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At least 379 records · Page 21

Electron transport in gaseous detectors with a Python-based Monte Carlo simulation code

Understanding electron drift and diffusion in gases and gas mixtures is a topic of central importance for the development of modern particle detection instrumentation. The industry-standard MagBoltz code has become an invaluable tool during its 20 years of development, providing capability to solve for electron transport (‘swarm’) properties based on a growing encyclopedia of built-in collision cross sections. We have made a refactorization of this code from FORTRAN into Cython, and studied a range of gas mixtures of interest in high energy and nuclear physics. The results from the new open source PyBoltz package match the outputs from the original MagBoltz code, with comparable simulation speed. An extension to the capabilities of the original code is demonstrated, in implementation of a new Modified Effective Range Theory interface. We hope that the versatility afforded by the new Python code-base will encourage continued use and development of the MagBoltz tools by the particle physics community.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Home energy management (HEM) database: A list with coded attributes of 308 devices commercially available in the US

Policymakers worldwide are currently discussing whether to include home energy management (HEM) products in their portfolio of technologies to reduce carbon emissions and improve grid reliability. However, very little data is available about these products. Here we present the results of an extensive review including 308 HEM products available on the US market in 2015–2016. We gathered these data from publicly available sources such as vendor websites, online marketplaces and other vendor documents. A coding guide was developed iteratively during the data collection and utilized to classify the devices. Each product was coded based on 96 distinct attributes, grouped into 11 categories: Identifying information, Product components, Hardware, Communication, Software, Information - feedback, Information - feedforward, Control, Utility interaction, Additional benefits and Usability. The codes describe product features and functionalities, user interaction and interoperability with other devices. A mix of binary attributes and more descriptive codes allow to sort and group data without losing important qualitative information. The information is stored in a large spreadsheet included with this article, along with an explanatory coding guide. This dataset is analyzed and described in a research article entitled “Categories and functionality of smart home technology for energy management” (Ford et al., 2017) [1].

Home automation↗

Parallelized real-time physics codes for plasma control on DIII-D

A real-time safe multi-threading library was developed on the DIII-D plasma control system to optimize the real-time TORBEAM and real-time STRIDE physics codes. These physics codes are crucial for future fusion power plant operation as they provide information about electron cyclotron wave propagation and heating as well as inform about ideal plasma stability limits. The real-time TORBEAM code executed consistently in under 20 ms while the real-time STRIDE code computes in 100 ms. The multi-threading library developed in this work can be applied to other real-time physics-based codes that will be crucial for the next generation of fusion devices.

DIII-D↗

A novel sector mass spectrograph design for high-order coded aperture Mass Spectrometry with stigmatic aberration correction

Previous works experimentally demonstrated that the application of spatially-coded apertures to simple sector mass spectrographs can result in increased signal intensity while maintaining spectral resolution comparable to that of a conventional slit aperture.[Chen, E.X., et al.: J Am Soc Mass Spectr. 26, 1633 (2015)][Russell, Z.E., et al.: J Am Soc Mass Spectr. 26, 248 (2015)] This spatial coding technique was later applied to a double-focusing Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrograph, and shown to be generally compatible with the architecture.[Russell, Z.E., et al.: J Am Soc Mass Spectr. 27, 1 (2016)] However, the achieved signal gain was limited by the spatial size of the electric sector gap. In this work, we introduce a modified version of the Mattauch-Herzog mass spectrograph with a wide-gap electric sector that is enabled by a novel, segmented-electrode approach, and show via simulation that this modified architecture alone (without aperture coding) achieves a 1.8x improvement in mass resolving power compared to a conventional Mattauch-Herzog spectrograph of equivalent size. Further, simulation of an aperture-coded version of the instrument supports a predicted signal strength increase of 50x with minimal loss of aperture clarity on the sensor due to the increased open area of the high-order coded aperture which can be passed.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

The MARS15-based FermiCORD code system for calculation of the accelerator-induced residual dose

