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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Determination of the equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter

A new Time Projection Chamber (TPC), called the SπRIT (SAMURAI pion Reconstruction Ion Tracker) TPC was constructed and used successfully in two experiments with the SAMURAI spectrometer at RIKEN, Japan to study the equation of state of neutron rich matter. As a result of the project, the SπRIT collaboration, an international collaboration consisting of groups from US, Japan, Korea, Poland, China and Germany, has been formed to pursue the science opportunities provided by the SπRIT TPC. After completion of the TPC and the two experiments, the collaboration continues to develop the software to analyze the SπRIT experiments and extract constraints of symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities. Over 250 TB of data have been obtained in the last SπRIT TPC experimental campaign. Construction of the TPC provided opportunities for the scientists to develop new designs for the light-weight and thin-walled field cage for the large pad plane and for the gating grid. Two PhD students (1 US and 1 Korea) graduated in 2016 based on their research on the TPC. At least four more doctoral theses (2 US, 1 Japan and 1 Korea) based on physics from the SπRIT experiments are expected.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A SIMPLE METHOD FOR MODELING COLLISION PROCESSES IN PLASMAS WITH A KAPPA ENERGY DISTRIBUTION

We demonstrate that a nonthermal distribution of particles described by a kappa distribution can be accurately approximated by a weighted sum of Maxwell–Boltzmann distributions. We apply this method to modeling collision processes in kappa-distribution plasmas, with a particular focus on atomic processes important for solar physics. The relevant collision process rate coefficients are generated by summing appropriately weighted Maxwellian rate coefficients. This method reproduces the rate coefficients for a kappa distribution to an estimated accuracy of better than 3%. This is equal to or better than the accuracy of rate coefficients generated using “reverse-engineering” methods, which attempt to extract the needed cross sections from the published Maxwellian rate coefficient data and then reconvolve the extracted cross sections with the desired kappa distribution. Our approach of summing Maxwellian rate coefficients is easy to implement using existing spectral analysis software. Moreover, the weights in the sum of the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution rate coefficients can be found for any value of the parameter κ, thereby enabling one to model plasmas with a time-varying κ. Tabulated Maxwellian fitting parameters are given for specific values of κ from 1.7 to 100. We also provide polynomial fits to these parameters over this entire range. Several applications of our technique are presented, including the plasma equilibrium charge state distribution (CSD), predicting line ratios, modeling the influence of electron impact multiple ionization on the equilibrium CSD of kappa-distribution plasmas, and calculating the time-varying CSD of plasmas during a solar flare.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Hardware-accelerated inference for real-time gravitational-wave astronomy

The field of transient astronomy has seen a revolution with the first gravitational-wave detections and the arrival of multi-messenger observations they enabled. Transformed by the first detection of binary black hole and binary neutron star mergers, computational demands in gravitational-wave astronomy are expected to grow by at least a factor of two over the next five years as the global network of kilometer-scale interferometers are brought to design sensitivity. With the increase in detector sensitivity, real-time delivery of gravitational-wave alerts will become increasingly important as an enabler of multi-messenger followup. In this work, we report a novel implementation and deployment of deep learning inference for real-time gravitational-wave data denoising and astrophysical source identification. This is accomplished using a generic Inference-as-a-Service model that is capable of adapting to the future needs of gravitational-wave data analysis. Overall, our implementation allows seamless incorporation of hardware accelerators and also enables the use of commercial or private (dedicated) as-a-service computing. Based on our results, we propose a paradigm shift in low-latency and offline computing in gravitational-wave astronomy. Such a shift can address key challenges in peak-usage, scalability and reliability, and provide a data analysis platform particularly optimized for deep learning applications. The achieved sub-millisecond scale latency will also be relevant for any machine learning-based real-time control systems that may be invoked in the operation of near-future and next generation ground-based laser interferometers, as well as the front-end collection, distribution and processing of data from such instruments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

