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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Investigations of turbulent scalar fields using probability density function approach

Scalar fields undergoing random advection have attracted much attention from researchers in both the theoretical and practical sectors. Research interest spans from the study of the small scale structures of turbulent scalar fields to the modeling and simulations of turbulent reacting flows. The probability density function (PDF) method is an effective tool in the study of turbulent scalar fields, especially for those which involve chemical reactions. It has been argued that a one-point, joint PDF approach is the one to choose from among many simulation and closure methods for turbulent combustion and chemically reacting flows based on its practical feasibility in the foreseeable future for multiple reactants. Instead of the multi-point PDF, the joint PDF of a scalar and its gradient which represents the roles of both scalar and scalar diffusion is introduced. A proper closure model for the molecular diffusion term in the PDF equation is investigated. Another direction in this research is to study the mapping closure method that has been recently proposed to deal with the PDF's in turbulent fields. This method seems to have captured the physics correctly when applied to diffusion problems. However, if the turbulent stretching is included, the amplitude mapping has to be supplemented by either adjusting the parameters representing turbulent stretching at each time step or by introducing the coordinate mapping. This technique is still under development and seems to be quite promising. The final objective of this project is to understand some fundamental properties of the turbulent scalar fields and to develop practical numerical schemes that are capable of handling turbulent reacting flows.

Gao, Feng↗
NASA NTRS2003

A Self-Contained Mapping Closure Approximation for Scalar Mixing

Scalar turbulence exhibits interplays of coherent structures and random fluctuations over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales. This feature necessitates a probabilistic description of the scalar dynamics, which can be achieved comprehensively by using probability density functions (PDFs). Therefore, the challenge is to obtain the scalar PDFs (Lundgren 1967; Dopazo 1979). Generally, the evolution of a scalar is governed by three dynamical processes: advection, diffusion and reaction. In a PDF approach (Pope 1985), the advection and reaction can be treated exactly but the effect of molecular diffusion has to be modeled. It has been shown (Pope 1985) that the effect of molecular diffusion can be expressed as conditional dissipation rates or conditional diffusions. The currently used models for the conditional dissipation rates and conditional diffusions (Pope 1991) have resisted deduction from the fundamental equations and are unable to yield satisfactory results for the basic test cases of decaying scalars in isotropic turbulence, although they have achieved some success in a variety of individual cases. The recently developed mapping closure approach (Pope 1991; Chen, Chen & Kraichnan 1989; Kraichnan 1990; Klimenko & Pope 2003) provides a deductive method for conditional dissipation rates and conditional di usions, and the models obtained can successfully describe the shape relaxation of the scalar PDF from an initial double delta distribution to a Gaussian one. However, the mapping closure approach is not able to provide the rate at which the scalar evolves. The evolution rate has to be modeled. Therefore, the mapping closure approach is not closed. In this letter, we will address this problem.

He, Guo-Wei↗
DOE OSTI2023

Search for Low mass Higgs Portal Scalars at the MicroBooNE Detector in the NuMI Beam

The MicroBooNE experiment exploits Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) technology to detect neutrinos from two beams at Fermilab, Chicago: on-axis Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) and the off-axis Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam. While the aim of the experiment is to study the low-energy excess of electron neutrino events observed by the MiniBooNE experiment, to search for eV-scale sterile neutrinos and to characterise neutrino interactions on argon, it could also be exploited to probe Beyond Standard Model (BSM) Physics. This thesis presents a BSM search for low-mass Higgs Portal Scalars at MicroBooNE in the NuMI beam using data collected during the Run 1 and Run 3 data-taking periods with a total exposure corresponding to $7.01 \times 10^{20}$ protons on target (POT). The Higgs Portal Model is an extension to the Standard Model in which a dark-sector scalar, $S$, mixes with the Higgs boson with mixing angle $\theta$ and acquires a coupling to the Standard Model fermions via the Higgs Yukawa coupling. We search for low-mass Higgs Portal scalars, in the mass range $100-200$ MeV, at MicroBooNE via the production channel $K \rightarrow \pi + S$, where scalars are produced from kaons decaying at rest in the NuMI target and beam dump, as well as kaons decaying in flight in the decay pipe of the NuMI beam. In the MicroBooNE detector, we search for the decay channel $S \rightarrow e^+e^-$, which is the only decay channel available to the scalars in the mass range of our search. The results are expressed as limits, at the 95\% confidence level, on the scalar-Higgs mixing angle $\theta$ for scalars in the mass range $100-200$ MeV.Date of Award1 Aug 2023Original languageEnglishAwarding InstitutionThe University of ManchesterSupervisorStefan Soldner-Rembold (Supervisor) & Justin Evans (Supervisor)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Scalar-induced neutrinoless double beta decay in SU(5)

