to CD16a
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New reactions of diazene and related species for modelling combustion of amine fuels
Potential energy surfaces for reactions involving N 2 H 2 isomers of diazene (diimide) have been explored using density functional theory, with energies based on coupled-cluster theory. A focus is on processes that create or consume these species, and isomerisation between the E (trans) and Z (cis) forms of HNNH. Furthermore, these include isomerisation and dissociation pathways for HNNH, addition of H atoms to form N 2 H 3 , abstraction by H atoms yielding short-lived NNH, and abstraction reactions of H with N 2 H 3 . Transition state and capture theories are applied for high-pressure-limiting behaviour, while low-pressure and falloff regions are characterised via the methods of Troe and coworkers. Rate constants and thermochemistry are provided to improve models of diamine chemistry, relevant to the combustion of NH 3 especially at high concentrations, high pressures or under reducing conditions. Results indicate that amine radical recombination mainly yields the E HNNH isomer, while H-abstraction from N 2 H 3 results in E HNNH and H 2 NN. However, at elevated temperature E → Z isomerisation becomes competitive, and Z HNNH, being more reactive, acts to enhance the diazene consumption rate.
NONLINEAR COLOR-METALLICITY RELATIONS OF GLOBULAR CLUSTERS. V. NONLINEAR ABSORPTION-LINE INDEX VERSUS METALLICITY RELATIONS AND BIMODAL INDEX DISTRIBUTIONS OF M31 GLOBULAR CLUSTERS
Recent spectroscopy on the globular cluster (GC) system of M31 with unprecedented precision witnessed a clear bimodality in absorption-line index distributions of old GCs. Such division of extragalactic GCs, so far asserted mainly by photometric color bimodality, has been viewed as the presence of merely two distinct metallicity subgroups within individual galaxies and forms a critical backbone of various galaxy formation theories. Given that spectroscopy is a more detailed probe into stellar population than photometry, the discovery of index bimodality may point to the very existence of dual GC populations. However, here we show that the observed spectroscopic dichotomy of M31 GCs emerges due to the nonlinear nature of metallicity-to-index conversion and thus one does not necessarily have to invoke two separate GC subsystems. We take this as a close analogy to the recent view that metallicity-color nonlinearity is primarily responsible for observed GC color bimodality. We also demonstrate that the metallicity-sensitive magnesium line displays non-negligible metallicity-index nonlinearity and Balmer lines show rather strong nonlinearity. This gives rise to bimodal index distributions, which are routinely interpreted as bimodal metallicity distributions, not considering metallicity-index nonlinearity. Our findings give a new insight into the constitution of M31's GC system, which could change much of the current thought on the formation of GC systems and their host galaxies.