KAPPA: A PACKAGE FOR SYNTHESIS OF OPTICALLY THIN SPECTRA FOR THE NON-MAXWELLIAN κ-DISTRIBUTIONS BASED ON THE CHIANTI DATABASE

Non-Maxwellian κ-distributions have been detected in the solar transition region and in flares. These distributions are characterized by a high-energy tail and a near-Maxwellian core and are known to have a significant impact on the resulting optically thin spectra arising from collisionally dominated astrophysical plasmas. We developed the KAPPA package for the synthesis of such line and continuum spectra. The package is based on the freely available CHIANTI database and software, and can be used in a similar manner. Ionization and recombination rates together with the ionization equilibria are provided for a range of κ values. Distribution-averaged collision strengths for excitation are obtained using an approximate method for all transitions in all ions available within CHIANTI. The validity of this approximate method is tested through a comparison with direct calculations. Typical precisions of better than 5% are found with all cases being within 10%. Tools for the calculation of synthetic line and continuum intensities are provided and described. Examples of the synthetic spectra and SDO/AIA responses to emission for the κ-distributions are given.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

$\mathrm{BUDDI}$-$\mathrm{MaNGA}$ $\mathrm{I}$: A statistical sample of cleanly decomposed bulge and disc spectra

Many galaxies display clear bulges and discs, and understanding how these components form is a vital step towards understanding how the galaxy has evolved into what we see today. The BUDDI-MaNGA project aims to study galaxy evolution and morphological transformations through the star-formation histories of the bulges and discs. We have applied our buddi software to galaxies from the MaNGA Survey in the SDSS DR15 in order to isolate their bulge and disc spectra, from which we derived their stellar populations. To date, this work provides the largest sample of clean bulge and disc spectra extracted from IFU datacubes using the galaxies light profile information, and will form the basis for a series of papers aiming to answer open questions on how galaxies have formed and evolved, and the role of their individual structures. Here this paper presents an introduction to the project, including an overview of these fits, a characterization of the sample, and a series of tests on the fits to ensure reliability.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

HIGH-RESOLUTION IR ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY OF POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS: THE REALM OF ANHARMONICITY

We report on an experimental and theoretical investigation of the importance of anharmonicity in the 3-μm CH stretching region of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules. We present mass-resolved, high-resolution spectra of the gas-phase cold (∼4 K) linear PAH molecules naphthalene, anthracene, and tetracene. The measured IR spectra show a surprisingly high number of strong vibrational bands. For naphthalene, the observed bands are well separated and limited by the rotational contour, revealing the band symmetries. Comparisons are made to the harmonic and anharmonic approaches of the widely used Gaussian software. We also present calculated spectra of these acenes using the computational program SPECTRO, providing anharmonic predictions with a Fermi-resonance treatment that utilizes intensity redistribution. We demonstrate that the anharmonicity of the investigated acenes is strong, dominated by Fermi resonances between the fundamental and double combination modes, with triple combination bands as possible candidates to resolve remaining discrepancies. The anharmonic spectra as calculated with SPECTRO lead to predictions of the main bands that fall within 0.5% of the experimental frequencies. The implications for the aromatic infrared bands, specifically the 3-μm band, are discussed.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Core Cosmology Library: Precision Cosmological Predictions for LSST

The Core Cosmology Library (CCL) provides routines to compute basic cosmological observables to a high degree of accuracy, which have been verified with an extensive suite of validation tests. Predictions are provided for many cosmological quantities, including distances, angular power spectra, correlation functions, halo bias and the halo mass function through state-of-the-art modeling prescriptions available in the literature. Fiducial specifications for the expected galaxy distributions for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) are also included, together with the capability of computing redshift distributions for a user-defined photometric redshift model. A rigorous validation procedure, based on comparisons between CCL and independent software packages, allows us to establish a well-defined numerical accuracy for each predicted quantity. As a result, predictions for correlation functions of galaxy clustering, galaxy-galaxy lensing and cosmic shear are demonstrated to be within a fraction of the expected statistical uncertainty of the observables for the models and in the range of scales of interest to LSST. CCL is an open source software package written in C, with a python interface and publicly available at this https URL: https://github.com/LSSTDESC/CCL