The FermiCORD code system, a set of codes based on MARS15 that calculates the accelerator-induced residual doses at experimental facilities of arbitrary configurations, has been developed. FermiCORD is written in C++ as an add-on to Fortran-based MARS15. The FermiCORD algorithm consists of two stages: 1) simulation of residual doses on contact with the surfaces surrounding the studied location and of radionuclide inventories in the structures surrounding those locations using MARS15, and 2) simulation of the emission of the nuclear decay gamma-quanta by the residuals in the activated structures and scoring the prompt doses of these gamma-quanta at arbitrary distances from those structures. The FermiCORD code system has been benchmarked against similar algorithms based on other code systems and showed a good agreement. In conclusion, the code system has been applied for calculation of the residual dose of the target station for the Mu2e experiment and the results have been compared to approximate dosimetric approaches.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Codes and standards for ceramic composite core materials for High Temperature Reactor applications

Fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites are attractive for high-temperature nuclear applications due to excellent thermal and mechanical properties as well as reasonable-to-outstanding radiation resistance. Over the past 20 years, the use of ceramic matrix composite applications expanded to many commercial non-nuclear industries as fabrication and application of the technologies mature. The ASME Boiler Pressure Vessel Code, under Section III Division 5, provides the design and construction rules for High Temperature Reactor components. It published the first rules for ceramic matrix composites to be used for reactor core components. The rules lay out the quality requirements together with the design and materials criteria for the use and application of silicon carbide- and carbon-based matrix material technologies. As with the established graphite rules, the ceramic composite material rules are structured in Subsection HH (from Section III), that addresses the criteria for class SN nonmetallic core components. The code rules rely heavily on the development and publication of standards for composite specification, classification, and testing of mechanical, thermal, and other properties. These test methods are developed in ASTM Committee C28 on Advanced Ceramics, with a current focus on ceramic composite tubes. This article describes the detail of the composites code, the design methodology and similarities to the graphite code, the guidance for the development of specifications for ceramic composites (for nuclear applications) including recent standard developments, and it mentions the next steps to support licensing aspects by validating the code with benchmarking data.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Programming approaches for scalability, performance, and portability of combustion physics codes

Here, this paper presents the process, strategy, and results associated with porting a typical combustion physics flow solver to current state-of-the-art and future massively-parallel computer architectures. Major focus is placed on the distinct algorithmic structure of these types of codes and how it can be integrated with modern programming paradigms for heterogeneous platforms (i.e., distributed many-core systems with accelerators). An end-to-end case study is presented that exemplifies the process in a generic manner, which then serves as a clear guide with respect to the strategy and best practices leading to a robust and adaptable framework that performs well, is durable over time, is portable, and requires minimal human-effort. This end is accomplished beginning with the use of a mature, validated, structured, multiblock code framework optimized for application of both Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). This code has been ported to a variety of platforms over the past decade, including most recently the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s “Summit” Platform. The experience gained on these multiple platforms provides general insights and thus the results presented are not specific to any one code or platform other than the overarching trend toward distributed many-core systems with accelerators in order to move toward exascale performance. The resultant performance and scalability of the ported code is demonstrated on a real-world application; a state-of-the-art rotating detonation rocket engine simulation that matches the complex geometry and boundary conditions imposed as part of a companion experimental campaign.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Multinode Multi-GPU Two-Electron Integrals: Code Generation Using the Regent Language

The computation of two-electron repulsion integrals (ERIs) is often the most expensive step of integral-direct self-consistent field methods. Formally it scales as O(N 4 ), where N is the number of Gaussian basis functions used to represent the molecular wave function. In practice, this scaling can be reduced to O(N 2 ) or less by neglecting small integrals with screening methods. The contributions of the ERIs to the Fock matrix are of Coulomb (J) and exchange (K) type and require separate algorithms to compute matrix elements efficiently. We previously implemented highly efficient GPU-accelerated J-matrix and K-matrix algorithms in the electronic structure code TeraChem. Although these implementations supported the use of multiple GPUs on a node, they did not support the use of multiple nodes. This presents a key bottleneck to cutting-edge ab initio simulations of large systems, e.g., excited state dynamics of photoactive proteins. We present our implementation of multinode multi-GPU J- and K-matrix algorithms in TeraChem using the Regent programming language. Regent directly supports distributed computation in a task-based model and can generate code for a variety of architectures, including NVIDIA GPUs. We demonstrate multinode scaling up to 45 GPUs (3 nodes) and benchmark against hand-coded TeraChem integral code. Finally, we also outline our metaprogrammed Regent implementation, which enables flexible code generation for integrals of different angular momenta.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

