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DOE OSTI2023

Kilonova Detection

The first observation of gravitational waves (GW) from a binary neutron star collision, known as GW170817, was detected by Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo GW observatories. This event marked a profound discovery of the kilonova, which occurs when two neutron stars collide, resulting in an energetically explosive release of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and emitting bright electromagnetic radiation. This project focuses on assessing how well kilonovae will be detected in the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. By using Kasen models with varying ejecta mass, ejecta velocity, and lanthanide fraction, we analyze these 329 models and create kilonova light curves to assess the number of visible kilonovae for each band, based on the minimum magnitude at various redshifts.

Khalid, Anna↗

DOE OSTI2020

First on-line detection of radioactive fission isotopes produced by laser-accelerated protons

Abstract The on-going developments in laser acceleration of protons and light ions, as well as the production of strong bursts of neutrons and multi- $$\hbox {MeV}$$ MeV photons by secondary processes now provide a basis for novel high-flux nuclear physics experiments. While the maximum energy of protons resulting from Target Normal Sheath Acceleration is presently still limited to around $$100 \, \hbox {MeV}$$ 100 MeV , the generated proton peak flux within the short laser-accelerated bunches can already today exceed the values achievable at the most advanced conventional accelerators by orders of magnitude. This paper consists of two parts covering the scientific motivation and relevance of such experiments and a first proof-of-principle demonstration. In the presented experiment pulses of $$200 \, \hbox {J}$$ 200 J at $$\approx \, 500 \, \hbox {fs}$$ ≈ 500 fs duration from the PHELIX laser produced more than $$10^{12}$$ 10 12 protons with energies above $$15 \, \hbox {MeV}$$ 15 MeV in a bunch of sub-nanosecond duration. They were used to induce fission in foil targets made of natural uranium. To make use of the nonpareil flux, these targets have to be very close to the laser acceleration source, since the particle density within the bunch is strongly affected by Coulomb explosion and the velocity differences between ions of different energy. The main challenge for nuclear detection with high-purity germanium detectors is given by the strong electromagnetic pulse caused by the laser-matter interaction close to the laser acceleration source. This was mitigated by utilizing fast transport of the fission products by a gas flow to a carbon filter, where the $$\upgamma$$ γ -rays were registered. The identified nuclides include those that have half-lives down to $$39 \, \hbox {s}$$ 39 s . These results demonstrate the capability to produce, extract, and detect short-lived reaction products under the demanding experimental condition imposed by the high-power laser interaction. The approach promotes research towards relevant nuclear astrophysical studies at conditions currently only accessible at nuclear high energy density laser facilities.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Trace Compound Analysis in TATB by Liquid Chromatography coupled with Spectroscopic and Spectrometric Detection

Accurate quantitation of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) is important because of its strategic use as an energetic material. A purity determination is also needed for the proper assessment of performance. A fast and sensitive method has been developed to measure the purity of TATB in polymer-bonded materials. The target material is extracted with DMSO, and the extract is separated on a reversed-phase chromatography column. The column effluent is monitored by diode array detection (DAD) at 354 nm. The characteristic UV-Vis response and retention time identify the individual components when compared to pure compound standards. The chemical structures of compounds with no pure standards available have been determined by high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS) and MS/MS. The major component, TATB, along with 1-chloro-3,5-dinitro-2,4,6-triaminobenzene (T4A) and mono-benzofuroxan (FX1) were quantitated directly from pure compound standards. Several trace concentration components, mono-benzofurazan (F1), 1-bromo-3,5-dinitro-2,4,6-triaminobenzene (Br-T4A), 2,4,6-triamino-1-nitroso-3,5-dinitrobenzene (MN-TATB), 2,4,6-triamino-1-hydroxyl-3,5-dinitrobenzene (HO-TATB), and 2,4,6-triamino-1-nitrile-3,5-dinitrobenzene (Nitrile-TATB) were also detected and structures verified via MS/MS. Approximate concentrations were determined using calibrations from standards of similar structures. Additional trace components were also detected by MS. Contained herein are the results of analyses of TATB-based materials characterized for polymer-bonded formulations compared to different preparations of TATB. The accuracy, details, and process of developing this method are reported here.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2025