We discuss the role of heavy scalar fields in mediating neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ) within the SU(5) Grand Unified Theory framework, extended suitably to include neutrino mass. In such a minimal realistic SU(5) setup for fermion masses, the scalar contributions to 0νββ are extremely suppressed as a consequence of the proton decay bound. We circumvent this problem by imposing a discrete Z 3 symmetry. However, the scalar contributions to 0νββ remain suppressed in this SU(5) x Z 3 model due to the neutrino mass constraint. We find that the 0νββ contribution can be enhanced by extending the scalar sector with an additional 15-dimensional scalar representation with suitable Z 3 charge. Such an extension not only yields realistic fermion mass spectra but also leads to experimentally testable predictions in upcoming ton-scale 0νββ searches, which can be used as a sensitive probe of the new scalars across a broad range, from LHC-accessible scales up to ∼ 10 10 GeV.

Baryon/Lepton Number Violation↗
DOE OSTI2024

Compact scalars at the cosmological collider

Abstract We study the dynamics of scalar fields with compact field spaces, or axions, in de Sitter space. We argue that the field space topology can qualitatively affect the physics of these fields beyond just which terms are allowed in their actions. We argue that the sharpest difference is for massless fields — the free massless noncompact scalar field does not admit a two-point function that is both de Sitter-invariant and well-behaved at long distances, while the massless compact scalar does. As proof that this difference can be observable, we show that the long-distance behavior of a heavy scalar field, and thus its cosmological collider signal, can qualitatively change depending on whether it interacts with a light compact or noncompact scalar field. We find an interesting interplay between the circumference of the field space and the Hubble scale. When the field space is much larger than Hubble, the compact field behaves similarly to a light noncompact field and forces the heavy field to dilute much faster than any free field can. However, depending on how much smaller the field space is compared to Hubble, the compact field can cause the heavy scalar to decay either faster or slower than any free field and so we conclude that there can be qualitative and observable consequences of the field space’s topology in inflationary correlation functions.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Light Scalars at FASER

FASER, the ForwArd Search ExpeRiment, is a currently operating experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that can detect light long-lived particles produced in the forward region of the LHC interacting point. In this paper, we study the prospect of detecting light CP-even and CP-odd scalars at FASER and FASER 2. Considering a model-independent framework describing the most general interactions between a CP-even or CP-odd scalar and SM particles using the notation of coupling modifiers in the effective Lagrangian, we develop the general formalism for the scalar production and decay. We then analyze the FASER and FASER 2 reaches of light scalars in the large tan β region of the Type-I two Higgs double model as a case study, in which light scalars with relatively long lifetime could be accommodated. In the two benchmark scenarios we considered, the light (pseudo)scalar decay length varies in (10 –8 , 10 5 ) meters. Both FASER and FASER 2 can probe a large part of the parameter space in the large tan β region up to 10 7 , extending beyond the constraints of the other existing experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Stellar limits on light CP-even scalar

Abstract We revisit the astrophysical constraints on a generic light CP-even scalar particle S , mixing with the Standard Model (SM) Higgs boson, from observed luminosities of the Sun, red giants, white dwarfs and horizontal-branch stars. The production of S in the stellar core is dominated by the electron-nuclei bremsstrahlung process e + N → e + N + S . With the S decay and reabsorption processes taken into consideration, we find that the stellar luminosity limits exclude a broad range of parameter space in the S mass-mixing plane, with the scalar mass up to 350 keV and the mixing angle ranging from 7.0 × 10 -18 to 3.4 × 10 -3 . We also apply the stellar limits to a real-singlet scalar extension of the SM, where we can relate the mixing angle to the parameters in the scalar potential. In both the generic scalar case and the real-singlet extension, we show that the stellar limits preclude the scalar interpretation of the recently observed XENON1T excess in terms of the S particles emitted from the Sun.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2026

Probing scalar non-standard interaction of supernova neutrinos in next-generation neutrino experiments

