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FAST Modularization Framework for Wind Turbine Simulation: Full-System Linearization: Preprint

The wind engineering community relies on multiphysics engineering software to run nonlinear time-domain simulations e.g. for design-standards-based loads analysis. Although most physics involved in wind energy are nonlinear, linearization of the underlying nonlinear system equations is often advantageous to understand the system response and exploit well-established methods and tools for analyzing linear systems. This paper presents the development and verification of the new linearization functionality of the open-source engineering tool FAST v8 for land-based wind turbines, as well as the concepts and mathematical background needed to understand and apply it correctly.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Non-linear plasma wake growth of electron holes

We report that an object's wake in a plasma with small Debye length that drifts across the magnetic field is subject to electrostatic electron instabilities. Such situations include, for example, the moon in the solar wind and probes in magnetized laboratory plasmas. The instability drive mechanism can equivalently be considered drift down the potential-energy gradient or drift up the density-gradient. The gradients arise because the plasma wake has a region of depressed density and electrostatic potential into which ions are attracted along the field. The non-linear consequences of the instability are analysed in this paper. At physical ratios of electron to ion mass, neither linear nor quasilinear treatment can explain the observation of large-amplitude perturbations that disrupt the ion streams well before they become ion-ion unstable. Here we show, however, that electron holes, once formed, continue to grow, driven by the drift mechanism, and if they remain in the wake may reach a maximum non-linearly stable size, beyond which their uncontrolled growth disrupts the ions. The hole growth calculations provide a quantitative prediction of hole profile and size evolution. Hole growth appears to explain the observations of recent particle-in-cell simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

An effective description of dark matter and dark energy in the mildly non-linear regime

In the next few years, we are going to probe the low-redshift universe with unprecedented accuracy. Among the various fruits that this will bear, it will greatly improve our knowledge of the dynamics of dark energy, though for this there is a strong theoretical preference for a cosmological constant. We assume that dark energy is described by the so-called Effective Field Theory of Dark Energy, which assumes that dark energy is the Goldstone boson of time translations. Such a formalism makes it easy to ensure that our signatures are consistent with well-established principles of physics. Since most of the information resides at high wavenumbers, it is important to be able to make predictions at the highest wavenumber that is possible. Furthermore, the Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure (EFTofLSS) is a theoretical framework that has allowed us to make accurate predictions in the mildly non-linear regime. In this paper, we derive the non-linear equations that extend the EFTofLSS to include the effect of dark energy both on the matter fields and on the biased tracers. For the specific case of clustering quintessence, we then perturbatively solve to cubic order the resulting non-linear equations and construct the one-loop power spectrum of the total density contrast.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Primordial black holes in linear and non-linear regimes

We revisit the formation of primordial black holes (PBHs) in the radiation-dominated era for both linear and non-linear regimes, elaborating on the concept of an apparent horizon. Contrary to the expectation from vacuum models, we argue that in a cosmological setting a density fluctuation with a high density does not always collapse to a black hole. To this end, we first elaborate on the perturbation theory for spherically symmetric space times in the linear regime. Thereby, we introduce two gauges. This allows to introduce a well defined gauge-invariant quantity for the expansion of null geodesics. Using this quantity, we argue that PBHs do not form in the linear regime irrespective of the density of the background. Finally, we consider the formation of PBHs in non-linear regimes, adopting the spherical collapse picture. In this picture, over-densities are modeled by closed FRW models in the radiation-dominated era. The difference of our approach is that we start by finding an exact solution for a closed radiation-dominated universe. This yields exact results for turn-around time and radius. It is important that we take the initial conditions from the linear perturbation theory. Additionally, instead of using uniform Hubble gauge condition, both density and velocity perturbations are admitted in this approach. Thereby, the matching condition will impose an important constraint on the initial velocity perturbations δ {sup h} {sub 0} = −δ{sub 0}/2. This can be extended to higher orders. Using this constraint, we find that the apparent horizon of a PBH forms when δ > 3 at turn-around time. The corrections also appear from the third order. Moreover, a PBH forms when its apparent horizon is outside the sound horizon at the re-entry time. Applying this condition, we infer that the threshold value of the density perturbations at horizon re-entry should be larger than δ {sub th} > 0.7.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Linear Transformation of the Polarization Modes in Coiled Optical Spun-Fibers with Strong Unperturbed Linear Birefringence. I. Nonresonant Transformation