GW100: Comparison of Methods and Accuracy of Results Obtained with the WEST Code

The reproducibility of calculations carried out within many-body perturbation theory at the G(0)W(0) level is assessed for 100 closed shell molecules and compared to that of density functional theory. We consider vertical ionization potentials (VIP) and electron affinities (VEA) obtained with five different codes: BerkeleyGW, FHI-aims, TURBOMOLE, VASP, and WEST. We review the approximations and parameters that control the accuracy of G(0)W(0) results in each code, and we discuss in detail the effect of extrapolation techniques for the parameters entering the WEST code. Differences between the VIP and VEA computed with the various codes are within similar to 60 and similar to 420 meV, respectively, which is up to four times larger than in the case of the best results obtained with DFT codes. Vertical ionization potentials are validated against experiment and CCSD(T) quantum chemistry results showing a mean absolute relative error of similar to 4% for data obtained with WEST. Our analysis of the differences between localized orbitals and plane-wave implementations points out molecules containing Cu, I, Ga, and Xe as major sources of discrepancies, which call for a re-evaluation of the pseudopotentials used for these systems in G(0)W(0) calculations.

Govoni, Marco↗

EStokTP: Electronic Structure to Temperature- and Pressure-Dependent Rate Constants—A Code for Automatically Predicting the Thermal Kinetics of Reactions

A priori rate predictions for gas phase reactions have undergone a gradual but dramatic transformation, with current predictions often rivaling the accuracy of the best available experimental data. The utility of such kinetic predictions would be greatly magnified if they could more readily be implemented for large numbers of systems. Here, we report the development of a new computational environment, namely, EStokTP, that reduces the human effort involved in the rate prediction for single channel reactions essentially to the specification of the methodology to be employed. The code can also be used to obtain all the necessary master equation building blocks for more complex reactions. In general, the prediction of rate constants involves two steps, with the first consisting of a set of electronic structure calculations and the second in the application of some form of kinetic solver, such as a transition state theory (TST)-based master equation solver. EStokTP provides a fully integrated treatment of both steps through calls to external codes to perform first the electronic structure and then the master equation calculations. It focuses on generating, extracting, and organizing the necessary structural properties from a sequence of calls to electronic structure codes, with robust automatic failure recovery options to limit human intervention. The code implements one or multidimensional hindered rotor treatments of internal torsional modes (with automated projection from the Hessian and with optional vibrationally adiabatic corrections), Eckart and multidimensional tunneling models (such as small curvature theory), and variational treatments (based on intrinsic reaction coordinate following). This focus on a robust implementation of high-level TST methods allows the code to be used in high accuracy studies of large sets of reactions, as illustrated here through sample studies of a few hundred reactions. At present, the following reaction types are implemented in EStokTP: abstraction, addition, isomerization, and beta-decomposition. Finally, preliminary protocols for treating barrierless reactions and multiple-well and/or multiple-channel potential energy surfaces are also illustrated.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A cell type-aware framework for nominating non-coding variants in Mendelian regulatory disorders

Abstract Unsolved Mendelian cases often lack obvious pathogenic coding variants, suggesting potential non-coding etiologies. Here, we present a single cell multi-omic framework integrating embryonic mouse chromatin accessibility, histone modification, and gene expression assays to discover cranial motor neuron (cMN)cis-regulatory elements and subsequently nominate candidate non-coding variants in the congenital cranial dysinnervation disorders (CCDDs), a set of Mendelian disorders altering cMN development. We generate single cell epigenomic profiles for ~86,000 cMNs and related cell types, identifying ~250,000 accessible regulatory elements with cognate gene predictions for ~145,000 putative enhancers. We evaluate enhancer activity for 59 elements using an in vivo transgenic assay and validate 44 (75%), demonstrating that single cell accessibility can be a strong predictor of enhancer activity. Applying our cMN atlas to 899 whole genome sequences from 270 genetically unsolved CCDD pedigrees, we achieve significant reduction in our variant search space and nominate candidate variants predicted to regulate known CCDD disease genesMAFB, PHOX2A, CHN1, andEBF3– as well as candidates in recurrently mutated enhancers through peak- and gene-centric allelic aggregation. This work delivers non-coding variant discoveries of relevance to CCDDs and a generalizable framework for nominating non-coding variants of potentially high functional impact in other Mendelian disorders.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

Quantum repeaters based on concatenated bosonic and discrete-variable quantum codes

Abstract We propose an architecture of quantum-error-correction-based quantum repeaters that combines techniques used in discrete- and continuous-variable quantum information. Specifically, we propose to encode the transmitted qubits in a concatenated code consisting of two levels. On the first level we use a continuous-variable GKP code encoding the qubit in a single bosonic mode. On the second level we use a small discrete-variable code. Such an architecture has two important features. Firstly, errors on each of the two levels are corrected in repeaters of two different types. This enables for achieving performance needed in practical scenarios with a reduced cost with respect to an architecture for which all repeaters are the same. Secondly, the use of continuous-variable GKP code on the lower level generates additional analog information which enhances the error-correcting capabilities of the second-level code such that long-distance communication becomes possible with encodings consisting of only four or seven optical modes.

