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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 OSTI2025

Resonant shattering flares as asteroseismic tests of chiral effective field theory

Chiral effective field theory (𝜒⁢EFT) has proved to be a powerful microscopic framework for predicting the properties of neutron-rich nuclear matter with quantified theoretical uncertainties up to about twice the nuclear saturation density. Tests of 𝜒⁢EFT predictions are typically performed at low densities using nuclear experiments, with neutron star (NS) constraints only being considered at high densities. In this work, we discuss how asteroseismic quasinormal modes within NSs could be used to constrain specific matter properties at particular densities not just the integrated quantities to which bulk NS observables are sensitive. We focus on the crust-core interface mode, showing that measuring this mode's frequency would provide a meaningful test of 𝜒⁢EFT at densities around half the saturation density. Conversely, we use nuclear matter properties predicted by 𝜒⁢EFT to estimate that this mode's frequency is around 185 ± 50Hz. Asteroseismic observables such as resonant phase shifts in gravitational-wave signals and multimessenger resonant shattering flare timings, therefore, have the potential to provide useful tests of 𝜒⁢EFT.

effective field theory↗
DOE OSTI2024

DRIFT: Diffusivity Regulation of Isotopes by nanoconFinementT

Spontaneous isotope fractionation has been reported under nanoconfinement conditions in naturally occurring systems, but the origin of this phenomena is currently unknown. Two existing hypotheses have been proposed, one based on changes in the solvation environment of the isotopes that reduces the non-mass dependent hydrodynamics contribution to diffusion. The other is that isotopes have mass-dependent surface adsorption, varying their total diffusion through nanoconfined channels. To investigate these hypotheses, benchtop experiments, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and molecule scale modeling were applied. Classical molecular dynamics simulations identified that the Na + and Cl - hydration shells across the three different salt solutions ( 22 Na 35 Cl, 23 Na 35 Cl, 24 Na 35 Cl) did not vary as a function of the Na + isotope, but that there was a significant pore size effect, with larger hydration shells at larger pore sizes. Additionally, while total adsorption times did not vary as a function of the Na + isotope or pore size, the free ion concentration, or those adsorbed on the surface for <5% of the simulation time did exhibit isotope dependence. Experimentally, challenges occurred developing a repeatable experiment, but NMR characterization of water diffusion rates through ordered alumina membranes was able to identify the existence of two distinct water environments associated with water inside and outside the pore. Further NMR studies could be used to confirm variation in hydration shells and diffusion rates of dissolved ions in water. Ultimately, mass-dependence adsorption is a primary driver of variations in isotope diffusion rates, rather than variation in hydration shells that occur under nanoconfinement.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Design and optimization of higher order mode couplers for the superconducting cavities of the PERLE energy recovery linac

The Powerful Energy Recovery Linac for Experiments (PERLE) is an energy recovery linac (ERL) facility based on superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) technology to be hosted at the Laboratoire de Physique des 2 Infinis Irène Joliot-Curie (IJCLab) in France. With a target beam power of 10 MW, PERLE aims to demonstrate the high-current, continuous wave, multi-pass operation to validate options for future high-energy machines, such as the 50 GeV ERL proposed for the Large Hadron electron Collider (LHeC) and the Future Circular electron-hadron Collider (FCC-eh), and host dedicated particle physics and nuclear experiments. In high-current ERLs, the regenerative Beam Breakup (BBU), emerging from the beam and cavity Higher Order Modes (HOMs) interaction, is a major concern for their stable operation. Beam-induced HOMs can increase the cavity heat load at cryogenic temperature and cause beam instabilities. HOM couplers are installed in the cavity beam pipes to absorb HOM energy and mitigate these effects. This thesis presents the design and optimization of several coaxial HOM couplers for the 5-cell 801.58 MHz elliptical Nb cavities of the 500 MeV PERLE ERL configuration. The RF transmission of the HOM couplers was optimized to enhance the damping of the most dangerous HOMs. The optimized HOM couplers were integrated into endgroups to simulate their damping performance and thermal behavior. The optimized HOM couplers were 3D-printed in epoxy and copper-coated. Low-power RF measurements were conducted on the produced HOM couplers installed in copper PERLE-type cavities to validate their damping performance and propose several endgroups for the PERLE 5-cell cavity to mitigate HOMs below the BBU instability limits.