A new neutrino-matter interaction can potentially affect neutrino propagation through matter. In this work, we explore the impact of a flavor-conserving scalar-mediated non-standard neutrino interaction in the supernova neutrino flux. We observe that the presence of a scalar interaction involving muon and tau neutrinos (parameterized as η μμ and η ττ , respectively) can invert the neutrino mass eigenstate in which three neutrino flavor states are produced inside the supernova core, resulting in a significant modification of the electron neutrino flux from the supernova reaching the Earth. In the context of the DUNE experiment, we estimate the number of supernova neutrino events in the presence of scalar non-standard neutrino interaction η μμ or η ττ and contrast with the case without scalar-mediated non-standard interactions. Our results indicate that such scalar interactions introduce a new degeneracy in the measurement of neutrino mass ordering from supernova neutrinos. We show how the ν̅e event distribution in Hyper-Kamiokande experiment may help resolve the degeneracy between a model with new scalar interactions for normal ordered neutrino masses and the standard model with inverted mass ordering for a galactic supernova.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Oscillating scalar fields and the Hubble tension: A resolution with novel signatures

Here, we present a detailed investigation of a subdominant oscillating scalar field [“early dark energy” (EDE)] in the context of resolving the Hubble tension. Consistent with earlier work, but without relying on fluid approximations, we find that a scalar field frozen due to Hubble friction until log 10 ($z_c$) ~ 3.5, reaching $ρ_{\text{EDE}}(z_c)/ρ_{\text{tot}}$ ~ 10 % and diluting faster than matter afterwards, can bring cosmic microwave background (CMB), baryonic acoustic oscillations, supernovae luminosity distances, and the late-time estimate of the Hubble constant from the SH0ES Collaboration into agreement. A scalar field potential that scales as $V (\phi) \propto \phi ^{2n}$ with 2 ≲ $\textit{n}$ ≲ 3.4 around the minimum is preferred at the 68% confidence level, and the Planck polarization places additional constraints on the dynamics of perturbations in the scalar field. In particular, the data prefer a potential that flattens at large field displacements. A Markov-chain Monte Carlo analysis of mock data shows that the next-generation CMB observations (i.e., CMB-S4) can unambiguously detect the presence of the EDE at a very high significance. This projected sensitivity to the EDE dynamics is mainly driven by improved measurements of the E-mode polarization. We also explore new observational signatures of EDE scalar field dynamics: (i) We find that depending on the strength of the tensor-to-scalar ratio, the presence of the EDE might imply the existence of isocurvature perturbations in the CMB. (ii) We show that a strikingly rapid, scale-dependent growth of EDE field perturbations can result from parametric resonance driven by the anharmonic oscillating field for $\textit{n}$ ≈ 2. This instability and ensuing potentially nonlinear, spatially inhomogeneous, dynamics may provide unique signatures of this scenario.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1992

Non-scalar uncertainty: Uncertainty in dynamic systems

The following point is stated throughout the paper: dynamic systems are usually subject to uncertainty, be it the unavoidable quantic uncertainty when working with sufficiently small scales or when working in large scales uncertainty can be allowed by the researcher in order to simplify the problem, or it can be introduced by nonlinear interactions. Even though non-quantic uncertainty can generally be dealt with by using the ordinary probability formalisms, it can also be studied with the proposed non-scalar formalism. Thus, non-scalar uncertainty is a more general theoretical framework giving insight into the nature of uncertainty and providing a practical tool in those cases in which scalar uncertainty is not enough, such as when studying highly nonlinear dynamic systems. This paper's specific contribution is the general concept of non-scalar uncertainty and a first proposal for a methodology. Applications should be based upon this methodology. The advantage of this approach is to provide simpler mathematical models for prediction of the system states. Present conventional tools for dealing with uncertainty prove insufficient for an effective description of some dynamic systems. The main limitations are overcome abandoning ordinary scalar algebra in the real interval (0, 1) in favor of a tensor field with a much richer structure and generality. This approach gives insight into the interpretation of Quantum Mechanics and will have its most profound consequences in the fields of elementary particle physics and nonlinear dynamic systems. Concepts like 'interfering alternatives' and 'discrete states' have an elegant explanation in this framework in terms of properties of dynamic systems such as strange attractors and chaos. The tensor formalism proves especially useful to describe the mechanics of representing dynamic systems with models that are closer to reality and have relatively much simpler solutions. It was found to be wise to get an approximate solution to an accurate model than to get a precise solution to a model constrained by simplifying assumptions. Precision has a very heavy cost in present physical models, but this formalism allows the trade between uncertainty and simplicity. It was found that modeling reality sometimes requires that state transition probabilities should be manipulated as nonscalar quantities, finding at the end that there is always a transformation to get back to scalar probability.