Physics↗

Hybrid-VPIC: An open-source kinetic/fluid hybrid particle-in-cell code

Hybrid-VPIC is an extension of the open-source high-performance particle-in-cell (PIC) code VPIC incorporating hybrid kinetic ion/fluid electron solvers. This paper describes the models that are available in the code and gives an overview of applications of the code to space and laboratory plasma physics problems. Particular choices in how the hybrid solvers were implemented are documented for reference by users. A few solutions for handling numerical complications particular to hybrid codes are also described. Finally, special emphasis is given to the computationally taxing problem of modeling mix in collisional high-energy-density regimes, for which more accurate electron fluid transport coefficients have been implemented for the first time in a hybrid PIC code.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

The CXSFIT spectral fitting code: Past, present and future

Magnetically confined plasma experiments generate a wealth of spectroscopic data. The first step toward extracting physical parameters is to fit a spectral model to the often complex spectra. The CXSFIT (Charge eXchange Spectroscopy FITting) spectral fitting code was originally developed for fitting charge exchange spectra on JET from the late 1980s onward and has been further developed over decades to keep up with the needs of the users. The primary use is to efficiently fit a large number of spectra with many constrained Gaussian spectral lines of which the physical parameters can be coupled in a user-friendly manner. More recent additions to the code include time-dependent couplings between parameters, flexible background subtraction, and a non-linear coupling scheme between fit parameters. The latter was a pre-requisite for implementing Zeeman and motional Stark effect multiplets in the library of spectral features. The ability to save and replay “fit recipes,” even when multiple iterations are required, has ensured the traceability of the results and is one of the keys to the longevity and success of the code. The code is also in use on other tokamaks (AUG, ST-40) and to fit data from other spectroscopic diagnostics on JET. In this paper, we document the current capabilities and philosophy behind the structure of the code, including some of the algorithms used to calculate spectral features numerically efficiently. We also provide an outline of how CXSFIT could be transferred into a framework that would be able to meet the spectral fitting requirements of future devices, such as ITER.

Delabie, Ephrem G.↗

The JOREK non-linear extended MHD code and applications to large-scale instabilities and their control in magnetically confined fusion plasmas

JOREK is a massively parallel fully implicit non-linear extended magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) code for realistic tokamak X-point plasmas. It has become a widely used versatile simulation code for studying large-scale plasma instabilities and their control and is continuously developed in an international community with strong involvements in the European fusion research programme and ITER organization. This article gives a comprehensive overview of the physics models implemented, numerical methods applied for solving the equations and physics studies performed with the code. A dedicated section highlights some of the verification work done for the code. A hierarchy of different physics models is available including a free boundary and resistive wall extension and hybrid kinetic-fluid models. The code allows for flux-surface aligned iso-parametric finite element grids in single and double X-point plasmas which can be extended to the true physical walls and uses a robust fully implicit time stepping. Particular focus is laid on plasma edge and scrape-off layer (SOL) physics as well as disruption related phenomena. Among the key results obtained with JOREK regarding plasma edge and SOL, are deep insights into the dynamics of edge localized modes (ELMs), ELM cycles, and ELM control by resonant magnetic perturbations, pellet injection, as well as by vertical magnetic kicks. Also ELM free regimes, detachment physics, the generation and transport of impurities during an ELM, and electrostatic turbulence in the pedestal region are investigated. Regarding disruptions, the focus is on the dynamics of the thermal quench (TQ) and current quench triggered by massive gas injection and shattered pellet injection, runaway electron (RE) dynamics as well as the RE interaction with MHD modes, and vertical displacement events. Also the seeding and suppression of tearing modes (TMs), the dynamics of naturally occurring TQs triggered by locked modes, and radiative collapses are being studied.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Integrating functional scoring and regulatory data to predict the effect of non-coding SNPs in a complex neurological disease

