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At least 289 records · Page 16

Transport model comparison studies of intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions

Transport models are the main method to obtain physics information on the nuclear equation of state and in-medium properties of particles from low to relativistic-energy heavy-ion collisions. The Transport Model Evaluation Project (TMEP) has been pursued to test the robustness of transport model predictions in reaching consistent conclusions from the same type of physical model. To this end, calculations under controlled conditions of physical input and set-up were performed with various participating codes. These included both calculations of nuclear matter in a box with periodic boundary conditions, which test separately selected ingredients of a transport code, and more realistic calculations of heavy-ion collisions. Over the years, six studies have been performed within this project. In this intermediate review, we summarize and discuss the present status of the project. We also provide condensed descriptions of the 26 participating codes, which contributed to some part of the project. These include the major codes in use today. After a compact description of the underlying transport approaches, we review the main results of the studies completed so far. They show, that in box calculations the differences between the codes can be well understood and a convergence of the results can be reached. These studies also highlight the systematic differences between the two families of transport codes, known under the names of Boltzmann–Uehling–Uhlenbeck (BUU) and Quantum Molecular Dynamics (QMD) type codes. However, when the codes were compared in full heavy-ion collisions using different physical models, as recently for pion production, they still yielded substantially different results. This calls for further comparisons of heavy-ion collisions with controlled models and of box comparisons of important ingredients, like momentum-dependent fields, which are currently underway. Furthermore, our evaluation studies often indicate improved strategies in performing transport simulations and thus can provide guidance to code developers. Results of transport simulations of heavy-ion collisions from a given code will have more significance if the code can be validated against benchmark calculations such as the ones summarized in this review.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Cross-database comparisons on the greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption, and fossil-fuel use of plastic resin production and their post-use phase impacts

Resin production and post-use pathways have cross-database discrepancies due to different temporal/geographic representation, technologies, and assumptions. These differences can distort comparisons across alternatives and confound efforts to establish standards based on the plastics’ life-cycle impacts. Thus, this study quantifies the degree and identifies the sources of cross-database discrepancies across four LCA databases (GREET, USLCI, Ecoinvent, and GaBi) for five resin production pathways and three post-use phases. For resin production pathways, all resins showed significant cross-database discrepancy in their global warming impacts: the degree of discrepancy was significant to recommend a consistent choice of database to users any LCA comparisons across different products. For post-use phases, landfill datasets had relatively lower degree of cross-database discrepancy than incineration and mechanical recycling. Different metadata characteristics were the sources of some cross-database discrepancies while other parts could be explained by the original differences in the life-cycle inventory sourced from different producers and plants.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Structural and Bonding Analysis in Monomeric Actinide(IV) Oxalate from Th(IV) to Pu(IV): Comparison with the An(IV) Nitrate Series

In this work, single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) structures and Raman spectra of a series of new isomorphous molecular An(IV)-oxalate compounds (Th, U, Np, and Pu) are reported. These complexes are crystallized with cobalt(III) hexamine ([Co(NH 3 ) 6 ] 3+ ) as the counter cations, [Co(NH 3 ) 6 ] 2 [An(C 2 O 4 ) 5 ]·4H 2 O, revealing five bidentate nonbridging oxalate ligands in the first coordination sphere (CN = 10). The nonbridging oxalate is rather uncommon for An(IV)-oxalate systems, which are widely characterized as polymeric compounds. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to examine the bonding between An(IV) cations and oxalate ligands. For comparison, we also report results obtained for the An(IV)-hexanitrate series, [(C 2 H 5 ) 4 N] 2 [An(NO 3 ) 6 ] (with An = Th, U, Np, Pu, and Ce), which consists of O-donor ligands as well but with a larger coordination number (CN = 12). The bonding analysis confirms that the actinide–oxygen bond is predominantly ionic with a minor increase in covalency from Th to U and slight variations from U to Pu. Further comparison showed that the charge transfer increases slightly when increasing the number of anions in the coordination sphere (C 2 O$_4^{2–}$: CN = 10; NO$_3^–$: CN = 12), but covalent effects as indicated by the amount of internuclear electron density accumulation are small and similar for oxalate and nitrate.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Silver-Loaded Xerogel Nanostructures for Iodine Capture: A Comparison of Thiolated versus Unthiolated Sorbents