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Stellar metallicity gradients in SDSS galaxies

We infer stellar metallicity and abundance ratio gradients for a sample of red galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Main galaxy sample. Because this sample does not have multiple spectra at various radii in a single galaxy, we measure these gradients statistically. We separate galaxies into stellar mass bins, stack their spectra in redshift bins, and calculate the measured absorption-line indices in projected annuli by differencing spectra in neighboring redshift bins. After determining the line indices, we use stellar population modeling from the EZ-Ages software to calculate ages, metallicities, and abundance ratios within each annulus. Our data cover the central regions of these galaxies, out to slightly higher than 1R{sub e}. We find detectable gradients in metallicity and relatively shallow gradients in abundance ratios, similar to results found for direct measurements of individual galaxies. The gradients are only weakly dependent on stellar mass, and this dependence is well correlated with the change of R{sub e} with mass. Based on these data, we report mean equivalent widths, metallicities, and abundance ratios as a function of mass and velocity dispersion for SDSS early-type galaxies, for fixed apertures of 2.5 kpc and of 0.5R{sub e}.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

LSE-163: Data Products Definition Document

This document describes the data products and processing services to be delivered by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory whilst performing the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). LSST will deliver three levels of data products and services. Prompt data products are computed and released within 24 hours of observation, and include images, difference images, catalogs of sources and objects detected in difference images, and catalogs of Solar System objects. Their primary purpose is to enable rapid follow-up of time-domain events. Data Release data products are computed during annual processing campaigns, and include well-calibrated single-epoch images, deep coadds, and catalogs of objects, sources, and forced sources, enabling static sky and precision time-domain science. The Science Platform will allow for the creation of User Generated data products and will enable science cases that greatly benefit from co-location of user processing and/or data within the Rubin Observatory Data Access Center. LSST will also devote 10% of observing time to programs with special cadence. Their data products will be created using the same software and hardware as Prompt and Data Release products. All data products will be made available using user-friendly databases and web services.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE DATA REDUCTION PIPELINE FOR THE APACHE POINT OBSERVATORY GALACTIC EVOLUTION EXPERIMENT

The Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey III, explores the stellar populations of the Milky Way using the Sloan 2.5-m telescope linked to a high resolution (R ∼ 22,500), near-infrared (1.51–1.70 μm) spectrograph with 300 optical fibers. For over 150,000 predominantly red giant branch stars that APOGEE targeted across the Galactic bulge, disks and halo, the collected high signal-to-noise ratio (>100 per half-resolution element) spectra provide accurate (∼0.1 km s{sup −1}) RVs, stellar atmospheric parameters, and precise (≲0.1 dex) chemical abundances for about 15 chemical species. Here we describe the basic APOGEE data reduction software that reduces multiple 3D raw data cubes into calibrated, well-sampled, combined 1D spectra, as implemented for the SDSS-III/APOGEE data releases (DR10, DR11 and DR12). The processing of the near-IR spectral data of APOGEE presents some challenges for reduction, including automated sky subtraction and telluric correction over a 3°-diameter field and the combination of spectrally dithered spectra. We also discuss areas for future improvement.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cosmology data analysis challenges and opportunities in the LSST sky survey

Fueled by advances in software, microelectronics, and large optics fabrication, a new type of sky survey will soon begin. In a relentless campaign of 15 second exposures with a 3 gigapixel camera, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will cover the sky deeply every week for ten years. LSST will chart billions of remote galaxies, providing multiple probes of the mysterious Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Multiple probes of the effects of dark energy over an unprecedented volume of the universe will allow us to measure how dark energy behaves over time to high precision. Hundreds of petabytes of high dimensional complex data will be mined and compared with Exascale simulations. After reviewing the LSST project, I will describe some of the computational challenges and opportunities.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Covariance matrices for galaxy cluster weak lensing: from virial regime to uncorrelated large-scale structure