Barbagallo, Carmelo↗
DOE OSTI2025

Neutron stars and the dense matter equation of state

The past two decades have witnessed tremendous progress in understanding the properties of neutron stars, their maximum mass and radii, and the properties of the dense matter in their cores, made possible by electromagnetic observations of neutron stars and the detection of gravitational waves from their mergers. These observations have provided novel constraints on neutron-star structure that are intimately related to the properties of dense neutron-rich matter described by the nuclear equation of state. Nevertheless, constraining the equation of state over the wide range of densities probed by astrophysical observations is still challenging, as the physics involved is broad and the system spans many orders of magnitude in density. Here, theoretical approaches to calculate and model the neutron-star equation of state in various regimes of densities are reviewed, and the related consequent properties of neutron stars are discussed. How the equation of state at low densities can be calculated from nuclear interactions that are constrained and benchmarked by nuclear experiments is described. Neutron-star observations, with a particular emphasis on information provided by gravitational-wave signals and electromagnetic observations, are reviewed. Finally, future challenges and opportunities in the field are discussed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Unraveling trace anomaly of supradense matter via neutron star compactness scaling

The trace anomaly Δ ≡ 1/3 −𝑃/𝜖 =1/3 −𝜙 quantifies the possibly broken conformal symmetry in supradense matter under pressure 𝑃 at energy density 𝜖. Perturbative QCD (pQCD) predicts a vanishing Δ at extremely high energy or baryon densities when the conformal symmetry is realized but its behavior at intermediate densities reachable in neutron stars (NSs) is still very uncertain. The extraction of Δ from NS observations strongly depends on the employed model for nuclear equation of state (EOS). Using the IPAD-TOV method based on an intrinsic and perturbative analysis of the dimensionless (IPAD) Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equations that are further verified numerically by using 10 5 EOSs generated randomly with a metamodel in a very broad EOS parameter space constrained by terrestrial nuclear experiments and astrophysical observations, here we first show that the compactness 𝜉 ≡ 𝐺⁡𝑀 NS /𝑅⁢𝑐 2 ≡ 𝑀 NS /𝑅 of a NS with mass 𝑀 NS and radius 𝑅 scales very accurately with $\bar{Π}$ c ≡ $Π$ c · (1 +18⁢X/25) ≡ X/(1 +3⁢X 2 +4⁢X) · (1 +18⁢X/25) where X ≡ 𝜙 c = 𝑃 c /𝜖 c is the ratio of pressure over energy density at NS centers. The scaling of NS compactness thus enables one to readily read off the central trace anomaly Δ c = 1/3 −X directly from the observational data of either the mass-radius or red-shift measurements. Finally, we then demonstrate indeed that the available NS data themselves from recent X-ray and gravitational wave observations can determine model insensitively the trace anomaly as a function of energy density in NS cores, providing a stringent test of existing NS models and a clear guidance in a new direction for further understanding the nature and EOS of supradense matter.

nuclear astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2026

Validity of a finite temperature expansion for dense nuclear matter

In this work we provide a new, well-controlled expansion of the equation of state of dense matter from zero to finite temperatures (𝑇) while covering a wide range of charge fractions (𝑌 𝑄 ), from pure neutron to isospin symmetric nuclear matter. Our expansion can be used to describe neutron star mergers using the equation of state inferred from neutron star observations. We discuss how knowledge from low-energy nuclear experiments and heavy-ion collisions can be directly incorporated into the expansion. We also suggest new thermodynamic quantities of interest that can be calculated from theoretical models or directly inferred by experimental data that can be used to infer the finite temperature equation of state. With our new method, we can quantify the uncertainty in our finite 𝑇 and 𝑌 𝑄 expansions without making assumptions about the underlying degrees of freedom. We can reproduce results from a microscopic equation of state up to 𝑇 = 100 MeV for baryon chemical potential 𝜇 𝐵 ≳ 1100 MeV [≈(1–2)⁢𝑛 sat ] within 5% error, with even better results for larger 𝜇 𝐵 and/or lower 𝑇. We investigate the sources of numerical and theoretical uncertainty and discuss future directions of study.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Low Yield Nuclear Monitoring Physics Experiment 1 – Integrated Data Acquisition System Design and Initial Observations

