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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

HTS Quadrupole Magnet for the Persistent Current Mode Operation

In this work, a new high-temperature superconducting (HTS) quadrupole magnet with circular coils was designed and built at Fermilab. Several HTS coils were also investigated at the temperature of liquid nitrogen. The main goal of this activity was to investigate the coils and magnet operation in a persistent current mode to reduce accelerator magnets’ capital and operational expenses. To accomplish this, HTS short-circuit coils were used. In the paper, HTS coils and magnet design, fabrication, and tests were discussed. The magnetic field in the magnet aperture and the field decay when the magnet operated in the “frozen flux” mode were measured. The test and simulation results were compared, confirming the advantages of the proposed approach.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Narrow-Channel, Fluidized Beds for Effective Particle Thermal Energy Transport and Storage

Colorado School of Mines (Mines) led this program in collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) to characterize narrow-channel fluidized beds of aluminosilicate particles – supplied by Carbo Ceramics – as a means for releasing high-temperature thermal energy in particle heat exchangers and for capturing concentrated solar energy in indirect particle receivers. Single-channel, heat transfer experiments at Mines and reduced-order 1-D models and 3-D two-fluid, CFD models explored many aspects of counterflow, bubbling fluidized beds (net downward particle flow and upward gas flow) for enhancing particle-wall heat transfer at elevated temperatures. Results at Mines on single-channel test sections consistently showed that mild bubbling fluidization increases particle-wall heat transfer coefficients (h T,w ) regularly by more than 4.0x over h T,w values without fluidization at similar conditions (mean particle diameter d p , bed depth Δz b , and bed particle temperatures T p ). Insights from lab-scale tests and modeling studies provided Nusselt number correlations for h T,w and informed the design and fabrication (by Vacuum Process Engineering) of a nominal 40-kWth, particle-sCO 2 plate heat exchanger (HX) with 12 parallel narrow-channel, fluidized beds bounded by stainless-steel walls with embedded microchannels for high-pressure sCO 2 flows. Tests of the 40-kW th HX at the particle-sCO 2 HX test stand at Sandia's National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF) were limited, due to HX design, to particle inlet temperatures T p,in ≤ 520°C with maximum sCO 2 outlet temperatures T sCO2,out ≈ 440°C, which are well below design conditions for a primary HX in a sCO 2 power cycle for a Gen-3 concentrating solar power (CSP) plant. Total heat transfer $\dot{Q}_{HX}$ remains relatively constant with increased fluidization for fixed particle and sCO 2 inlet conditions because higher h T,w due to fluidization is offset by increased axial dispersion, which suppresses temperature differences between the particles and sCO 2 in the counterflow configuration. The axial dispersion reduces the effective overall heat transfer coefficient U based on T p,in to values around 200 W m -2 K -1 .

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2008

Lunar Dust Simulant in Mechanical Component Testing - Paradigm and Practicality

Due to the uniquely harsh lunar surface environment, terrestrial test activities may not adequately represent abrasive wear by lunar dust likely to be experienced in mechanical systems used in lunar exploration. Testing to identify potential moving mechanism problems has recently begun within the NASA Engineering and Safety Center Mechanical Systems Lunar Dust Assessment activity in coordination with the Exploration Technology and Development Program Dust Management Project, and these complimentary efforts will be described. Specific concerns about differences between simulant and lunar dust, and procedures for mechanical component testing with lunar simulant will be considered. In preparing for long term operations within a dusty lunar environment, the three fundamental approaches to keeping mechanical equipment functioning are dust avoidance, dust removal, and dust tolerance, with some combination of the three likely to be found in most engineering designs. Methods to exclude dust from contact with mechanical components would constitute mitigation by dust avoidance, so testing seals for dust exclusion efficacy as a function of particle size provides useful information for mechanism design. Dust of particle size less than a micron is not well documented for impact on lunar mechanical components. Therefore, creating a standardized lunar dust simulant in the particulate size range of ca. 0.1 to 1.0 micrometer is useful for testing effects on mechanical components such as bearings, gears, seals, bushings, and other moving mechanical assemblies. Approaching actual wear testing of mechanical components, it is beneficial to first establish relative wear rates caused by dust on commonly used mechanical component materials. The wear mode due to dust within mechanical components, such as abrasion caused by dust in grease(s), needs to be considered, as well as the effects of vacuum, lunar thermal cycle, and electrostatics on wear rate.