A linear transformation of orthogonal polarization modes in coiled optical spun-fibers with strong unperturbed linear birefringence, which causes the emergence of the dependences of the integrated elliptical birefringence and the ellipticity and azimuth of the major axis of the ellipse, as well as the polarization state of radiation (PSR), on the length of optical fiber has been considered. Optical spun-fibers are subjected to a strong mechanical twisting, which is frozen into the structure of the optical fiber upon cooling, in the process of being drawn out from the workpiece. Since the values of the local polarization parameters of coiled spunwaveguides vary according to a rather complex law, the calculations were carried out by numerical modeling of the parameters of the Jones matrices. Since the rotation speed of the axes of the birefringence is constant on a relatively short segment of a coiled optical spun-fiber in the accompanying torsion (helical) coordinate system, the so-called “Ginzburg helical polarization modes” (GHPMs)—two mutually orthogonal ellipses with the opposite directions of traversal, the axis of which rotate relative to the fixed coordinate system uniformly and unidirectionally—are approximately the local normal polarization modes of such optical fiber. It has been shown that, despite the fact that the unperturbed linear birefringence of the spun-fibers significantly exceeds the linear birefringence, which is caused by the winding on a coil, the integral birefringence of an extended segment of such a fiber coincides in order of magnitude with the linear birefringence, which is caused by the winding on the coil, and the integral polarization modes tend asymptotically to circular ones. It has been also shown that the values of the circular birefringence of twisted single-mode fibers, which were calculated in a nonrotating and torsion helical coordinate systems, differ significantly. It has been shown that the polarization phenomena occur in the process of linear transformation of local polarization modes, which lead to small quasi-harmonic oscillations of the birefringence integral parameters of the optical spun-fibers, which depend on their length, and the period of these oscillations is approximately equal to half of the effective period of polarization beating.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Linear Time-Invariant Models of a Large Cumulus Ensemble

Abstract Methods in system identification are used to obtain linear time-invariant state-space models that describe how horizontal averages of temperature and humidity of a large cumulus ensemble evolve with time under small forcing. The cumulus ensemble studied here is simulated with cloud-system-resolving models in radiative–convective equilibrium. The identified models extend steady-state linear response functions used in past studies and provide accurate descriptions of the transfer function, the noise model, and the behavior of cumulus convection when coupled with two-dimensional gravity waves. A novel procedure is developed to convert the state-space models into an interpretable form, which is used to elucidate and quantify memory in cumulus convection. The linear problem studied here serves as a useful reference point for more general efforts to obtain data-driven and interpretable parameterizations of cumulus convection.

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences↗

Piecewise linear approximation with minimum number of linear segments and minimum error: A fast approach to tighten and warm start the hierarchical mixed integer formulation

In several areas of economics and engineering, it is often necessary to fit discrete data points or approximate nonlinear functions with continuous functions. Piecewise linear (PWL) functions are a convenient way to achieve this. PWL functions can be modeled in mathematical problems using only linear and integer variables. Moreover, there is a computational benefit in using PWL functions that have the least possible number of segments. This work proposes a novel hierarchical mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulation that identifies a continuous PWL approximation with minimum number of linear segments for a given target maximum error. The proposed MILP formulation also identifies the solution with the least maximum error among the solutions with minimum number of segments. Then, this work proposes a fast iterative algorithm that identifies non necessarily continuous PWL approximations by solving O(S log N) linear programming (LP) problems, where N is the number of data points and S is the minimum number of segments in the non necessarily continuous case. This work demonstrates that tight bounds for the MILP problem can be derived from these approximations. Next, a fast algorithm is introduced to transform a non necessarily continuous PWL approximation into a continuous one. Finally, the tight bounds and the continuous PWL approximations are used to tighten and warm start the MILP problem. The tightened formulation is shown in experimental results to be more efficient, especially for large data sets, with a solution time that is up to two orders of magnitude less than the existing literature.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Linear and Nonlinear Solvers for Simulating Multiphase Flow within Large-Scale Engineered Subsurface Systems