Martinez, Salvador Gutierrez↗
NASA NTRS1992

On the modeling of scalar diffusion in isotropic turbulence

The objectives of the study were to establish the behavior of conditional scalar dissipation and diffusion at the extreme values of mass fraction and to derive and evaluate closure models for these terms using the scalar probability density function. The conditional scalar dissipation, its derivative with respect to mass fraction, and conditional scalar diffusion are all found to be zero at extreme values of mass fraction. A model for conditional scalar dissipation is derived which exhibits the correct behavior at the extreme values of scalar concentration.

Girimaji, Sharath S.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantifying scalar field dynamics with DESI 2024 Y1 BAO measurements

Quintessence scalar fields are a natural candidate for evolving dark energy. Unlike the phenomenological w 0 ⁢w a parameterization of the dark energy equation of state, they cannot accommodate the phantom regime of dark energy w⁡(z) <–1, or crossings into the phantom regime. Recent baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) indicate a preference for evolving dark energy over a cosmological constant, ranging from 2.6⁢σ –3.9⁢σ when fitting to w 0⁢ w a , and combining the DESI BAO measurements with other cosmological probes. In this work, we directly fit three simple scalar field models to the DESI BAO data, combined with cosmic microwave background anisotropy measurements and supernova datasets. We find the best fit model to include a 2–4% kinetic scalar field energy Ω scf,k , for a canonical scalar field with a quadratic or linear potential. However, only the DESY-Y5 supernova dataset combination shows a preference for quintessence over Λ cold dark matter (CDM) at the 95% confidence level. Fitting to the supernova datasets Pantheon, Pantheon+, DES-Y5, and Union3, we show that the mild tension (n σ < 3.4) under Λ ⁢CDM emerges from a BAO preference for smaller values of fractional mass-energy density Ω m < 0.29, while all supernova datasets, except for Pantheon, prefer larger values, Ω m > 0.3. The tension under Λ ⁢CDM remains noticeable (n σ < 2.8), when replacing two of the DESI BAO redshift bins with effective redshifts z eff = 0.51, and z eff = 0.706 with comparable BOSS DR 12 BAO measurements at z eff = 0.51, and z eff = 0.61. Furthermore, canonical scalar fields as dark energy are successful in mitigating that tension.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Collider probes of real triplet scalar dark matter

We study discovery prospects for a real triplet extension of the Standard Model scalar sector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and a possible future 100 TeV $\mathcal{pp}$ collider. We focus on the scenario in which the neutral triplet scalar is stable and contributes to the dark matter relic density. When produced in $\mathcal{pp}$ collisions, the charged triplet scalar decays to the neutral component plus a soft pion or soft lepton pair, yielding a disappearing charged track in the detector. We recast current 13 TeV LHC searches for disappearing tracks, and find that the LHC presently excludes a real triplet scalar lighter than 248 (275) GeV, for a mass splitting of 172 (160) MeV with $\mathcal{L}$ = 36 fb –1 . The reach can extend to 497 (520) GeV with the collection of 3000 fb –1 . We extrapolate the 13 TeV analysis to a prospective 100 TeV pp collider, and find that a ~ 3 TeV triplet scalar could be discoverable with $\mathcal{L}$ = 30 ab –1 , depending on the degree to which pile up effects are under control. We also investigate the dark matter candidate in our model and corresponding present and prospective constraints from dark matter direct detection. We find that currently XENON1T can exclude a real triplet dark matter lighter than ~ 3 TeV for a Higgs portal coupling of order one or larger, and the future XENON20T will cover almost the entire dark matter viable parameter space except for vanishingly small portal coupling.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Leptonic scalars and collider signatures in a UV-complete model

We study the non-standard interactions of neutrinos with light leptonic scalars ( &straightphi; ) in a global ( B – L )-conserved ultraviolet (UV)-complete model. The model utilizes Type-II seesaw motivated neutrino interactions with an SU(2) L -triplet scalar, along with an additional singlet in the scalar sector. This UV-completion leads to an enriched spectrum and consequently new observable signatures. We examine the low-energy lepton flavor violation constraints, as well as the perturbativity and unitarity constraints on the model parameters. Then we lay out a search strategy for the unique signature of the model resulting from the leptonic scalars at the hadron colliders via the processes H ±± → W ± W ± &straightphi; and H ± → W ± &straightphi; for both small and large leptonic Yukawa coupling cases. We find that via these associated production processes at the HL-LHC, the prospects of doubly-charged scalar H ±± can reach up to 800 (500) GeV and 1.1 (0.8) TeV at the 2 σ (5 σ ) significance for small and large Yukawa couplings, respectively. A future 100 TeV hadron collider will further increase the mass reaches up to 3.8 (2.6) TeV and 4 (2.7) TeV, at the 2 σ (5 σ ) significance, respectively. We also demonstrate that the mass of &straightphi; can be determined at about 10% accuracy at the LHC for the large Yukawa coupling case even though it escapes as missing energy from the detectors.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