Here this paper describes the development and provides comparisons of thiolated (-SH) and unthiolated Ag-Al-Si-O xerogels for iodine gas capture. These xerogels were produced from alkoxides and then heat-treated at 350 °C to provide mechanical strength for subsequent processing steps. Then, a portion of the xerogels was thiolated using (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane. Next, thiolated and unthiolated batches were ion-exchanged in AgNO 3 solutions where Ag + replaced Na + in the gel network on a near 1:1 molar basis. Subsamples of the Ag-exchanged xerogels were subjected to a reduction step in H 2 /Ar to convert Ag + to Ag 0 where the rest of the Ag-exchanged (Ag + ) were not reduced. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy revealed nanoscale Ag 0 in the Ag + samples despite no active reduction where actively reduced samples had bimodal Ag 0 distribution of ~2-3 nm hexagonal and ~6-7 nm cubic crystallites. Synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy was used to assess the oxidization states of Ag, S, and I within the different xerogel samples. The specific surface areas of the base xerogels decreased as subsequent treatments were performed on the as-made samples, albeit the decreases were smaller than aerogel equivalents of these samples from a previous study. All iodine-loaded Ag-based samples showed a mixture of β-AgI and γ-AgI. Comparisons of iodine-loading results with other Ag-based iodine sorbents show that the thiolated Ag 0 -xerogels in this work have one of the highest iodine-loading capacities (q e ) reported to date in saturated conditions with the thiolated Ag 0 -xerogel showing 522 mg iodine per g of the sorbent.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Comparison of Energetic Electron Fluxes Measured by GPS and THEMIS Spacecraft in the Inner Magnetosphere

Key elements of space weather models are energetic electron fluxes in the inner magnetosphere and the outer radiation belt. Flux depletion is driven by various loss processes: scattering into atmosphere, magnetopause shadowing. Flux enhancement is driven by various acceleration processes: local wave-particle interactions, radial transport, plasma sheet injections. Many of these processes operate on ~ hour timescales. Such mesoscale flux variations are not well traced by equatorial spacecraft with much longer orbits. Energetic electron detectors onboard the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation provide a unique opportunity for probing such ~ hour-scale flux variations. Measurements from up to 23 identically instrumented GPS satellites cover a wide energy and L-shell range with a subhour time resolution. However, their orbits are inclined and thus all measurements at L-shell >4.3 are off-equatorial. Here, in this report, we present a comparison of equatorial THEMIS and nonequatorial GPS measurements of omnidirectional ≤600 keV electron fluxes. Such a comparison allows us to derive coefficients for using off-equatorial GPS fluxes to infer the equatorial values. These coefficients depend on particle energy and L-shell. We demonstrate a new data set derived from GPS measurements and discuss how it can be used to investigate mesoscale dynamics of energetic electron fluxes in the inner magnetosphere.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Cross-platform comparison of arbitrary quantum states

As we approach the era of quantum advantage, when quantum computers (QCs) can outperform any classical computer on particular tasks, there remains the difficult challenge of how to validate their performance. While algorithmic success can be easily verified in some instances such as number factoring or oracular algorithms, these approaches only provide pass/fail information of executing specific tasks for a single QC. On the other hand, a comparison between different QCs preparing nominally the same arbitrary circuit provides an insight for generic validation: a quantum computation is only as valid as the agreement between the results produced on different QCs. Such an approach is also at the heart of evaluating metrological standards such as disparate atomic clocks. In this paper, we report a cross-platform QC comparison using randomized and correlated measurements that results in a wealth of information on the QC systems. We execute several quantum circuits on widely different physical QC platforms and analyze the cross-platform state fidelities.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Bond dissociation energies of low-valent lanthanide hydroxides: lower limits from ion–molecule reactions and comparisons with fluorides