Simulation of multiphase flow in the subsurface is well-known to be computationally challenging. While there have been many studies that have explored approaches to overcoming these challenges, they often utilize relatively simple case studies. In this paper, we focus on the unique numerical challenges posed by modeling large-scale engineered subsurface systems, characterized by discrete features embedded in a heterogeneous natural subsurface setting. The man-made features such as shafts, tunnels, and barriers often cause multiple challenges in modeling the domain for multiphase porous media flow. This flow scenario can have a wide range of applications such as nuclear waste repositories, enhanced recovery of a petroleum reservoir, geothermal engineering, and carbon sequestration. An example of these severe numerical challenges is the case of performance assessment (PA) for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the only operating deep geological repository in the US, which simulates extreme material properties of bedded salt rock formation and extreme contrast due to open excavation next to the formation. The models have extremes not only of permeability and porosity but also of the constitutive models needed for multiphase flow; additionally, they have process models like salt creep closure reducing porosity over time, fracturing in clay and anhydrite interbeds of the bedded salt, gas generation from the waste materials, and unintentional human borehole intrusions in some scenarios. Numerical simulations require the solution of coupled systems of nonlinear PDEs; in our work, we use the open-source simulator PFLOTRAN which is based on Finite Volume discretization. The solution of the nonlinear equations requires use of the Newton-Raphson iteration at each time step, which entails the solution of the linearized Jacobian system at each iteration. The effects of all the processes (i.e., large number of unknowns, highly nonlinear constitutive relations, large contrasts in material properties in short distances) lead to an ill-conditioned Jacobian matrix that severely challenges traditional linear solver, i.e., stabilized biconjugate gradient with block Jacobi incomplete LU preconditioner (BCGS-ILU) leading to non-convergence for traditional Newton-Raphson nonlinear solver causing unacceptably long computation time for each model. This paper presents linear solvers such as constrained pressure residual (CPR) two-stage preconditioner with alternate-block-factorization (ABF) and quasi- implicit pressure and explicit saturation (QIMPES) decouplers and flexible generalized residual solver (FGMRES). The new general-purpose nonlinear solver, Newton trust-region dogleg Cauchy (NTRDC), is also introduced to resolve extreme nonlinearities in the models. We demonstrate the effectiveness of each method relative to the default BCGS-Newton solver. The two best cases had nearly 50 times speed-up and achieved completion of a simulation in 14 hours that never completed due to non-convergence with the default solver. We also investigate the strong scalability of each method and discuss some of the deficiencies found for Block Jacobi preconditioner using parallel domain decomposition, and node packing effects of modern processor architecture.

Preconditioner, Nonlinear, Porous media, Multiphas↗

Self-Assembly of Flexible Linear–Semiflexible Bottlebrush–Flexible Linear Triblock Copolymers

Block copolymer (BCP) self-assembly is a fundamental process in which incompatible blocks spontaneously form organized microstructures with broad practical applications. Classical understanding is that the domain spacing is limited by the contour length of the polymer backbone. Here, using a combination of molecular design, chemical synthesis, small-/wide-angle X-ray scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and electron tomography, we discover that this molecular picture does not hold for architecturally semiflexible BCPs. For strongly segregated linear–semiflexible bottlebrush–linear triblock copolymers, the size of the bottlebrush domain can be twice the bottlebrush backbone contour length. The mechanism of such anomalous self-assembly is likely that the interfacial repulsion between the incompatible blocks is large enough to pull a part of the linear end blocks into the bottlebrush domain. This effectively increases the bottlebrush domain size. Moreover, the semiflexible bottlebrush widens the regime for the cylinder morphology that is associated with the volume fraction of the end blocks fC SFB ∈ (0.10, >0.41). This window is much wider than that for flexible linear BCPs, fC F ∈ (0.14, 0.35), and that predicted by the recent self-consistent field theory for linear-bottlebrush BCPs of the same chemistry and molecular architecture. Finally, our experimental findings reveal previously unrecognized mechanisms for the self-assembly of architecturally complex BCPs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

User's manual for interactive LINEAR: A FORTRAN program to derive linear aircraft models

An interactive FORTRAN program that provides the user with a powerful and flexible tool for the linearization of aircraft aerodynamic models is documented in this report. The program LINEAR numerically determines a linear system model using nonlinear equations of motion and a user-supplied linear or nonlinear aerodynamic model. The nonlinear equations of motion used are six-degree-of-freedom equations with stationary atmosphere and flat, nonrotating earth assumptions. The system model determined by LINEAR consists of matrices for both the state and observation equations. The program has been designed to allow easy selection and definition of the state, control, and observation variables to be used in a particular model.

Antoniewicz, Robert F.↗

Advanced analysis technique for the evaluation of linear alternators and linear motors

A method for the mathematical analysis of linear alternator and linear motor devices and designs is described, and an example of its use is included. The technique seeks to surpass other methods of analysis by including more rigorous treatment of phenomena normally omitted or coarsely approximated such as eddy braking, non-linear material properties, and power losses generated within structures surrounding the device. The technique is broadly applicable to linear alternators and linear motors involving iron yoke structures and moving permanent magnets. The technique involves the application of Amperian current equivalents to the modeling of the moving permanent magnet components within a finite element formulation. The resulting steady state and transient mode field solutions can simultaneously account for the moving and static field sources within and around the device.

