SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “argument”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 253 records · Page 14

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2015

WE-B-304-02: Treatment Planning Evaluation and Optimization Should Be Biologically and Not Dose/volume Based

The ultimate goal of radiotherapy treatment planning is to find a treatment that will yield a high tumor control probability (TCP) with an acceptable normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). Yet most treatment planning today is not based upon optimization of TCPs and NTCPs, but rather upon meeting physical dose and volume constraints defined by the planner. It has been suggested that treatment planning evaluation and optimization would be more effective if they were biologically and not dose/volume based, and this is the claim debated in this month’s Point/Counterpoint. After a brief overview of biologically and DVH based treatment planning by the Moderator Colin Orton, Joseph Deasy (for biological planning) and Charles Mayo (against biological planning) will begin the debate. Some of the arguments in support of biological planning include: this will result in more effective dose distributions for many patients DVH-based measures of plan quality are known to have little predictive value there is little evidence that either D95 or D98 of the PTV is a good predictor of tumor control sufficient validated outcome prediction models are now becoming available and should be used to drive planning and optimization Some of the arguments against biological planning include: several decades of experience with DVH-based planning should not be discarded we do not know enough about the reliability and errors associated with biological models the radiotherapy community in general has little direct experience with side by side comparisons of DVH vs biological metrics and outcomes it is unlikely that a clinician would accept extremely cold regions in a CTV or hot regions in a PTV, despite having acceptable TCP values Learning Objectives: To understand dose/volume based treatment planning and its potential limitations To understand biological metrics such as EUD, TCP, and NTCP To understand biologically based treatment planning and its potential limitations.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2015

WE-B-304-03: Biological Treatment Planning

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2019

Response to comment on “Giant electromechanical coupling of relaxor ferroelectrics controlled by polar nanoregion vibrations”

Gehring et al . argue that a splitting observed by us in the transverse acoustic (TA) phonon in the relaxor ferroelectric Pb[(Mg 1/3 Nb 2/3 ) 1- x Ti x ]O 3 with x = 0.30 (PMN-30PT) is caused by a combination of inelastic-elastic multiple scattering processes called ghostons. Their argument is motivated by differences observed between their measurements made on a triple-axis spectrometer and our measurements on a time-of-flight spectrometer. We show that the differences can be explained by differences in the instrument resolution functions. We demonstrate that the multiple scattering conditions proposed by Gehring et al . do not work for our scattering geometry. We also demonstrate that, when a ghoston is present, it is too weak to detect and therefore cannot explain the splitting. Finally, this phonon splitting is just one part of the argument, and the overall conclusion of the original paper is supported by other results.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2012

De sitter space and perpetuum mobile

The general arguments that any interacting nonconformal classical field theory in de Sitter space leads to the possibility of constructing a perpetuum mobile is given. The arguments are based on the observation that massive free falling particles can radiate other massive particles on the classical level as seen by the free falling observer. The intensity of the radiation process is not zero even for particles with any finite mass, i.e., with a wavelength which is within causal domain. Hence, we conclude that either de Sitter space cannot exist eternally or that one can build a perpetuum mobile.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2011

On the masses of elementary particles

We make an attempt to describe the spectrum of masses of elementary particles, as it comes out empirically in six distinct scales. We argue for some rather well defined mass scales, like the electron mass; we elaborate on the assumption that there is a minimum mass associated to any electric charge. Another natural mass scale is Λ = Λ{sub QCD} coming arbitrarily at quantizing a classically conformal SU(3){sub c} theory. Indeed, some scales of masses will cover also masses of composite particles or mass differences. We extend some plausible arguments for other scales, as binding or self-energy effects of the microscopic forces, plus some speculative uses, here and there, of gravitation. We also consider briefly exotics like supersymmetry and extra dimensions in relation to the mass scale problem, including some mathematical arguments (e.g. triality), which might throw light on the three-generation problem. We also address briefly the issues of dark matter and dark energy. The paper is rather tentative and speculative and does not make many predictions, but it aims to explain some features of the particle spectrum.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2021

A Kinetic Monte Carlo Approach for Simulating Cascading Transmission Line Failure