Jett, T.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimization of overhang printing in ceramic binder jetting additive manufacturing

Cylindrical-shaped horizontally-hanging overhangs with different heights on a solid cubic body were printed via binder jetting additive manufacturing with sililcon carbide powder feedstock. Cracking on the overhang neck and sagging on the overhang body were observed both pre- and post-curing, especially on printed design with a smaller particle size of 10 μm. Here, it was found that the width of cracking and depth of sagging were dependent on the height relative to the solid body in the powder bed, and elevated position of overhang with large volume of underneath loose powder led to increased extend of cracking and sagging. Overhang diameter and weight were varied, which were found with no apparent effects on its deformation extend. To mitigate cracking and sagging, contactless support was designed and tested, which could significantly improve the overhang stability and avoid any overhang deformations. Support gap and support distance were studied for their effects on support capability. The printing processes with and without contactless support were simulated by a finite element modeling approach to understand the stress distribution and evolution of the overhang structures, which revealed stress concentrations on the upper neck point of the designed overhang.

Binder jetting↗
DOE OSTI2021

Variational design principles for nonequilibrium colloidal assembly

Using large deviation theory and principles of stochastic optimal control, we show that rare molecular dynamics trajectories conditioned on assembling a specific target structure encode a set of interactions and external forces that lead to enhanced stability of that structure. Such a relationship can be formulated into a variational principle, for which we have developed an associated optimization algorithm and have used it to determine optimal forces for targeted self-assembly within nonequilibrium steady-states. We illustrate this perspective on inverse design in a model of colloidal cluster assembly within linear shear flow. We find that colloidal clusters can be assembled with high yield using specific short-range interactions of tunable complexity. Shear decreases the yields of rigid clusters, while small values of shear increase the yields of nonrigid clusters. The enhancement or suppression of the yield due to shear is rationalized with a generalized linear response theory. Furthermore, by studying 21 unique clusters made of six, seven, or eight particles, we uncover basic design principles for targeted assembly out of equilibrium.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Linking spout fluidization hydrodynamics to pyrolytic carbon deposition characteristics in a fluidized bed chemical vapor deposition reactor

Spout fluidized bed chemical vapor deposition (SFB-CVD) is the dominant method for producing pyrolytic carbon (PyC) coatings on tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) fuel particles, yet the relationship between gas injector design, fluidization hydrodynamics, and resulting coating quality remains poorly quantified. Here, in this work, three spout fluidized bed (SFB) nozzle geometries were designed and fabricated to empirically investigate how injector-driven changes in particle circulation influence PyC deposition. The geometries were first evaluated in a room temperature fluidization apparatus using time-resolved particle image velocimetry, which highlighted distinct differences in particle velocity fields, circulation pathways, and overall fluidization quality. Graphite versions of each injector geometry were subsequently implemented in a laboratory-scale SFB-CVD reactor to deposit PyC onto surrogate fuel kernels under similar conditions. Post-deposition characterization included particle morphology, coating thickness, porosity distribution, optical anisotropy, and microindentation mechanical testing. Overall, the results show clear differences in coating microstructure as a function of changing injector geometry, despite mechanical testing indicating comparable elastic modulus values across all coatings. This study provides one of the first fully experimental, quantitative mappings between SFB nozzle geometry, fluidization hydrodynamics, and resulting PyC coating structure. The framework established here supports rational injector design and offers a pathway toward improved coating control in future pilot- and production-scale TRISO fuel fabrication systems.

Coated particle fuel↗
NASA NTRS2013

Design and Application of Hybrid Magnetic Field-Eddy Current Probe

The incorporation of magnetic field sensors into eddy current probes can result in novel probe designs with unique performance characteristics. One such example is a recently developed electromagnetic probe consisting of a two-channel magnetoresistive sensor with an embedded single-strand eddy current inducer. Magnetic flux leakage maps of ferrous materials are generated from the DC sensor response while high-resolution eddy current imaging is simultaneously performed at frequencies up to 5 megahertz. In this work the design and optimization of this probe will be presented, along with an application toward analysis of sensory materials with embedded ferromagnetic shape-memory alloy (FSMA) particles. The sensory material is designed to produce a paramagnetic to ferromagnetic transition in the FSMA particles under strain. Mapping of the stray magnetic field and eddy current response of the sample with the hybrid probe can thereby image locations in the structure which have experienced an overstrain condition. Numerical modeling of the probe response is performed with good agreement with experimental results.