Computational Prediction of Infrasound Arrival Times and Directions from Stationary and Moving Impulsive Sources

This report addresses the need to predict infrasound signal arrival times and back azimuths at monitoring stations, enabling more focused and efficient searches within recorded waveform data. The primary challenge is estimating expected signal arrival windows for stationary and moving acoustic sources, such as chemical explosions, volcanic eruptions, meteoroids, and spacecraft re-entry events. To address this challenge, a reproducible methodology is described that uses simplified propagation speeds for boundary layer, tropospheric, stratospheric, and thermospheric atmospheric waveguides. While the Python source code itself is not freely available, this document provides detailed, step-by-step instructions, and equations enabling users to replicate and adapt the method independently. The method reliably predicts signal arrival intervals and back azimuths, thereby supporting rapid detection and accurate interpretation of infrasound events. Results demonstrate that this method effectively identifies plausible signal arrival intervals and directions, facilitating faster event detection and more reliable interpretation. This methodology directly supports atmospheric monitoring, planetary defense, and forensic analysis of explosive atmospheric events.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2025

Development and validation of a software for simulating γ-γ coincidence emission and detection probabilities

Gamma-gamma coincidence spectrometers have the potential to significantly enhance detection sensitivity for ultra-trace radionuclide measurements. The implementation of these spectrometers, however, is limited by the complexity of acquisition hardware, data processing and quantification. This work reports development of a novel radionuclide quantification software for γ-γ coincidence measurements. For any radionuclide, the software parses the Evaluated Nuclear Structure Data File (ENSDF) database, recursively simulating all possible γ-γ coincidence signatures and their respective emission and detection probabilities. Implemented using Python programming language, the software employs several strategies to boost overall computational performance. Since coincidence-based spectrometers are of notable interest in monitoring compliance for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), the software’s execution was tested for 84 CTBT-relevant radionuclides. To date, the software has been experimentally validated for 15 radionuclides using the Advanced Radionuclide Gamma spectrOmeter (ARGO) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA (PNNL). Notably, the software can be operated in convergence mode, whereby coincidence detection efficiency’s convergence behavior can help avoid unreliable radionuclide activity estimates. With growing number of coincidence spectrometers worldwide, this paper aims to assist the radiation metrology community in developing similar software for their system.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2023

Quantification of spatial and seasonal trends in the atmosphere and construction of statistical models for infrasonic propagation

SUMMARY Infrasonic waves are influenced by variations in the density, pressure and temperature as well as the ambient winds. Modelling infrasonic propagation can be challenging due to the dynamic nature of the atmosphere as well as the sparseness of measurements which result in variability and notable uncertainty. A framework is presented to quantify spatial and seasonal trends in atmospheric structure via analysis of the effective sound speed profile and identification of temporal trends in the middle atmospheric waveguide produced by the circumpolar vortex winds. Seasonal definitions identifying typical atmospheric structures during the summer, winter and spring/fall transition periods are identified using atmospheric data from 2010 through 2020. Seasonal trend analysis is conducted for a number of locations across the contiguous United States to quantify spatial variations in atmospheric structure that impact infrasonic propagation. For each season and location, empirical orthogonal function analysis is used to reduce the historical archive of atmospheric data into a smaller representative set that can be analysed using numerical tools more efficiently. Infrasonic ray tracing and finite-frequency modal propagation analyses are applied to construct propagation path geometry and transmission loss statistics which are useful in localization and yield estimation for infrasonic sources, respectively. An example application is detailed in which transmission loss statistics are combined with an explosive source model and noise statistics to quantify the capability of a network to detect nearby sources.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2025

Infrasonic directivity of monopole, dipole and bipole ground-surface reflected sources