In this work, cascading transmission line failures are studied through a dynamical model of the power system operating under fixed conditions. The power grid is modeled as a stochastic dynamical system where first-principles electromechanical dynamics are excited by small Gaussian disturbances in demand and generation around a specified operating point. In this context, a single line failure is interpreted in a large deviation context as a first escape event across a surface in phase space defined by line security constraints. The resulting system of stochastic differential equations admits a transverse decomposition of the drift, which leads to considerable simplification in evaluating the quasipotential (rate function) and, consequently, computation of exit rates. Tractable expressions for the rate of transmission line failure in a restricted network are derived from large deviation theory arguments and validated against numerical simulations. Extensions to realistic settings are considered, and individual line failure models are aggregated into a Markov model of cascading failure inspired by chemical kinetics. Cascades are generated by traversing a graph composed of weighted edges representing transitions to degraded network topologies. Numerical results indicate that the Markov model can produce cascades with qualitative power-law properties similar to those observed in empirical cascades.

Kinetic Monte Carlo, rare events, Cascading Failur↗

DOE OSTI2026

Quantum Time-Space Tradeoffs for Matrix Problems

We consider the time and space required for quantum computers to solve a wide variety of problems involving matrices, many of which have only been analyzed classically in prior work. Our main results show that for a range of linear algebra problems—including matrix-vector product, matrix inversion, matrix multiplication and powering—existing classical time-space tradeoffs, several of which are tight for every space bound, also apply to quantum algorithms with at most a constant factor loss. For example, for almost all fixed matrices 𝐴, including the discrete Fourier transform matrix, we prove that quantum circuits with at most 𝑇 input queries and 𝑆 qubits of memory require 𝑇 = Ω⁢(𝑛 2 /𝑆) to compute matrix-vector product 𝐴⁢𝑥 for 𝑥 ∈{0,1 𝑛 . We similarly prove that matrix multiplication for 𝑛 ×𝑛 binary matrices requires 𝑇 = Ω⁢(𝑛 3 /$\sqrt{𝑆}$). Because many of our lower bounds are matched by deterministic algorithms with the same time and space complexity, our results show that quantum computers cannot provide any asymptotic advantage for these problems with any space bound. We obtain matching lower bounds for the stronger notion of quantum cumulative memory complexity—the sum of the space per layer of a circuit. We also consider Boolean (i.e., AND-OR) matrix multiplication and matrix-vector products, improving the previous quantum time-space tradeoff lower bounds for 𝑛 × 𝑛 Boolean matrix multiplication to 𝑇 = Ω⁢(𝑛 2.5 /𝑆 1/4 ) from 𝑇 = Ω⁢(𝑛 2.5 /𝑆 1/2 ). Our improved lower bound for Boolean matrix multiplication is based on a new coloring argument that extracts more from the strong direct product theorem that was the basis for prior work. To obtain our tight lower bounds for linear algebra problems, we require much stronger bounds than strong direct product theorems. We obtain these bounds by adding a new bucketing method to the quantum recording-query technique of Zhandry that lets us apply classical arguments to upper bound the success probability of quantum circuits.

lower bounds↗

DOE OSTI2024

On interpretation of fluctuations of conserved charges at high T

Abstract Fluctuations of conserved charges calculated on the lattice which can be measured experimentally, are well reproduced by a hadron resonanse gas model at temperatures below$$T_{ch} \sim 155$$ T ch ∼ 155 MeV and radically deviate from the hadron resonance gas predictions above the chiral restoration crossover. This behaviour is typically interpreted as an indication of deconfinement in the quark-gluon plasma regime. We present an argument that this interpretation may be too simple. The argument is based on the scaling of quantities with the number of colors: demonstration of deconfinement and QGP requires observable that is sensitive to$$\sim N_c^2$$ ∼ N c 2 gluons while the conserved charges are sensitive only to quarks and above$$T_{ch}$$ T ch scale as$$N_c^1$$ N c 1 . The latter scaling is consistent with the existence of an intermediate regime characterized by restored chiral symmetry and by approximate chiral spin symmetry which is a symmetry of confining interaction. In this regime the energy density, pressure and entropy density scale as$$N_c^1$$ N c 1 . In the large$$N_c$$ N c limit this regime might become a distinct phase separated from the hadron gas and from QGP by phase transitions. A natural observable that associates with deconfinement and is directly sensitive to deconfined$$N_c^2-1$$ N c 2 - 1 gluons is the Polyakov loop; in the$$N_c=3$$ N c = 3 world it remains very close to 0 at temperatures well above chiral crossover, reaches the value$$\sim 0.5$$ ∼ 0.5 around$$\sim 3T_{ch}$$ ∼ 3 T ch and the value close to 1 at temperatures$$\sim 1$$ ∼ 1 GeV.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2025