Holliday, Jeffrey C.↗

iSPECTRON: a simulation interface for linear and nonlinear spectra with ab-initio quantum chemistry software

We introduce iSPECTRON, an open source (under the Educational Community License version 2.0) program that parses data from common quantum chemistry software (NWChem, OpenMolcas, Gaussian, Cobramm, etc.), produces the input files for the simulation of linear and nonlinear spectroscopy of molecules with the Spectron code, and analyzes the spectra with a broad range of tools. Vibronic spectra are expressed in term of the electronic eigenstates, obtained through quantum chemistry computations, and vibrational/bath effects are incorporated in the framework of the displaced harmonic oscillator model, where all required quantities are computed at the Franck-Condon point. The code capabilities are illustrated by simulating linear absorption, transient absorption and two dimensional electronic spectra of the pyrene molecule. Two levels of electronic structure theory, TDDFT (with NWChem) and RASSCF/RASPT2 (with OpenMolcas), are compared where possible. Acknowledgements: F.S., A.N., D.R.N., N.G., S.M, M.G. acknowledge support from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division under Award Nos. DE-SC0019484, KC-030103172684. The Spectron code was developed with support from the National Science Foundation (Grant CHE- 1953045). This research benefited from computational resources provided by EMSL, a DOE Office of Science User Facility sponsored by the Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at PNNL. PNNL is operated by Battelle Memorial Institute for the United States Department of Energy under DOE Contract No. DE-AC05-76RL1830.

Segatta, Francesco↗

An experimental study of the existence regions and non-linear interactions of drift wave and Kelvin–Helmholtz instabilities in a linear magnetized plasma

Experimental observations of the intrinsic excitation and non-linear interactions of drift wave (DW) and Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) instabilities in a linear magnetized plasma column are presented. The experiments are carried out in the inverse mirror plasma experimental device (IMPED)—a cylindrical, magnetized, linear plasma machine designed to study low-frequency waves and instabilities in plasma. A novel feature of IMPED is the ability to control plasma profiles, such as the density n(r)⁠, electron temperature T e (r)⁠, and plasma potential V p (r) by varying the ratio Rm of the magnetic field in the main chamber to that in the source chamber. At high values of Rm, higher-density gradient scale length promotes the drift wave (DW) instability while lower Rm value results in a higher radial electric field, inducing a sheared poloidal flow that enhances the dominance of the Kelvin–Helmholtz (KH) mode. The background and fluctuating plasma parameters are characterized using various configurations of multiple in situ electric probes at different spatial locations to quantify the local gradients that excite the low-frequency primary instabilities. Statistical, spectral, and bispectral analysis of the density and potential signals help identify these modes in terms of wave number, frequency, phase, and amplitude and also delineate the nature of their non-linear interactions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

A Near-Threshold Shape Resonance in the Valence-Shell Photoabsorption of Linear Alkynes

The room-temperature photoabsorption spectra of a number of linear alkynes with internal triple bonds (e.g., 2-butyne, 2-pentyne, and 2- and 3-hexyne) show similar resonances just above the lowest ionization threshold of the neutral molecules. These features result in a substantial enhancement of the photoabsorption cross sections relative to the cross sections of alkynes with terminal triple bonds (e.g., propyne, 1-butyne, 1-pentyne,...). Based on earlier work on 2-butyne [Xu et al., J. Chem. Phys. 2012, 136, 154303], these features are assigned to excitation from the neutral highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to a shape resonance with g (l = 4) character and approximate pi symmetry. This generic behavior results from the similarity of the HOMOs in all internal alkynes, as well as the similarity of the corresponding g pi virtual orbital in the continuum. Theoretical calculations of the absorption spectrum above the ionization threshold for the 2- and 3-alkynes show the presence of a shape resonance when the coupling between the two degenerate or nearly degenerate pi channels is included, with a dominant contribution from l = 4. These calculations thus confirm the qualitative arguments for the importance of the l = 4 continuum near threshold for internal alkynes, which should also apply to other linear internal alkynes and alkynyl radicals. The 1-alkynes do not have such high partial waves present in the shape resonance. The lower l partial waves in these systems are consistent with the broader features observed in the corresponding spectra.

photoabsorption↗

Molecular Architecture Directs Linear–Bottlebrush–Linear Triblock Copolymers to Self-Assemble to Soft Reprocessable Elastomers

Linear–bottlebrush–linear (LBBL) triblock copolymers represent an emerging system for creating multifunctional nanostructures. Their self-assembly depends on molecular architecture but remains poorly explored. We synthesize polystyrene- block -bottlebrush polydimethylsiloxane- block -polystyrene triblock copolymers with controlled molecular architecture and use them as a model system to study the self-assembly of LBBL polymers. Unlike classical stiff rod-flexible linear block copolymers that are prone to form highly ordered nanostructures such as lamellae, at small weight fractions of the linear blocks, LBBL polymers self-assemble to a disordered sphere phase, regardless of the bottlebrush stiffness. Microscopically, characteristic lengths increase with the bottlebrush stiffness by a power of 2/3, which is captured by a scaling analysis. Macroscopically, the formed nanostructures are ultrasoft, reprocessable elastomers with shear moduli of about 1 kPa, two orders of magnitude lower than that of conventional polydimethylsiloxane elastomers. Our results provide insights on exploiting the self-assembly of LBBL polymers to create soft functional nanostructures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