Despite that bond dissociation energies (BDEs) are among the most fundamental and relevant chemical properties they remain poorly characterized for most elementary lanthanide hydroxides and halides. Lanthanide ions Ln + = Eu + , Tm + and Yb + are here shown to react with H 2 O to yield hydroxides LnOH + . Additionally, under low-energy conditions such reactions must be exothermic, which implies a lower limit of 499 kJ mol -1 for the Ln + –OH BDEs. This limit is significantly higher than previously reported for YbOH + and is unexpectedly similar to the BDE for Yb + –F. To explain this apparent anomaly, it is considered feasible that the inefficient hydrolysis reactions observed here in a quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer may actually be endothermic. More definitive and broad-based evaluations and comparisons require additional and more reliable BDEs and ionization energies for key lanthanide molecules, and/or energies for ligand-exchange reactions like LnF + OH ↔ LnOH + F. The hydroxide results motivated an assessment of currently available lanthanide monohalide BDEs. Among several intriguing relationships is the distinctively higher BDE for neutral LuF versus cationic LuF + , though quantifying this comparison awaits a more accurate value for the anomalously high ionization energy of LuF.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Large eddy simulation of atmospheric boundary layer flow over complex terrain in comparison with RANS simulation and on-site measurements under neutral stability condition

Large eddy simulation (LES) of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) flow over complex terrain is presented with a validation using meteorological tower (met-tower) data through an improved neutral stability sampling approach. The proposed stability sampling procedure includes a condition based on the most-likely occurrence time-periods of the neutral ABL and reduces the variabilities of the conditional wind statistics calculated at the met-towers in comparison to our previous work. The ABL flow simulations are carried out over a potential wind site with a prominent hill based using the OpenFOAM-based simulator for on/off-shore wind farm applications by applying the Lagrangian-averaged scale-invariant dynamic sub-grid scale turbulence model. A low-dissipative scale-selective discretization scheme for the non-linear convection term in the LES governing equation is adopted implicitly to ensure both the second-order accuracy and bounded solution. The LES inflow is generated through a precursor method with a “tiling” approach based on the flow driving parameters obtained from a corresponding Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulation. Overall, the averaged wind velocity profiles predicted by the LES approach at all met-tower locations show a similar tendency as the RANS results, which are also in reasonable agreement with the met-tower data. An obvious difference in wind speed standard deviation profiles is seen between LES and RANS, especially at regions downstream of the hill edge, where the LES shows under-predicted results at the highest measurement levels in comparison to the tower data. The computational costs of the LES are found to be about 20 times higher than the RANS simulations.

Energy & Fuels↗

Self-consistent calculations of the electric charge, ion drag force, and the drift velocity of spherical grains using Langevin dynamics and comparisons against canonical experiments

We present trajectory simulation-based modeling to capture the interactions between ions and charged grains in dusty or complex plasmas. Our study is motivated by the need for a self-consistent and experimentally validated approach for accurately calculating the ion drag force and grain charge that determine grain collective behavior in plasmas. We implement Langevin dynamics in a computationally efficient predictor–corrector approach to capture multiscale ion and grain dynamics. Predictions of grain velocity, grain charge, and ion drag force are compared with prior measurements to assess our approach. The comparisons reveal excellent agreement to within ±20% between predicted and measured grain velocities [Yaroshenko et al., Phys. Plasmas 12, 093503 (2005) and Khrapak et al., Europhys. Lett. 97, 35001 (2012)] for 0.64, 1.25 μm grains at ∼20−500 Pa. Comparisons with the measured grain charge [Khrapak et al., Phys. Rev. E 72, 016406 (2005)] under similar conditions reveal agreement to within ∼20% as well. Measurements of the ion drag force [Hirt et al., Phys. Plasmas 11, 5690 (2004); IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 32, 582 (2004)] are used to assess the viability of the presented approach to calculate the ion drag force experienced by grains exposed to ion beams of well-defined energy. Excellent agreement between calculations and measurements is obtained for beam energies >10 eV, and the overprediction below 10 eV is attributed to the neglect of charge exchange collisions in our modeling. Along with critical assessments of our approach, suggestions for future experimental design to probe charging of and momentum transfer onto grains that capture the effect of space charge concentration and external fields are outlined.