Infrasound (acoustic waves below 20 Hz) can be used to detect, locate and quantify activity in the atmosphere such as volcanic eruptions and anthropogenic explosions. Attempts to quantify volcanic eruption parameters such as exit velocity, plume height and mass flow rate using infrasound data depend strongly on assumptions of the acoustic source type. Infrasonic sources may produce omnidirectional or directional wavefields, while propagation effects, such as interaction with topography, can induce further wavefield directivity that is measured by field instrumentation. Limited sampling of these wavefields can hinder our ability to infer the underlying source, and thus our understanding of the eruption characteristics. Equivalent sources are often used to represent acoustic source mechanisms and resultant wavefields. In this study, we review equivalent acoustic sources as they pertain to infrasonic scale and wavelengths commonly encountered in very local (⁠<5 km range) geophysical field deployments. We highlight the equivalent infrasonic bipole source that can be induced by ground-reflection of an elevated monopole; we are not aware of any prior infrasound studies that use the bipole source concept. We use analytical and numerical methods to explore source directivity of monopole, dipole and bipole ground-reflected sources at infrasonic frequencies as well as the additional directivity complications introduced by interactions with topography. We illustrate that for typical volcano-infrasound wavelengths, increasing height above the ground as well as increasing source frequency leads to increased wavefield directivity. Numerical modelling using a simple omnidirectional monopole source embedded in topography further illustrates that both horizontal and vertical infrasound directionality can be induced by topography at the distance scales appropriate for local volcano infrasound monitoring. Information summarized in this analytical and numerical exploration of infrasound directivity may be used to help guide future volcano-infrasound field deployments intended to estimate source parameters or quantify wavefield directivity. Analytic solutions for simple whole-space or half-space atmospheres provide useful formulations for planning or initially analysing geophysical field-scale experimental data; however, especially at very local distances from the source (⁠<5 km), 3-D simulations are necessary to account for complex topography commonly encountered in volcano-infrasound applications.

Infrasound↗

DOE OSTI2022

Tracer Gas Model Development and Verification in PFLOTRAN

Tracer gases, whether they are chemical or isotopic in nature, are useful tools in examining the flow and transport of gaseous or volatile species in the underground. One application is using detection of short-lived argon and xenon radionuclides to monitor for underground nuclear explosions. However, even chemically inert species, such as the noble gases, have bene observed to exhibit non-conservative behavior when flowing through porous media containing certain materials, such as zeolites, due to gas adsorption processes. This report details the model developed, implemented, and tested in the open source and massively parallel subsurface flow and transport simulator PFLOTRAN for future use in modeling the transport of adsorbing tracer gases.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

NASA NTRS1973

Prospects for Nuclear-gamma-ray Astronomy

An analysis was made of prospects for gamma rays coming from two sources outside the solar system: (1) radioactive decay of fresh nuclear products to explosive nucleosynthesis, and (2) scattering of low energy cosmic rays. The former should be detectable and will provide a factual base for many suppositions about the site and history of nucleosynthesis. The latter may be detectable and, if so, will probably provide factual information about high-flux regions of cosmic radiation.

Clayton, D. D.↗

NASA NTRS2016

ASASSN-15LH: A Superluminous Ultraviolet Rebrightening Observed by Swift and Hubble

We present and discuss ultraviolet and optical photometry from the Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope, X-ray limits from the X-Ray Telescope on Swift, and imaging polarimetry and ultraviolet/optical spectroscopy with the Hubble Space Telescope, all from observations of ASASSN-15lh. It has been classified as a hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN I), making it more luminous than any other supernova observed. ASASSN-15lh is not detected in the X-rays in individual or co-added observations. From the polarimetry we determine that the explosion was only mildly asymmetric. We find the flux of ASASSN-15lh to increase strongly into the ultraviolet, with an ultraviolet luminosity 100 times greater than the hydrogen-rich, ultraviolet-bright SLSN II SN2008es. We find that objects as bright as ASASSN-15lh are easily detectable beyond redshifts of ∼4 with the single-visit depths planned for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. Deep near-infrared surveys could detect such objects past a redshift of ∼20, enabling a probe of the earliest star formation. A late rebrightening-most prominent at shorter wavelengths -is seen about two months after the peak brightness, which is itself as bright as an SLSN. The ultraviolet spectra during the rebrightening are dominated by the continuum without the broad absorption or emission lines seen in SLSNe or tidal disruption events (TDEs) and the early optical spectra of ASASSN-15lh. Our spectra show no strong hydrogen emission, showing only Lyα absorption near the redshift previously found by optical absorption lines of the presumed host. The properties of ASASSN-15lh are extreme when compared to either SLSNe or TDEs.