Wincheski, Buzz↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of pebble scanning strategies for fuel qualification by simple simulated radiography

Reactor designs using tristructural-isotropic (TRISO) particles in pebble fuel forms have been developed in multiple programs and are now being designed and deployed by several companies around the world. Fuel pebbles for these designs commonly contain an inner fueled zone packed with TRISO particles and a fuel-free zone on the surface of the pebble to protect the particles within. Therefore, qualification of pebbles for use in a reactor commonly requires determination that there are no TRISO particles within a given minimum distance to the pebble surface. This determination may be made non-destructively by pebble radiography, in which a series of x-ray projections of the pebble are acquired. In this work, a method to create and image representative digital pebbles was developed to allow for rapid testing of various pebble radiography strategies to evaluate their effectiveness in detecting escapee particles. Using this method, imaging strategies in two and three dimensions were tested with fixed and adaptive angular distributions. Here it was found that an adaptive two-dimensional pebble scanning strategy was the most effective for fuel pebble qualification.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Whitepaper submitted to Snowmass21: Advanced accelerator linear collider demonstration facility at intermediate energy

It is widely accepted that the next lepton collider beyond a Higgs factory would require center-of-mass energy of the order of up to 15 TeV. Since, given reasonable space and cost restrictions, conventional accelerator technology reaches its limits near this energy, high-gradient advanced acceleration concepts are attractive. Advanced and novel accelerators (ANAs) are leading candidates due to their ability to produce acceleration gradients on the order of 1--100~GV/m, leading to compact acceleration structures. Over the last 10-15 years significant progress has been achieved in accelerating electron beams by ANAs. For example, the demonstration of several-GeV electron beams from laser-powered capillary discharge waveguides, as well as the proof-of-principle coupling of two accelerating structures powered by different laser pulses, has increased interest in ANAs as a viable technology to be considered for a compact, TeV-class, lepton linear collider. However, intermediate facilities are required to test the technology and demonstrate key subsystems. A 20-100 GeV center-of-mass energy ANA-based lepton collider can be a possible candidate for an intermediate facility. Apart from being a test beam facility for accelerator and detector studies, this collider will provide opportunities to study muon and proton beam acceleration, investigate charged particle interactions with extreme electromagnetic fields (relevant for beam delivery system designs and to study the physics at the interaction point), as well as precision Quantum Chromodynamics and Beyond the Standard Model physics measurements. Possible applications of this collider include the studies of $\gamma\gamma$ and $e$-ion collider designs.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Use of Silver Chloride Injection in Remediation of Iodine-129 by In Situ Capture as Silver Iodide at the F-Area Seepage Basin - 20225

The Savannah River Site (SRS) produced tritium, plutonium, and special nuclear materials for national defense, medicine, and the space programs. As part of operations, the F-Area Seepage Basins operated until 1988 for the disposition of deionized acidic wastewater from the F Separations Facility. The wastewater contained dilute nitric acid and low concentrations of non-radioactive metals, and radionuclides, with the major isotopes being Cs-137, Sr-90, U-235, U-238, Pu-239, Tc-99, I-129, and tritium. The seepage basins were closed in 1988 and backfilled and capped by 1991. The groundwater emanating from beneath the closed and capped seepage basins is acidic and contains elevated levels of both chemical and radiological contaminants. Releases from the groundwater plumes sourced from the F-Area Seepage Basins have impacted the water quality of Fourmile Branch, which is a small tributary to the Savannah River, a regional water source. A large pump-and-treat system was constructed in 1997 and operated until 2003 in an attempt to capture the releases to Fourmile Branch. The system in F Area and a similar system in H Area were expensive (∼$1.3 M/month) to operate and produced large quantities of radioactive waste, with concentrations of I- 129 too high to be disposed of at the SRS. In 2004, SRS replaced pump-and-treat with a funnel and gate system that along with operation of a base injection system at the gates reduces the flux of contaminants to the wetlands adjacent to Fourmile Branch. The alkaline solution injected into the aquifer neutralizes the acidic plume and immobilizes many of the cationic constituents. However, base injection is not effective in managing the release of iodine-129, an anionic contaminant. To address iodine-129 SRS and the Savannah River National Laboratory developed an in situ technology that uses ultra-fine ground silver chloride (AgCl) as an injectable capture medium for the sequestration of iodine-129. The AgCl amendment has a very small particle size and is designed to be injected into the contaminated aquifer to capture iodine-129. Dissolved iodine-129 forms a stable and highly insoluble solid (silver iodide) upon contact with AgCl. Laboratory studies, a field scale pilot test (2009), and three deployments (2011, 2015 and 2019) of AgCl have been successfully performed at the F-Area Seepage Basins. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Involving the new generations in particle physics endeavours