Next-generation optical imaging surveys will revolutionize the observations of weak gravitational lensing by galaxy clusters and provide stringent constraints on growth of structure and cosmic acceleration. In these experiments, accurate modelling of covariance matrices of cluster weak lensing plays the key role in obtaining robust measurements of the mean mass of clusters and cosmological parameters. We use a combination of analytical calculations and high-resolution N -body simulations to derive accurate covariance matrices that span from the virial regime to linear scales of the cluster-matter cross-correlation. We validate this calculation using a public ray-tracing lensing simulation and provide a software package for calculating covariance matrices for a wide range of cluster and source sample choices. We discuss the relative importance of shape noise and density fluctuations, the impact of radial bin size, and the impact of off-diagonal elements. For a weak lensing source density n s = 10 arcmin -2 , shape noise typically dominates the variance on comoving scales $r_{\rm p}\lesssim 5\ h^{-1} \, \rm Mpc$. However, for n s = 60 arcmin -2 , potentially achievable with future weak lensing experiments, density fluctuations typically dominate the variance at $r_{\rm p}\gtrsim 1\ h^{-1} \, \rm Mpc$ and remain comparable to shape noise on smaller scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Detecting Dwarf Galaxies Around NGC 55

In order to improve our understanding of the satellite populations of low-mass galaxies, the DECam Local Volume Exploration (DELVE) – DEEP Survey is performing a search for satellites around the isolated, low-mass galaxy, NGC 55. As part of this search, we characterize our dwarf galaxy detection sensitivity by injecting artificial dwarf galaxies into our data set and measuring the fraction that we can recover. Additionally, we inject and recover artificial dwarfs to test how the blending of resolved stars affects the detection of dwarf galaxies. We inject 650 artificial dwarfs across 26 DELVE-DEEP coadded images of the NGC 55 halo and use the software tool, Source Extractor, to perform source recovery. A dwarf-search pipeline is then run on our dwarf-injected catalogs, utilizing the photutils function, find peaks, and detections are recorded as a function of dwarf size and luminosity. Our results demonstrate that we are most sensitive to large, bright dwarf galaxies, and our sensitivity begins to decrease as we approach DELVE-DEEP’s detection limit or blending causes significant reductions in recovered magnitude. We also find that our results are hindered by the limitations of star-galaxy separation applied to distant, faint sources, which is possibly a consequence of the blending of small star clusters within dwarf galaxies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

HPC-driven computational reproducibility in numerical relativity codes: a use case study with IllinoisGRMHD

Abstract Reproducibility of results is a cornerstone of the scientific method. Scientific computing encounters two challenges when aiming for this goal. Firstly, reproducibility should not depend on details of the runtime environment, such as the compiler version or computing environment, so results are verifiable by third-parties. Secondly, different versions of software code executed in the same runtime environment should produceconsistent numerical results for physical quantities. In this manuscript, we test the feasibility of reproducing scientific results obtained using theIllinoisGRMHDcode that is part of an open-source community software for simulation in relativistic astrophysics, theEinstein Toolkit. We verify that numerical results of simulating a single isolated neutron star withIllinoisGRMHDcan be reproduced, and compare them to results reported by the code authors in 2015. We use two different supercomputers: Expanse at SDSC, and Stampede2 at TACC. By compiling the source code archived along with the paper on both Expanse and Stampede2, we find thatIllinoisGRMHDreproduces results published in its announcement paper up to errors comparable to round-off level changes in initial data parameters. We also verify that a current version ofIllinoisGRMHDreproduces these results once we account for bug fixes which have occurred since the original publication.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2016