Abstract Most SNPs associated with complex diseases seem to lie in non-coding regions of the genome; however, their contribution to gene expression and disease phenotype remains poorly understood. Here, we established a workflow to provide assistance in prioritising the functional relevance of non-coding SNPs of candidate genes as susceptibility loci in polygenic neurological disorders. To illustrate the applicability of our workflow, we considered the multifactorial disorder migraine as a model to follow our step-by-step approach. We annotated the overlap of selected SNPs with regulatory elements and assessed their potential impact on gene expression based on publicly available prediction algorithms and functional genomics information. Some migraine risk loci have been hypothesised to reside in non-coding regions and to be implicated in the neurotransmission pathway. In this study, we used a set of 22 non-coding SNPs from neurotransmission and synaptic machinery-related genes previously suggested to be involved in migraine susceptibility based on our candidate gene association studies. After prioritising these SNPs, we focused on non-reported ones that demonstrated high regulatory potential: (1) VAMP2_rs1150 (3′ UTR) was predicted as a target of hsa-mir-5010-3p miRNA, possibly disrupting its own gene expression; (2) STX1A_rs6951030 (proximal enhancer) may affect the binding affinity of zinc-finger transcription factors (namely ZNF423) and disturb TBL2 gene expression; and (3) SNAP25_rs2327264 (distal enhancer) expected to be in a binding site of ONECUT2 transcription factor. This study demonstrated the applicability of our practical workflow to facilitate the prioritisation of potentially relevant non-coding SNPs and predict their functional impact in multifactorial neurological diseases.

Felício, Daniela↗

Concatenated dual displacement code for continuous-variable quantum error correction

The continuous-variable (CV) Gaussian no-go theorem fundamentally limits the suppression of Gaussian displacement errors using only Gaussian gates and states. Prior studies have employed Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) states as ancillary qumodes to suppress small Gaussian displacement errors. However, when the displacement magnitude becomes large, inevitable lattice-crossing errors arise beyond the correctable range of the GKP state. To address this issue, we concatenate the Gaussian-noise-suppression circuit with an outer analog Steane code that corrects such occasional lattice-crossing events as well as other abrupt displacement errors. Contrary to conventional concatenation, which primarily aims to reduce logical error rates, the Steane-GKP duality in encoding provides complementary protection against displacement errors at different scales: The inner GKP layer employs non-Gaussian resources to suppress continuous Gaussian noise and reduce residual variance, while the outer analog Steane code corrects discrete lattice-crossing events that exceed the GKP correctable range. It is precisely this separation of error-mitigation roles that enables CV error correction. In contrast to prior work on concatenating GKP and repetition codes to establish error correction for discrete qubit/qudit encoding, we provide correction in the continuous encoding space. Analytical studies show that, under infinite squeezing, the concatenated code suppresses the variance of Gaussian displacement errors acting on all qumodes by up to 50%, while enabling unbiased correction of lattice-crossing errors with a success probability determined by the ratio between the residual Gaussian error standard deviation and the lattice-crossing magnitude. Even with finite squeezing, the proposed architecture still provides Gaussian-error suppression and lattice-crossing correction. Moreover, the presence of the outer analog Steane code relaxes the squeezing requirement of the inner GKP states, indicating near-term experimental feasibility. This work establishes a viable route toward fault-tolerant continuous-variable quantum computation and provides insight into the design of concatenated CV error-correcting architectures.

quantum error correction↗

On the Information in Spike Timing: Neural Codes Derived from Polychronous Groups

There is growing evidence regarding the importance of spike timing in neural information processing, with even a small number of spikes carrying information, but computational models lag significantly behind those for rate coding. Experimental evidence on neuronal behavior is consistent with the dynamical and state dependent behavior provided by recurrent connections. This motivates the minimalistic abstraction investigated in this paper, aimed at providing insight into information encoding in spike timing via recurrent connections. We employ information-theoretic techniques for a simple reservoir model which encodes input spatiotemporal patterns into a sparse neural code, translating the polychronous groups introduced by Izhike-vich into codewords on which we can perform standard vector operations. Finally, we show that the distance properties of the code are similar to those for (optimal) random codes. In particular, the code meets benchmarks associated with both linear classification and capacity, with the latter scaling exponentially with reservoir size.

computational modeling↗