Brown, Peter J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The ABC of Population III

The author discusses the circumstances in which Population III stars are expected to form and examines their cosmological consequences. Consideration of their production of light, metals, and remnants places a strong constraint on their formation epoch and mass spectrum. However, these constraints would still allow Population III stars to provide the dark matter in galactic halos, a helium abundance of around 25 percent, a detectable background of gravitational waves, a possible infrared background, and the generation of large-scale cosmological structure through explosions. All of these features could be achieved by VMOs in the range 100 to 100,000 solar masses. On the other hand, the Population III scenario would be most compatible with the standard Big Bang picture if the stars were SMOs with mass around a million solar masses. Such stars could still provide the dark matter and detectable gravitational waves.

Carr, B. J.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Background-Oriented Schlieren for Large-Scale and High-Speed Aerodynamic Phenomena

Visualization of the flow field around a generic re-entry capsule in subsonic flow and shock wave visualization with cylindrical explosives have been conducted to demonstrate sensitivity and applicability of background-oriented schlieren (BOS) for field experiments. The wind tunnel experiment suggests that BOS with a fine-pixel imaging device has a density change detection sensitivity on the order of 10(sup -5) in subsonic flow. In a laboratory setup, the structure of the shock waves generated by explosives have been successfully reconstructed by a computed tomography method combined with BOS.

Mizukaki, Toshiharu↗

DOE OSTI2022

Discriminating Types of Volcanic Electrical Activity: Toward an Eruption Detection Algorithm

Abstract We present a method for classification of the two distinct types of electrical activity that occur during an explosive volcanic eruption: vent discharges and lightning. Vent discharges occur at the onset of an explosion and create a distinctive radio frequency signature called continual radio frequency. Seconds to minutes after the onset of the eruption, lightning begins to occur throughout the eruption column. We use logistic regression to classify a radio frequency impulse as being part of either a lightning flash or a period of continual radio frequency. The classifier uses the number of peaks in the amplitude envelope from 1 ms windows before and after the impulsive very high frequency waveform, with an average accuracy of 97.9%. We propose that this method could be used in an algorithm to determine when explosive eruptions occurred by identification of the distinctive signatures of vent discharges and lightning.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

Cosmic Overture Echoed in a Stellar Final Act: Implications of Nanohertz Gravitational Waves for Core Collapse Supernova Neutrinos

The growing evidence for nanohertz gravitational waves, from NANOGrav and other observations, may be pointing to a cosmological first-order phase transition at temperatures of 𝒪⁢(10−100)⁢MeV. Such an interpretation requires beyond the Standard Model dynamics in this energy range. If so, it may well be the case that galactic core-collapse supernova explosions would produce the key components related to the first-order phase transition, leaving detectable imprints on the spectrum of neutrinos emitted in the initial few seconds of the collapse. This might provide further evidence in support of the early universe interpretation of the nanohertz gravitational wave signal. The scenario proposed here is also suggestive of a low-mass seesaw mechanism to explain neutrino masses. We outline the prospects for future observations of Galactic supernovae to uncover the signals of this scenario, with further confirmation from future pulsar timing array measurements of primordial nanohertz gravitational waves.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

NASA NTRS1979

All-electric gas detector

Modified optoacoustic gas detector identifies gases by measuring pressure-induced voltage charge in electric signals. Can detect water vapor, atmospheric fluorocarbons, or certain nitrous or nitric compounds that indicate presence of explosives.

