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Results for “Coulomb expansion”

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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

A kinetic study of fusion burn waves in compressed deuterium–tritium and proton–boron plasmas

We present particle-in-cell simulations with Monte Carlo collisions of fusion burn waves in compressed deuterium–tritium and proton–boron plasmas. We study the energy balance in the one-dimensional expansion of a hot-spot by simulating Coulomb collisions, fusion reactions, and bremsstrahlung emission with a Monte Carlo model and inverse bremsstrahlung absorption using a new PIC model. This allows us to self-consistently capture the alpha particle heating and radiative losses in the expanding hot-spot and surrounding cold fuel. After verifying our model in a code-to-code comparison with both kinetic and fluid codes for the case of a deuterium–tritium hot-spot, we simulate the expansion of a proton–boron hot-spot initialized at 200 keV and 1,000 g/cm 3 . Our model predicts that energy radiated by the hot-spot is recaptured by the surrounding high-density opaque fuel reducing the expansion work done by the propagating burn wave. As a result, we find the net fusion energy produced over the course of $20$~ps is twice the initial hot-spot energy independent of whether radiation physics is included.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

On the Structural Origin of Fast Li-Ion Cycling in Tetragonal Bronze-Type Nb 8 W 9 O 47

Bronze and bronze-derived, mixed metal oxides are materials of growing interest for lithium-ion battery anodes due to their high-rate capabilities and the potential for high energy densities via multielectron redox. We report on the synthesis and electrochemical properties of the tetragonal tungsten bronzetype phase Nb 8 W 9 O 47 and our investigation into the structural evolution of this phase upon lithium (de)intercalation, with particular attention to how it relates to the fast-cycling capabilities. Electrochemical cycling shows Nb 8 W 9 O 47 can achieve greater than one Li + per transition metal at rates of C/2 or slower and maintains a capacity equivalent to 0.65 Li + per transition metal at a rate of 20C. Sequential Rietveld analysis of operando X-ray diffraction data reveals anisotropic changes to the unit cell parameters during discharge, accompanied by an off-centering of the transition metals within their octahedral environments. While higher capacities can be accessed below 1.2 V, cells discharged to 1.0 V exhibit a significant expansion of the unit cell volume and reduced Coulombic efficiencies. This report suggests that rigid crystal structures incapable of undergoing polyhedral rotational deformations can instead exploit displacive distortions of the transition metal redox center to enable fast Li-ion cycling with minimal atomic rearrangements.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Coal as Value-Added for Lithium Battery Anodes (Final Report)

Graphite is a basic material used for energy storage in lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries. More than 70% of worldwide graphite production and nearly 50% of the annual graphite supply for the United States comes from China. Potential economic and national security concerns exist because Li-ion batteries are used not only for the fast-growing electrical vehicle market (15.6% compound annual growth rate [CAGR] from 2018 to 2028 in North America), but also for defense applications including unmanned aerial and ground vehicles. Development of an alternative formulation for Li-ion batteries is key. Building upon previous research confirming the ability of silicon alloys to improve the energy density of anodes, Semplastics developed a novel material based on our X-MAT® polymer-derived ceramic (PDC) technology. The X-MAT anode material is a composite of chemically tailored silicon oxycarbide (SiOC) and domestically sourced coal powder, designed to be a drop-in replacement for graphite within Li-ion battery anodes. Preliminary tests of this material showed more than twice the reversible capacity of graphite anodes (1,000 mAh/g vs. 372 mAh/g), with excellent stability and capacity retention, almost 100% coulombic efficiency, low voltage potential, and low thermal expansion. At full adoption in 2024, we expect the coal utilization to reach 27,300 tons. Through this project, Semplastics proposed to complete development and begin commercialization of this material. The objective was to determine the best formulation for technical performance and economic viability. At the end of the project, the X-MAT anode material is ready for implementation into existing battery manufacturing processes and can have a significant impact on the utilization of coal, with positive effects for the mining sector and the mitigation of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2023