Deciphering spin-parity assignments of nuclear levels

Spin-parity assignments of nuclear levels are critical for understanding nuclear structure and reactions. However, inconsistent notation conventions and ambiguous reporting in research papers often lead to confusion and misinterpretations. Here, this paper examines the policies of the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) and the evaluations by Endt and collaborators, highlighting key differences in their approaches to spin-parity notation. Sources of confusion are identified, including ambiguous use of strong and weak arguments and the conflation of new experimental results with prior constraints. Recommendations are provided to improve clarity and consistency in reporting spin-parity assignments, emphasizing the need for explicit notation conventions, clear differentiation of argument strengths, community education, and separate reporting of new findings. These steps aim to enhance the accuracy and utility of nuclear data for both researchers and evaluators.

Experimental Nuclear Physics↗

DOE OSTI2016

From Veneziano to Riemann: A string theory statement of the Riemann hypothesis

Not provided.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2025

User-based I/O Profiling for Leadership Scale HPC Workloads

I/O constitutes a significant portion of most of the application run-time. Spawning many such applications concurrently on an HPC system leads to severe I/O contention. Thus, understanding and subsequently reducing I/O contention induced by such multi-tenancy is critical for the efficient and reliable performance of the HPC system. In this study, we demonstrate that an application’s performance is influenced by the command line arguments passed to the job submission. We model an application’s I/O behavior based on two factors: past I/O behavior within a time window and user-configured I/O settings via command-line arguments. We conclude that I/O patterns for well-known HPC applications like E3SM and LAMMP are predictable, with an average uncertainty below 0.25 (A probability of 80%) and near zero (A probability of 100%) within a day. However, I/O pattern variance increases as the study time window lengthens. Additionally, we show that for 38 users and at least 50 applications constituting approximately 93000 job submissions, there is a high correlation between a submitted command line and the past command lines made within 1 to 10 days submitted by the user. We claim the length of this time window is unique per user.

Yazdani, Ahmad Hossein [Virginia Tech, Blacksburg]↗

DOE OSTI2022

EAP Patterns

EAP Patterns: Memory access and iteration patterns from the EAP code base with the physics removed. This is intended to be a serial app representing memory access patterns. We will populate the data structures from EAP output files to provide representative patterns of face and cell loops within the EAP code base The arguments to the program are the EAP output file and the number of MPI processors to emulate. Currently there is no MPI in the application and the number of processors represents a means of emulating the halo (clone) cells around the domain of the given processor. An optional argument `processor_ID` can be provided to specify the processor to emulate. In the future we plan to include the ability to run multiple MPI ranks to more accurately represent the on-node demands on memory bandwidth.

Swaminarayan, Sriram↗

DOE OSTI2026

OpenStudio®-MCP [SWR-26-035]

OpenStudio®-MCP is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets AI assistants perform building energy modeling through natural language. Rather than requiring users to learn the OpenStudio® SDK, EnergyPlus® scripting, or Ruby/Python automation, the server translates conversational requests into sequences of tool calls that create models, design HVAC systems, run simulations, and extract results — all within a single chat session. The server's 124 tools are organized into a skills architecture where each skill encapsulates a domain of building energy modeling (envelope, HVAC, loads, weather, simulation, results) behind typed, LLM-friendly interfaces. High-leverage operations like applying ASHRAE 90.1 baseline systems or generating standards-compliant typical buildings are exposed as single tool calls that internally wire dozens of OpenStudio® objects. Bundled measures from ComStock™ and Openstudio® -common-measures-gem are wrapped with dedicated tools and typed arguments rather than exposed through a generic measure interface, so AI models get consistent, error-resistant recipes without needing to discover measure arguments at runtime. A key design decision is structured results extraction: six SQL-based tools return surgical ~300–1,000 token responses (end-use breakdowns, envelope summaries, HVAC sizing, timeseries data) instead of requiring the AI to parse ~100K-token raw HTML reports, making iterative design exploration practical within context window limits. The codebase is designed as a reference implementation — explicit, well-commented, and modular — so that other simulation engines (EnergyPlus® standalone, TRNSYS, DOE-2) can use it as a template for building their own MCP servers.