Margolis, J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Al-26 in the interstellar medium

The amount of dispersed interstellar Al-26 detected by the HEAO 3 gamma-ray spectrometer cannot have been synthesized by supernova explosions if current calculations of the production ratio p(26)/p(27) approximately equal to 0.001 are correct. Simple models of chemical evolution of the Galaxy are presented to explain this point. The observed Al-26 is more likely due to about 100 million dispersed novae, or to a single old (10,000-1,000,000 yr) supernova remnant that today surrounds the solar system. If the Al-26 is dispersed, the high interstellar ratio today Al-26/Al-27 about equal to 0.00002 calls into question the requirement that a supernova trigger for formation of the solar system was the cause of a concentration 3-times larger. Also discussed is p-process production in novae with application to the question of live Sm-146 in the solar system.

Clayton, D. D.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Automated Image Registration Using Morphological Region of Interest Feature Extraction

With the recent explosion in the amount of remotely sensed imagery and the corresponding interest in temporal change detection and modeling, image registration has become increasingly important as a necessary first step in the integration of multi-temporal and multi-sensor data for applications such as the analysis of seasonal and annual global climate changes, as well as land use/cover changes. The task of image registration can be divided into two major components: (1) the extraction of control points or features from images; and (2) the search among the extracted features for the matching pairs that represent the same feature in the images to be matched. Manual control feature extraction can be subjective and extremely time consuming, and often results in few usable points. Automated feature extraction is a solution to this problem, where desired target features are invariant, and represent evenly distributed landmarks such as edges, corners and line intersections. In this paper, we develop a novel automated registration approach based on the following steps. First, a mathematical morphology (MM)-based method is used to obtain a scale-orientation morphological profile at each image pixel. Next, a spectral dissimilarity metric such as the spectral information divergence is applied for automated extraction of landmark chips, followed by an initial approximate matching. This initial condition is then refined using a hierarchical robust feature matching (RFM) procedure. Experimental results reveal that the proposed registration technique offers a robust solution in the presence of seasonal changes and other interfering factors. Keywords-Automated image registration, multi-temporal imagery, mathematical morphology, robust feature matching.

Plaza, Antonio↗

NASA NTRS2010

Early Chromospheric Response During a Solar Microflare Observed with SOHO's CDS and RHESSI

We observed a solar microflare with RHESSI and SOHO's Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on 2009 July 5. With CDS we obtained rapid cadence (7 s) stare spectra within a narrow field of view toward the center of AR 11024. The spectra contain emission lines from ions that cover a wide range of temperature, including He I (< 0.025 MK), O V (0.25 MK), Si XII (2 MK), and Fe XIX (8 MK). The start of a precursor burst of He I and O V line emission preceded the steady increase of Fe XIX line emission by about 1 minute, and the emergence of 3-12 keV X-ray emission by about 4 minutes. Thus the onset of the microflare was observed in upper chromospheric (He I) and transition region (O V) line emission before it was detected in high temperature flare plasma emission. Redshifted O V emission during the precursor suggests explosive chromospheric evaporation, but no corresponding blueshifts were found with either Fe XIX (which was very weak) or Si XII. Similarly, in subsequent microflare brightenings the O V and He I intensities increased (between 49 s and almost 2 minutes) before emissions from the hot flare plasma. Although these time differences likely indicate heating by a nonthermal particle beam, the RHESSI spectra provide no additional evidence for such a beam. In intervals lasting up to about 3 minutes during several bursts, the He I and O V emission line profiles showed secondary, highly blueshifted ( approximately 200 km/s) components; during intervals lasting nearly 1 minute the velocities of the primary and secondary components were oppositely directed. Combined with no corresponding blueshifts in either Fe XIX or Si XII, this indicates that explosive chromospheric evaporation occurred predominantly at either comparatively cool temperatures (< 2 MK) or within a hot temperature range to which our observations were not sensitive (e.g., between 2 and 8 MK).

Brosius, Jeffrey W.↗