A light scalar explanation of (g - 2) μ and the KOTO anomaly

The KOTO experiment has recently performed a search for neutral Kaons decaying into neutral pions and a pair of neutrinos. Three events were observed in the KOTO signal region, with an expected background of about 0.05. Since no clear signal of systematic errors have been found, the excess of events in the decay K-L → π 0 v$\overline{v}$ is quite intriguing. One possibility to explain this anomaly would be the presence of a scalar $\phi$ with mass of the order of the pion mass and inducing decays K-L → π 0 $\phi$ which mimic the observed signal. A scalar with mass of the order of the pion mass and a coupling to muons of the order of the Standard Model Higgs coupling could also explain the muon anomalous magnetic moment anomaly (g - 2) μ . We built on these facts to show that a light singlet scalar with couplings to the leptons and quarks as the ones induced by mixing with Higgs states in two Higgs doublet models may lead to an explanation of both anomalies. More specifically, we show that this is the case in the so-called type-X models in which leptons and quarks couple to two different Higgs doublets, and for scalar masses that are in the range between 40 and 70 MeV. Due to the relatively large coupling to leptons required to fit (g - 2) μ , the scalar lifetime accidentally falls into the sub-nanosecond range which is essential to evade the severe proton beam dump experiments and astrophysical constraints, though it becomes sensitive to constraints from electron beam dump experiments. The additional phenomenological properties of this model are discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Soft scalars in effective field theory

We derive a soft theorem for a massless scalar in an effective field theory with generic field content using the geometry of field space. This result extends the geometric soft theorem for scalar effective field theories by allowing the massless scalar to couple to other scalars, fermions, and gauge bosons. The soft theorem keeps its geometric form, but where the field-space geometry now involves the full field content of the theory. As a bonus, we also present novel double soft theorems with fermions, which mimic the geometric structure of the double soft theorem for scalars.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Multi-spin soft bootstrap and scalar-vector Galileon

We use the amplitude soft bootstrap method to explore the space of effective field theories (EFT) of massless vectors and scalars. It is known that demanding vanishing soft limits fixes uniquely a special class of EFTs: non-linear sigma model, scalar Galileon and Born-Infeld theories. Based on the amplitudes analysis, we conjecture no-go theorems for higher-derivative vector theories and theories with coupled vectors and scalars. We then allow for more general soft theorems where the non-trivial part of the soft limit of the ( n +1)-pt amplitude is equal to a linear combination of n-pt amplitudes. We derive the form of these soft theorems for general power-counting and spins of particles and use it as an input into the soft bootstrap method in the case of Galileon power-counting and coupled scalar-vector theories. We show that this unifies the description of existing Galileon theories and leads us to the discovery of a new exceptional theory: Special scalar-vector Galileon.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Staircases of passive and active scalar concentration in cellular flow

This paper develops a unified model for staircase formation in both passive and active scalar systems, building upon prior numerical studies by offering new heuristic and physical insights. While prior studies primarily reported numerical results, they did not explore the underlying unifying physics that governs both types of scalar transport; this work addresses that gap by identifying shared mechanisms across both cases. Results of studies of passive and active scalar staircase formation in cellular flows are presented. Staircase formation in cellular flows occurs due to the interplay of fast mixing within cells and slow transport across the inter-cell boundary. The cell boundary emerges as a de facto transport barrier. Special attention is focused on the effects of cellular fluctuations and noise upon staircase structure. A forced, fluctuating vortex array model is used to drive the underlying flow structure. Cellular Peclet number and staircase profile curvature are identified as figures-of-merit to quantify the resiliency of layering. These are related to simple, multi-scatterer scalar random walk models. Results for Peclet number and curvature scaling with flow excitation are presented. We also study staircases of magnetic potential evolving in two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics as examples of layering of active scalar concentration. Formation of magnetic potential staircases is indeed observed. Flux expulsion inhibits the intercellular transport of magnetic potential and strengthens staircase barriers. Magnetic staircases can be supported against resistive decay by magnetic potential noise forcing. Implications for staircase formation in magnetic confinement experiments are discussed.

Control theory↗