Conjugated Imine Polymer Synthesized via Step‐Growth Metathesis for Highly Stable Silicon Nanoparticle Anodes in Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Abstract This work reports a new method to synthesize polyphenylmethanimine (polyPMI) as a linear or a hyperbranched, conjugated polymer using an aldehyde‐imine metathesis reaction. This work details the reaction mechanisms of this polymerization by characterizing a red‐shift in its absorption spectrum as polymer conjugation length increases and verifies that this optical shift results from extended π‐condensation using density functional theory. This new synthetic approach provides a polymer that can potentially be depolymerized for facile recyclability and is compatible with air‐ and water‐sensitive chemistries. As an example of the utility of this new approach, this work demonstrates that this polymer can be directly grown on silicon nanoparticles to create silicon anodes for lithium‐ion batteries with a high degree of electrochemical interfacial passivation. These silicon anodes exhibit Coulombic efficiencies above 99.9% and can accommodate silicon nanoparticle expansion and contraction during lithiation and delithiation as demonstrated by stable reversible capacities for 500 cycles. Finally, this work demonstrates that polyPMI facilitates the formation of a lithium fluoride rich solid electrolyte interphase that remains chemically and mechanically stable after long term cycling.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Moments of the Boltzmann collision operator for Coulomb interactions

Exact moments of the Boltzmann collision operator are calculated in the irreducible Hermitian moment expansion written in terms of the random-velocity variable of each species. The formulas are presented in closed, algebraic form and can be straightforwardly implemented in computer algebra systems. They are valid for two arbitrary masses, temperatures, and flow velocities, and hence include all other existing results derived for distribution functions expanded with respect to reference states of one temperature and flow velocity. In comparison, the Landau collisional moments are good approximations for large Coulomb logarithm and small relative flow velocity, but they fail to predict the correct behavior of most collisional moments for large relative flow even for weakly coupled plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2006

Thermodynamic Structure of Collision-Dominated Expanding Plasma: Heating of Interplanetary Coronal Mass Injections

We investigate the thermodynamic structure of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) using combined surveys of the ejecta between 0.3 and 20 AU. ICMEs are shown to have a moderate expansion in the solar wind compared with theoretical predictions. The expansion seems to be governed by a polytrope with gamma approx. 1.3 in this distance range. We find that Coulomb collisions are important contributors to the ion-ion equilibration process in the ICME plasma. The alpha-proton differential speed quickly drops to below 10 km/s due to strong Coulomb collisions. However, the two species of particles are far from thermal equilibrium with a temperature ratio T(sub alpha/T(sub p) = 4-6, suggestive of a preferential heating of alpha particles. The plasma heating rate as a function of heliocentric &stance required for the temperature profile is deduced by taking into account the expansion and energy transfer between protons and alphas via Coulomb collisions. The turbulence dissipation rate is also inferred from the inertial range power spectrum of magnetic fluctuations within ICMEs. Comparison of the turbulence dissipation rate with the required heating rate shows that turbulence dissipation seems sufficient to explain the ICME heating. Sources powering the turbulence are also investigated by examining the instabilities induced by temperature anisotropies and energy deposition by pickup ions.

Liu, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1983

On the equation of state of solar wind ions derived from Helios measurements

The radial evolution of such adiabatic invariants as the ion magnetic moments are studied on the basis of solar wind ion velocity distribution observations made by the Helios spacecraft between 0.3 and 1 AU. Significant differences between proton and alpha-particle parameters in wind velocity dependence are noted, and adiabaticity is on the average found to be violated. This violation is interpreted as evidence that protons are heated perpendicular to the field in fast streams. The contribution of the differential streaming energy to the total internal energy of the ions is also considered, and average heliocentric radial profiles for the ion heat fluxes are presented together with an examination of a possible ion heat flux role in the supply of thermal energy during the winds radial expansion. The present findings suggest that wave-particle interactions, and/or Coulomb collisions, are required to explain solar wind ion thermal energy states and radial temperature profiles.

Marsch, E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Effect of Coulomb interaction on time of flight of cold antiprotons launched from an ion trap

Time-of-flight spectra for Maxwell-Boltzman (MB) distributions of antiprotons initially held in an ion trap and detected after being launched through a 50-cm-long shielding drift tube have been calculated. The distributions used are of temperature 0.4-40 K, cubic length 0.003-3.0 cm, and number 10-100 particles. The mutual Coulomb repulsion of the particles causes a reduction in the number of late arrival particles expected from the MB velocity distribution. The Coulomb energy is not equally divided among the particles during the expansion. The energy is transferred preferentially to the outer particles so that the reduction in the number of slow particles is not necessarily large. The reduction factor is found to be greater than unity when the potential energy of the trapped ions is greater than about 5 percent of the ions' kinetic energy and is about 2 for the launch parameters of the Los Alamos antiproton gravity experiment.