The report documents the design of the Integrated Data AcQuisition (IDAQ) system and observations recorded during the first in a series of underground chemical explosions conducted on the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) in southern Nevada. Experiments are funded as part of Low Yield Nuclear Monitoring (LYNM) research and development within the United States National Nuclear Security Administration NA-22 nuclear non-proliferation program. The series is part of the broader Physical Experiment 1 (PE1) being conducted in and around the P-tunnel facility on the NNSS. Each explosive experiment utilizes several tons of comp-B to generate signals recorded by a broad suite of instrumentation. The IDAQ serves as the backbone for all subsurface instrumentation providing precise time synchronization, remote control, data exfiltration and backup, along with recording several sensing modalities throughout the underground complex that includes ground motion, environmental conditions, and electromagnetic signals.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2025

JENSA: Past, present, and future

Nuclear reaction studies rely on three main physical components: the beam of nuclei provided by the facility, the detector systems used to measure the outgoing particles of interest, and the target. Target fabrication is thus a critical aspect of studying the reactions that power stars and probe the evolution of nuclear structure. The Jet Experiments in Nuclear Structure and Astrophysics (JENSA) gas jet target is the most dense helium jet target for rare isotope beam reaction studies in the world, providing targets of gaseous elements such as helium, nitrogen, and neon. A brief overview of the design and operation of JENSA, including commissioning and recent science experiments, and a discussion the future of JENSA coupled to the dedicated recoil separator SECAR, are presented.

Chipps, Kelly [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000330501298)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dense nuclear matter equation of state from heavy-ion collisions

The nuclear equation of state (EOS) is at the center of numerous theoretical and experimental efforts in nuclear physics. With advances in microscopic theories for nuclear interactions, the availability of experiments probing nuclear matter under conditions not reached before, endeavors to develop sophisticated and reliable transport simulations to interpret these experiments, and the advent of multi-messenger astronomy, the next decade will bring new opportunities for determining the nuclear matter EOS, elucidating its dependence on density, temperature, and isospin asymmetry. Among controlled terrestrial experiments, collisions of heavy nuclei at intermediate beam energies (from a few tens of MeV/nucleon to about 25 GeV/nucleon in the fixed-target frame) probe the widest ranges of baryon density and temperature, enabling studies of nuclear matter from a few tenths to about 5 times the nuclear saturation density and for temperatures from a few to well above a hundred MeV, respectively. Collisions of neutron-rich isotopes further bring the opportunity to probe effects due to the isospin asymmetry. However, capitalizing on the enormous scientific effort aimed at uncovering the dense nuclear matter EOS, both at RHIC and at FRIB as well as at other international facilities, depends on the continued development of state-of-the-art hadronic transport simulations. Furthermore, this white paper highlights the essential role that heavy-ion collision experiments and hadronic transport simulations play in understanding strong interactions in dense nuclear matter, with an emphasis on how these efforts can be used together with microscopic approaches and neutron star studies to uncover the nuclear EOS.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Determining the Conformation of Supported Complexes Using an 17 O TEDOR-like NMR Experiment

Dynamic nuclear polarization surface-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has enabled the determination of the three-dimensional configuration of surface sites, in particular supported metal complexes of relevance to single-site heterogeneous catalysis. These approaches have chiefly leveraged the application of NMR double-resonance experiments that either reveal the complex conformation via point-to-point intramolecular distances between spin-labeled atoms or the complex-surface orientation via distances between the spins and the surface plane. Either method typically requires expensive isotope labeling and each reports on different structural features. The application of an experiment that simultaneously reveals both types of distances with chemical resolution would be ideal. Here, in this article, we describe an 17 O{ 1 H} pseudo-3D correlation experiment that achieves this goal. Specifically, Si–O–Si and Si–O–M oxygens are well-resolved by 17 O NMR; therefore, distances can be simultaneously measured radially, between Si– 17 O–M and the 1 H’s of the ligands, and vertically to the Si– 17 O–Si linkages of the silica support. We demonstrate the experiment using supported yttrium and zirconium complexes. Good agreement is obtained when comparing the experimental results to theoretical predictions from density functional theory calculations, highlighting the reliability of this relatively simple experiment.

alkyls↗
DOE OSTI2025

Deployment of portable, modular gas samplers as part of an atmospheric tracer experiment

Underground nuclear explosions release noble gases into the atmosphere that can be detected to support international monitoring efforts. Atmospheric transport models help predict the movement of these gases over long distances, but struggle to predict the movement in the atmosphere local to the release. A field experiment was designed to monitor the movement of 127 Xe within a 5-km radius. Four gas samplers were deployed as part of this experiment to collect atmospheric samples at various distances from the release point. In conclusion, these samples were then analyzed in a near-field lab using a NaI detector and in an off-site lab using gamma-gamma coincidence and beta-gamma coincidence counting.