Physics↗

Code-to-code comparison between FLASH and HYDRA in gas-puff Z-pinch modeling

The numerical modeling of gas-puff Z pinches involves the nonlinear coupling of a broad range of complex, multi-physics phenomena that makes such simulations challenging. The challenge is further compounded by nonlinear instabilities that can impact the dynamics of imploding gas-puff Z pinches, such as the magneto Rayleigh–Taylor instability (MRTI). If the growth rate and amplitude of the latter is comparable to the relevant timescales and properties of the imploding plasma, the MRTI can dramatically alter implosion dynamics, dictate pinch stability, and govern the plasma properties achievable in pulsed-power-driven laboratory experiments. National Laboratories and academic teams have developed numerical tools that can accurately model Z-pinch configurations and provide reliable design capabilities that can guide experimental choices and assist in interpreting experimental results. Most such tools, however, are not broadly available. Here, we present newly developed Z-pinch simulation capabilities of the publicly available FLASH code, applied in the study of MRTI growth and dynamical effects in gas-puff implosions. To verify the new implementations, we perform a comparison of FLASH gas-puff implosion simulations with previously published calculations with the HYDRA code from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which have been validated with experimental data from the CESZAR pulsed-power driver at the University of California, San Diego. The experiments involved double- and triple-nozzle configurations, in an experimental attempt to stabilize the pinch to the MRTI. The code-to-code comparison shows similar results between the FLASH and HYDRA simulations, supporting the use of FLASH in the modeling of future gas-puff Z-pinch experiments at CESZAR.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Modeling nanoparticle charge distribution in the afterglow of non-thermal plasmas and comparison with measurements

Particle charging in the afterglows of non-thermal plasmas typically take place in a non-neutral space charge environment. We model the same by incorporating particle-ion collision rate constant models, developed in prior work by analyzing particle-ion trajectories calculated using Langevin Dynamics simulations, into species transport equations for ions, electrons and charged particles in the afterglow. A scaling analysis of particle charging and additional Langevin Dynamics calculations of the particle-ion collision rate constant are presented to extend the range of applicability to ion electrostatic to thermal energy ratios of 300 and diffusive Knudsen number (that scales inversely with gas pressure) up to 2000. The developed collision rate constant models are first validated by comparing predictions of particle charge against measured values in a stationary, non-thermal DC plasma from past PK-4 campaigns published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 93(8): 085001 and Phys. Rev. E 72(1): 016406). The comparisons reveal excellent agreement within ±35% for particles of radius 0.6,1.0,1.3 μm in the gas pressure range of ~20-150 Pa. The experiments to probe particle charge distributions by Sharma et al. (J. Physics D: Appl. Phys. 53(24): 245204) are modeled using the validated particle-ion collision rate constant models and the calculated charge fractions are compared with measurements. The comparisons reveal that the ion/electron concentration and gas temperature in the afterglow critically influence the particle charge and the predictions are generally in qualitative agreement with the measurements. Along with critical assessment of the modeling assumptions, several recommendations are presented for future experimental design to probe charging in afterglows.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

First multi-institutional systematic comparison of the neutron ambient dose equivalent produced by proton therapy systems

Objective. Isochronous cyclotrons, synchrocyclotrons, and synchrotrons are used to accelerate protons for proton therapy. An accurate measurement of neutron doses generated by these accelerators and associated delivery systems and its clinical relevance requires systematic protocols and proper neutron dosimetry for a meaningful assessment. We present the first comprehensive comparison of neutron ambient dose equivalent (H*(10)) produced by clinically operational proton therapy systems. Approach. Treatment plans with 10 cm modulation-depth and ranges of 10 cm (R10M10) and 25 cm (R25M10) were created to cover a 10 × 10 × 10 cm 3 water target. The pencil beam scanning proton therapy machines studied were: two gantry-mounted synchrocyclotrons (Hyperscan, Mevion, half-gantry), two isochronous cyclotrons (ProBeam, Varian, full-gantry), one isochronous cyclotron (Proteus, IBA, full-gantry), and two synchrotrons (PROBEAT, Hitachi, full- and half-gantry). Proton beams were delivered to 30 × 30 × 40 cm 3 plastic water phantoms. WENDI-II and LUPIN-BF3-NP neutron rem-meters were positioned at three angles (0°, 45°, 90°) relative to the beam direction to measure the neutron H*(10) at distances between 50–300 cm from the isocenter. Main results. H*(10) showed dependence on beam energy, machine type, and measurement location. The highest reading was for the gantry-mounted synchrocyclotron, whereas other systems produced approximately comparable neutron doses. In all cases, the H*(10) reduced with distance from the isocenter. The H*(10) drop at 2 m distance compared to that at 0.5 m was a factor of ∼5 for the gantry-mounted synchrocyclotron whereas in other systems the decrease was a factor of 10. The WENDI-II device suffered from dead-time-associated under-estimation of the dose by a factor of ∼2–3 under the synchrocyclotron beam due to its high dose-per-pulse. However, WENDI-II and LUPIN-BF3-NP results were within reasonable agreement in isochronous cyclotron and synchrotron beams, indicating that both devices are suitable for those systems. Significance. Neutron H*(10) is dependent on various parameters including beam energy, measurement location, as well as machine design. Caution must be exercised in choosing the appropriate neutron-dose-measurement device to be used for low-duty-factor, particularly in high-instantaneous-rate proton delivery systems. By delivering the same volumetric proton dose across different machines, this work provides a benchmark for inter-system comparisons and serves as a foundation for future studies.