Camp, J. B.↗
DOE OSTI2020

On the expansion of non-ideal copper plasma into vacuum

The expansion of non-ideal copper plasma into vacuum is analyzed for the conditions typical for explosive electron emission in vacuum arcs. The computational model solves the Euler equations with an equation of state (EoS) for weakly non-ideal plasma, taking into account the ionization energy correction due to electron–ion Coulomb coupling. We have ascertained that the EoS has insignificant influence on the plasma expansion while the plasma properties and composition change drastically. Based on our simulation results, we discuss the validity of the “frozen” state theory often used in the vacuum arc plasma diagnostics.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Beyond the electric-dipole approximation in simulations of x-ray absorption spectroscopy: Lessons from relativistic theory

Herein we present three schemes to go beyond the electric-dipole approximation in x-ray absorption spectroscopy calculations within a four-component relativistic framework. The first is based on the full semi-classical light–matter interaction operator and the two others on a truncated interaction within the Coulomb gauge (velocity representation) and multipolar gauge (length representation). We generalize the derivation of the multipolar gauge to an arbitrary expansion point and show that the potentials corresponding to different expansion points are related by a gauge transformation, provided that the expansion is not truncated. This suggests that the observed gauge-origin dependence in the multipolar gauge is more than just a finite-basis set effect. The simplicity of the relativistic formalism enables arbitrary-order implementations of the truncated interactions, with and without rotational averaging, allowing us to test their convergence behavior numerically by comparison to the full formulation. We confirm the observation that the oscillator strength of the electric-dipole allowed ligand K -edge transition of TiCl 4 , when calculated to the second order in the wave vector, becomes negative but also show that inclusion of higher-order contributions allows convergence to the result obtained using the full light–matter interaction. However, at higher energies, the slow convergence of such expansions becomes dramatic and renders such approaches at best impractical. When going beyond the electric-dipole approximation, we therefore recommend the use of the full light–matter interaction.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Revisiting the multi-monopole point of SU( N ) $\mathcal{N}$ = 2 gauge theory in four dimensions

Motivated by applications to soft supersymmetry breaking, we revisit the expansion of the Seiberg-Witten solution around the multi-monopole point on the Coulomb branch of pure SU(N) $\mathcal{N}$ = 2 gauge theory in four dimensions. At this point N - 1 mutually local magnetic monopoles become massless simultaneously, and in a suitable duality frame the gauge couplings logarithmically run to zero. We explicitly calculate the leading threshold corrections to this logarithmic running from the Seiberg-Witten solution by adapting a method previously introduced by D’Hoker and Phong. We compare our computation to existing results in the literature; this includes results specific to SU(2) and SU(3) gauge theories, the large-N results of Douglas and Shenker, as well as results obtained by appealing to integrable systems or topological strings. We find broad agreement, while also clarifying some lingering inconsistencies. Finally, we explicitly extend the results of Douglas and Shenker to finite N, finding exact agreement with our first calculation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

On the connection between perturbation theory and new semiclassical expansion in quantum mechanics

Here, it is shown that for the one-dimensional anharmonic oscillator with potential V(x) = ax 2 + bgx 3 + ... = $\frac{1}{g^2}$ $\hat{V}$ (gx), as well as for the radial oscillator V(r) = $\frac{1}{g^2}$ $\hat{V}$ (gr) and for the perturbed Coulomb problem V(r) = $\frac{a}{r}$ + βgr + ... = g $\tilde{V}$ (gr), the Perturbation Theory in powers of the coupling constant g (weak coupling regime) and the semiclassical expansion in powers of $\hbar$ 1/2 for the energies coincide. This is related to the fact that the dynamics developed in two spaces: x (r)-space and gx (gr)-space, lead to the same energy spectra. The equations which govern dynamics in these two spaces, the Riccati-Bloch equation and the Generalized Bloch equation, respectively, are presented. It is shown that the perturbation theory for the logarithmic derivative of the wavefunction in - space leads to (true) semiclassical expansion in powers of $\hbar$ 1/2 ; for the one-dimensional case this corresponds to the flucton calculus for the density matrix in the path integral formalism in Euclidean (imaginary) time proposed by one of the authors. Matching the perturbation theory in powers of g and the semiclassical expansion in powers of $\hbar$ 1/2 for the wavefunction leads to a highly accurate local approximation in the entire coordinate space, its expectation value for the Hamiltonian provides a prescription for the summation of the perturbative (trans)-series.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Medium-induced radiative kernel with the Improved Opacity Expansion