Radioxenon↗
DOE OSTI2025

Paths to superheavy nuclei

This document summarizes the discussions and outcomes of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Theory Alliance topical program ‘The path to Superheavy Isotopes’ held in June 2024 at FRIB. Its content is non-exhaustive, reflecting topics chosen and discussed by the participants. The program aimed to assess the current status of theory in superheavy nuclei (SHN) research and identify necessary theoretical developments to guide experimental programs and determine fruitful production mechanisms. This report details the intersection of SHN research with other fields, provides an overview of production mechanisms and theoretical models, discusses future needs in theory and experiment, explores other potential avenues for SHN synthesis, and highlights the importance of building a strong theory community in this area.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Benchmark of the Chlorine Worth Study Experiments in Support of Chlorine Nuclear Data Validation for Nuclear Criticality Safety

The Chlorine Worth Study (CWS) was a critical experiment to address an urgent need for thermal chlorine nuclear data validation in plutonium systems. This urgent need is tied directly to plutonium recycle and recovery operations in the plutonium facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where exceptionally conservative criticality safety limits are used because no credit is taken for the neutron capture by chlorine. The experiment used weapons-grade plutonium metal plates clad in stainless steel, known as the PANN (plutonium aluminum no nickel) ZPPR (zero power physics reactor) plates. The plutonium was reflected and moderated by high-density polyethylene and included combinations of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) as absorbers. The experiment and benchmark included three configurations mimicking 30 g 239 Pu/L plutonium, 300 g 239 Pu/L plutonium, and 600 g 239 Pu/L plutonium in an aqueous chloride solution. Uncertainties in the benchmark included five broad categories: (1) criticality measurement, (2) mass and density, (3) dimensions, (4) material compositions, and (5) positioning. The largest contribution to the overall uncertainties for all three cases came from the material compositions, in particular the PVC and CPVC absorber compositions. A detailed model was created to be a near match (that is within expectations of transport code users) and a simplified model was created to minimize offset dimensions and expedite modeling for code validation. Sample calculations were completed in MCNP6.3 with ENDF/B-VIII.0 and ENDF/B-VII.1 nuclear data. For the detailed and simplified models, the average difference between the computed and experimental k eff was 951 pcm. CWS will serve as the key validation experiment for nuclear criticality safety in support of aqueous chloride operations. The sensitivity to the chlorine capture cross section is orders of magnitude greater than other existing benchmarks. The current limits, as defined by nuclear criticality safety, are 520 g Pu per batch, i.e. the minimum critical mass of the Pu solution infinitely reflected by water [Criticality Handbook: Volume II, (1969)]. This extremely conservative critical mass limit does not credit any neutron capture by chlorine (in particular neutron capture by 35 Cl) and greatly impedes the throughput required for current and future operations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Impact of Higher Fidelity Design Iterations on Critical System Criteria

Nuclear criticality experiments are effective at informing the performance of nuclear data libraries across many applications. This work explores the implications of refining critical experiment MCNP models from their low fidelity optimization phase to penultimate neutronic models. Specifically, this work is focused on two series of plutonium fueled experiments funded through internal programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory building off previous efforts under the EUCLID (Experiments Underpinned by Computational Learning for Improvements in Nuclear Data) collaboration. Thales, the first of the two collaborations, is a fast spectrum Ta-reflected plutonium experiment to support operations at PF-4. The second experiment are twin configurations designed to target the intermediate energy cross sections in 239 Pu. Motivation for this experiment stems from the PARallel Approach of Differential and InteGral Measurements (PARADIGM) collaboration which hopes to achieve a significant reduction in 239 Pu cross section uncertainties in the intermediate region.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