LUPIN↗

A comparison of effective field theory models of redshift space galaxy power spectra for DESI 2024 and future surveys

In preparation for the next generation of galaxy redshift surveys, and in particular the year-one data release from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), we investigate the consistency of a variety of effective field theory models that describe the galaxy-galaxy power spectra in redshift space into the quasi-linear regime using 1-loop perturbation theory. These models are employed in the pipelines velocileptors, PyBird, and Folpsν. While these models have been validated independently, a detailed comparison with consistent choices has not been attempted. After briefly discussing the theoretical differences between the models we describe how to provide a more apples-to-apples comparison between them. We present the results of fitting mock spectra from the AbacusSummit suite of N-body simulations provided in three redshift bins to mimic the types of dark time tracers targeted by the DESI survey. We show that the theories behave similarly and give consistent constraints in both the forward-modeling and ShapeFit compressed fitting approaches. We additionally generate (noiseless) synthetic data from each pipeline to be fit by the others, varying the scale cuts in order to show that the models agree within the range of scales for which we expect 1-loop perturbation theory to be applicable. Finally, this work lays the foundation of Full-Shape analysis with DESI Y1 galaxy samples where in the tests we performed, we found no systematic error associated with the modeling of the galaxy redshift space power spectrum for this volume.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Lensing without borders – I. A blind comparison of the amplitude of galaxy–galaxy lensing between independent imaging surveys

ABSTRACT Lensing without borders is a cross-survey collaboration created to assess the consistency of galaxy–galaxy lensing signals (ΔΣ) across different data sets and to carry out end-to-end tests of systematic errors. We perform a blind comparison of the amplitude of ΔΣ using lens samples from BOSS and six independent lensing surveys. We find good agreement between empirically estimated and reported systematic errors which agree to better than 2.3σ in four lens bins and three radial ranges. For lenses with zL > 0.43 and considering statistical errors, we detect a 3–4σ correlation between lensing amplitude and survey depth. This correlation could arise from the increasing impact at higher redshift of unrecognized galaxy blends on shear calibration and imperfections in photometric redshift calibration. At zL > 0.54, amplitudes may additionally correlate with foreground stellar density. The amplitude of these trends is within survey-defined systematic error budgets that are designed to include known shear and redshift calibration uncertainty. Using a fully empirical and conservative method, we do not find evidence for large unknown systematics. Systematic errors greater than 15 per cent (25 per cent) ruled out in three lens bins at 68 per cent (95 per cent) confidence at z < 0.54. Differences with respect to predictions based on clustering are observed to be at the 20–30 per cent level. Our results therefore suggest that lensing systematics alone are unlikely to fully explain the ‘lensing is low’ effect at z < 0.54. This analysis demonstrates the power of cross-survey comparisons and provides a promising path for identifying and reducing systematics in future lensing analyses.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A comparison of the baryonic Tully–Fisher relation in MaNGA and IllustrisTNG