We calculate the fully differential medium-induced radiative spectrum at next-to-leading order (NLO) accuracy within the Improved Opacity Expansion (IOE) framework. This scheme allows us to gain analytical control of the radiative spectrum at low and high gluon frequencies simultaneously. The high frequency regime can be obtained in the standard opacity expansion framework in which the resulting power series diverges at the characteristic frequency ω c ~ q^L 2 . In the IOE, all orders in opacity are resumed systematically below ωc yielding an asymptotic series controlled by logarithmically suppressed remainders down to the thermal scale T « ω c , while matching the opacity expansion at high frequency. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the IOE at NLO accuracy reproduces the characteristic Coulomb tail of the single hard scattering contribution as well as the Gaussian distribution resulting from multiple soft momentum exchanges. Finally, we compare our analytic scheme with a recent numerical solution, that includes a full resummation of multiple scatterings, for LHC-inspired medium parameters. Furthermore, we find a very good agreement both at low and high frequencies showcasing the performance of the IOE which provides for the first time accurate analytic formulas for radiative energy loss in the relevant perturbative kinematic regimes for dense media.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1979

A theory of local and global processes which affect solar wind electrons. I - The origin of typical 1 AU velocity distribution functions - Steady state theory

A kinetic theory for the velocity distribution of solar wind electrons which illustrates the global and local properties of the solar wind expansion is proposed. By means of the Boltzmann equation with the Krook collision operator accounting for Coulomb collisions, it is found that Coulomb collisions determine the population and shape of the electron distribution function in both the thermal and suprathermal energy regimes. For suprathermal electrons, the cumulative effects of Coulomb interactions are shown to take place on the scale of the heliosphere itself, whereas the Coulomb interactions of thermal electrons occur on a local scale near the point of observation (1 AU). The bifurcation of the electron distribution between thermal and suprathermal electrons is localized to the deep solar corona (1 to 10 solar radii).

Scudder, J. D.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ultrafast dynamics of 2-thiouracil investigated by time-resolved Auger spectroscopy

In this paper, we present time-resolved ultraviolet-pump x-ray probe Auger spectra of 2-thiouracil. An ultraviolet induced shift towards higher kinetic energies is observed in the sulfur 2p Auger decay. The difference Auger spectra of pumped and unpumped molecules exhibit ultrafast dynamics in the shift amplitude, in which three phases can be recognized. In the first 100 fs, a shift towards higher kinetic energies is observed, followed by a 400 fs shift back to lower kinetic energies and a 1 ps shift again to higher kinetic energies. We use a simple Coulomb-model, aided by quantum chemical calculations of potential energy states, to deduce a C-S bond expansion within the first 100 fs. The bond elongation triggers internal conversion from the photoexcited S 2 to the S 1 state. Based on timescales, the subsequent dynamics can be interpreted in terms of S 1 nuclear relaxation and S 1 -triplet internal conversion.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Full radiator-perturber interaction in computer simulations of hydrogenic spectral line broadening by plasmas

Spectral line broadening by plasmas can be computed by solving the equation of motion for the dipole of the radiating system perturbed by a fluctuating potential obtained from computer simulations. Such calculations have relied on the multipole expansion of the radiator-plasma interaction often keeping only the dipole term. With increasing density, however, higher multipoles as well as plasma perturbers overlapping the bound electron wave functions are expected to become important. For hydrogenic systems, the atomic matrix elements of the full Coulomb and screened Coulomb interactions are given by analytical formulas. Using these results, a computer simulation approach that accounts for the full radiator-plasma interaction is developed. One benefit is the removal of inherent strong collision divergences in the multipole expansion approximation. Furthermore, it yields the plasma polarization shift produced by perturbers penetrating the wave function of the radiator bound electrons. Here, the model was applied to hydrogenic argon Ly-α , Ly- β , and Ly-$\gamma$ spectral lines in a dense argon plasma at free electron densities of 10 24 or 10 25 cm ⁻3 and temperature of $800$ $eV$ relevant to plasma diagnostic techniques for inertial confinement fusion implosions.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