Ball, Brian [National Laboratory of the Rockies (N↗

DOE OSTI2023

Evidence of Mixed Scaling for Mean Profile Similarity in the Stable Atmospheric Surface Layer

A new mixed scaling parameter Z = z/(Lh)1/2 is proposed for similarity in the stable atmospheric surface layer, where z is the height, L is the Obukhov length, and h is the boundary layer depth. In comparison with the parameter ζ = z/L from Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST), the new parameter Z leads to improved mean profile similarity for wind speed and air temperature in large-eddy simulations. It also yields the same linear similarity relation for CASES-99 field measurements, including in the strongly stable (but still turbulent) regime where large deviations from MOST are observed. Results further suggest that similarity for turbulent energy dissipation rate depends on both Z and ζ. The proposed mixed scaling of Z and relevance of h can be explained by physical arguments related to the limit of z-less stratification that is reached asymptotically above the surface layer. The presented evidence and fitted similarity relations are promising, but the results and arguments are limited to a small sample of idealized stationary stable boundary layers. Here, corroboration is needed from independent datasets and analyses, including for complex and transient conditions not tested here.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

The DPG Method for the Convection-Reaction Problem, Revisited

In this work, we study both conforming and non-conforming versions of the practical DPG method for the convection-reaction problem. We determine that the most common approach for DPG stability analysis – construction of a local Fortin operator – is infeasible for the convection-reaction problem. We then develop a line of argument based on a direct proof of discrete stability; we find that employing a polynomial enrichment for the test space does not suffice for this purpose, motivating the introduction of a (two-element) subgrid mesh. The argument combines mathematical analysis with numerical experiments.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2019

IMHO Fine-Tuning Improves Claim Detection

Claims are the central component of an argument. Detecting claims across different domains or data sets can often be challenging due to their varying conceptualization. We propose to alleviate this problem by fine tuning a language model using a Reddit corpus of 5.5 million opinionated claims. These claims are self-labeled by their authors using the internet acronyms IMO/IMHO (in my (humble) opinion). Empirical results show that using this approach improves the state of art performance across four benchmark argumentation data sets by an average of 4 absolute F1 points in claim detection. As these data sets include diverse domains such as social media and student essays this improvement demonstrates the robustness of fine-tuning on this novel corpus.

Chakrabarty, Tuhin↗

DOE OSTI2012

A Summary of Fault Recurrence and Strain Rates in the Vicinity of the Hanford Site

This document is one in a series of topical reports compiled by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to summarize technical information on selected topics important to the performance of a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of the Hanford Site. The purpose of this report is to summarize available data and analyses relevant to fault recurrence and strain rates within the Yakima Fold Belt. Strain rates have met with contention in the expert community and may have a significant potential for impact on the seismic hazard estimate at the Hanford Site. This report identifies the alternative conceptual models relevant to this technical issue and the arguments and data that support those models. It provides a brief description of the technical issue and principal uncertainties; a general overview on the nature of the technical issue, along with alternative conceptual models, supporting arguments and information, and uncertainties; and finally, suggests some prospective approaches to reducing uncertainties about earthquake recurrence rates for the Yakima Fold Belt.

Bjornstad, Bruce N.↗

DOE OSTI2012

A Summary of Coupled, Uncoupled, and Hybrid Tectonic Models for the Yakima Fold Belt

This document is one in a series of topical reports compiled by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to summarize technical information on selected topics important to the performance of a probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of the Hanford Site. The purpose of this report is to summarize the range of opinions and supporting information expressed by the expert community regarding whether a coupled or uncoupled model, or a combination of both, best represents structures in the Yakima Fold Belt. This issue was assessed to have a high level of contention with up to moderate potential for impact on the hazard estimate. This report defines the alternative conceptual models relevant to this technical issue and the arguments and data that support those models. It provides a brief description of the technical issue and principal uncertainties; a general overview on the nature of the technical issue, along with alternative conceptual models, supporting arguments and information, and uncertainties; and finally, suggests some possible approaches for reducing uncertainties regarding this issue.

Chamness, Michele A.↗