We compare an observed baryonic Tully–Fisher relation (BTFR) from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) and HI-MaNGA surveys to a simulated BTFR from the cosmological magnetohydrodynamical simulation, IllustrisTNG. To do so, we calibrate the BTFR of the local universe using 377 galaxies from the MaNGA and HI-MaNGA surveys, and perform mock 21 cm observations of matching galaxies from IllustrisTNG. The mock observations are used to ensure that the comparison with the observed galaxies is fair since it has identical measurement algorithms, observational limitations, biases, and uncertainties. For comparison, we also calculate the BTFR for the simulation without mock observations and demonstrate how mock observations are necessary to fairly and consistently compare between observational and theoretical data. We report a MaNGA BTFR of log$_{10} (M_{ \rm Bary}/M_\odot)= (2.97 \pm 0.18)$ log$_{10} V_{ \rm Rot} + (4.04 \pm 0.41)\, \log _{10}{M_{\odot }}$ and an IllustrisTNG BTFR of log$_{10} (M_{ \rm Bary}/M_\odot) = (2.94 \pm 0.23$) log$_{10} V_{ \rm Rot} + (4.15 \pm 0.44)\, \log _{10}{M_{\odot }}$. Thus, MaNGA and IllustrisTNG produce BTFRs that agree within uncertainties, demonstrating that IllustrisTNG has created a galaxy population that obeys the observed relationship between mass and rotation velocity in the observed universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Non-local contribution from small scales in galaxy–galaxy lensing: comparison of mitigation schemes

ABSTRACT Recent cosmological analyses with large-scale structure and weak lensing measurements, usually referred to as 3 × 2pt, had to discard a lot of signal to noise from small scales due to our inability to accurately model non-linearities and baryonic effects. Galaxy–galaxy lensing, or the position–shear correlation between lens and source galaxies, is one of the three two-point correlation functions that are included in such analyses, usually estimated with the mean tangential shear. However, tangential shear measurements at a given angular scale θ or physical scale R carry information from all scales below that, forcing the scale cuts applied in real data to be significantly larger than the scale at which theoretical uncertainties become problematic. Recently, there have been a few independent efforts that aim to mitigate the non-locality of the galaxy–galaxy lensing signal. Here, we perform a comparison of the different methods, including the Y-transformation, the point-mass marginalization methodology, and the annular differential surface density statistic. We do the comparison at the cosmological constraints level in a combined galaxy clustering and galaxy–galaxy lensing analysis. We find that all the estimators yield equivalent cosmological results assuming a simulated Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Year 1 like set-up and also when applied to DES Y3 data. With the LSST Y1 set-up, we find that the mitigation schemes yield ∼1.3 times more constraining S8 results than applying larger scale cuts without using any mitigation scheme.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Bound on hot-spot mix in high-velocity, high-adiabat direct-drive cryogenic implosions based on comparison of absolute x-ray and neutron yields

In laser-driven implosions for laboratory fusion, the comparison of hot-spot x-ray yield to neutron production can serve to infer hot-spot mix. For high-performance direct-drive implosions, this ratio depends sensitively on the degree of equilibration between the ion and electron fluids. A scaling for x-ray yield as a function of neutron yield and characteristic ion and electron hot-spot temperatures is developed on the basis of simulations with varying degrees of equilibration. We apply this model to hot-spot x-ray measurements of direct-drive cryogenic implosions typical of the direct-drive designs with best ignition metrics. Furthermore, the comparison of the measured x-ray and neutron yields indicates that hot-spot mix, if present, is below a sensitivity estimated as ~ 2% by-atom mix of ablator plastic into the hot spot.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Tropical forests and global change: biogeochemical responses and opportunities for cross-site comparisons, an organized INSPIRE session at the 108th Annual Meeting, Ecological Society of America, Portland, Oregon, USA, August 2023

In this study, tropical forests play a critical role in the global carbon (C) cycle. These ecosystems maintain the highest rates of net primary production (NPP) on Earth, contain c. 30% of terrestrial C stocks, and have some of the largest stores of fine-root biomass globally, as well as higher fine-root production and turnover rates compared with other biomes. Tropical forest responses to projected warming, altered rainfall regimes, and elevated CO 2 concentrations are likely to be different from other ecosystems because of their unique characteristics (Box 1), making targeted research and model development important for understanding tropical forest–climate feedbacks. There is now a critical mass of long-term global change field experiments and modeling efforts in tropical forests, yet thus far there has been little synthesis, cross-site comparison, or multi-site standardized experimentation among tropical forests to help us understand how these biomes are changing. An organized INSPIRE session at the 108th Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America set out to tackle just this. Speakers covered large-scale tropical forest field experiments and modeling efforts, with an emphasis on changes in ecosystem biogeochemistry under warming, drying, elevated atmospheric CO 2 , and changing nutrient status. In this Meeting report, we provide an overview of the large-scale global change experiments presented and highlight the main objectives and opportunities for tropical forest research that emerged, including cross-site comparisons and integration with ecosystem-scale models (Fig. 1).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