Multigroup Radiation-Hydrodynamics with a High-Order, Low-Order Method

Recent efforts at Los Alamos National Laboratory to develop a moment-based, scale-bridging [or high-order (HO)–low-order (LO)] algorithm for solving large varieties of the transport (kinetic) systems have shown promising results. A part of our ongoing effort is incorporating this methodology into the framework of the Eulerian Applications Project to achieve algorithmic acceleration of radiationhydrodynamics simulations in production software. By starting from the thermal radiative transfer equations with a simple material-motion correction, we derive a discretely consistent energy balance equation (LO equation). We demonstrate that the corresponding LO system for the Monte Carlo HO solver is closely related to the original LO system without material-motion corrections. We test the implementation on a radiative shock problem and show consistency between the energy densities and temperatures in the HO and LO solutions as well as agreement with the semianalytic solution. We also test the approach on a more challenging two-dimensional problem and demonstrate accuracy enhancements and algorithmic speedups. This paper extends a recent conference paper by including multigroup effects.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Joining X-Ray to Lensing: An Accurate Combined Analysis of MACS J0416.1–2403

We present a novel approach for a combined analysis of X-ray and gravitational lensing data and apply this technique to the merging galaxy cluster MACS J0416.1–2403. The method exploits the information on the intracluster gas distribution that comes from a fit of the X-ray surface brightness and then includes the hot gas as a fixed mass component in the strong-lensing analysis. With our new technique, we can separate the collisional from the collision-less diffuse mass components, thus obtaining a more accurate reconstruction of the dark matter distribution in the core of a cluster. We introduce an analytical description of the X-ray emission coming from a set of dual pseudo-isothermal elliptical mass distributions, which can be directly used in most lensing softwares. By combining Chandra observations with Hubble Frontier Fields imaging and Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer spectroscopy in MACS J0416.1–2403, we measure a projected gas-to-total mass fraction of approximately 10% at 350 kpc from the cluster center. Compared to the results of a more traditional cluster mass model (diffuse halos plus member galaxies), we find a significant difference in the cumulative projected mass profile of the dark matter component and that the dark matter over total mass fraction is almost constant, out to more than 350 kpc. In the coming era of large surveys, these results show the need of multiprobe analyses for detailed dark matter studies in galaxy clusters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Crowdsourcing quality control for Dark Energy Survey images

We have developed a crowdsourcing web application for image quality control employed by the Dark Energy Survey. Dubbed the "DES exposure checker", it renders science-grade images directly to a web browser and allows users to mark problematic features from a set of predefined classes. Users can also generate custom labels and thus help identify previously unknown problem classes. User reports are fed back to hardware and software experts to help mitigate and eliminate recognized issues. We report on the implementation of the application and our experience with its over 100 users, the majority of which are professional or prospective astronomers but not data management experts. We discuss aspects of user training and engagement, and demonstrate how problem reports have been pivotal to rapidly correct artifacts which would likely have been too subtle or infrequent to be recognized otherwise. We conclude with a number of important lessons learned, suggest possible improvements, and recommend this collective exploratory approach for future astronomical surveys or other extensive data sets with a sufficiently large user base. We also release open-source code of the web application and host an online demo versionat http://des-exp-checker.pmelchior.net

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Analysis of Spectral Lines in Large Databases of Synthetic Spectra for Massive Stars

In this paper, we describe a program that identifies in the optical spectrum the main parameters of a spectral line, namely the initial and final wavelengths, and the line depth. Moreover, using numerical calculations, it identifies and removes adjacent lines. Next, the program calculates the equivalent width and the FWHM. The software was tested in a sample of 300 lines in two databases of synthetic spectra generated by the CMFGEN and PoWR codes, and 300 lines in observed spectra from the IACOB database, showing a Gaussian distribution of relative errors, from which it is inferred that 80% of the measured lines have errors less than 17% and only 5% of the lines have errors greater than 26%. The program was also run on the entire database of 45,000 CMFGEN and 202 POWR synthetic spectra, generating a library of H i, He i, and He ii lines necessary to feed the FITspec code for the derivation of stellar parameters: effective temperature, surface gravity, and luminosity.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