Since 1984 INFN and University of Pisa scientists performing experiments at Fermilab have been running a two-month summer training program for Italian students at the lab. In 1984 the program involved only a few physics students from the University of Pisa, but it was later extended to other INFN groups and to engineering students. Since 2004 the program has been supported in part by the US Department of Energy (DOE) in the frame of an exchange agreement with INFN and has been run by the Cultural Association of Italians at Fermilab (CAIF). In 2007 the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies (Pisa) established an agreement with Fermilab to share the cost of four engineering students each year. In the almost 40 years of its history, the program has hosted at Fermilab approximately 550 Italian students from more than 20 Italian universities and from some non-Italian universities. In addition, in the years 2010-2019, with the support of the Italian National Institute of Astrophyics (INAF), the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and CAIF, 30 students were hosted in other US laboratories and universities. The Fermilab training programs spanned from data analysis to design and construction of particle detectors and accelerator components, R/D on superconductive elements, theory of accelerators, and analysis of astrophysical data. At the other US laboratories the offered training was on Space Science. In 2015 the University of Pisa endorsed the program as one of its own Summer Schools. The interns are enrolled as Pisa students for the duration of the internship. They are required to write summary reports published in the Fermilab and University of Pisa web pages. Upon positive evaluation by a University board, students are acknowledged 6 ECTS credits. The entire program is expected to expand further under CAIF management. An agreement has been signed between ASI and CAIF, for ASI to support yearly three two-months fellowships in US space science. In the following we inform on student recruiting, training programs, and final evaluation

Barzi, E.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Celeritas: GPU-accelerated particle transport for detector simulation in High Energy Physics experiments

Within the next decade, experimental High Energy Physics (HEP) will enter a new era of scientific discovery through a set of targeted programs recommended by the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5), including the upcoming High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) HL-LHC upgrade and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). These efforts in the Energy and Intensity Frontiers will require an unprecedented amount of computational capacity on many fronts including Monte Carlo (MC) detector simulation. In order to alleviate this impending computational bottleneck, the Celeritas MC particle transport code is designed to leverage the new generation of heterogeneous computer architectures, including the exascale computing power of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Leadership Computing Facilities (LCFs), to model targeted HEP detector problems at the full fidelity of Geant4. This paper presents the planned roadmap for Celeritas, including its proposed code architecture, physics capabilities, and strategies for integrating it with existing and future experimental HEP computing workflows.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Microreactor Core Transportation Cask Model Description for Criticality Safety Validation Basis Assessment (Rev. 2)

Criticality safety analyses are completed on transportation casks used for microreactor whole core shipment to provide examples of models and analyses to industry, regulators, and nuclear community at large to be used in verification and validation analyses of similar applications. The microreactors considered are based on a Gas-Cooled Microreactor (GCMR) and a Heat-Pipe Microreactor (HPMR), both utilize HALEU fuel in the form of TRISO particles and various other design options considered in industry microreactor designs. Variant design options of GCMR and HPMR were also investigated to provide a wider application range for each technology. Criticality safety analyses for the GCMR and HPMR packages were performed using the CSAS6 sequence of SCALE 6.3.2 with the ENDF/B-VII.1-based continuous energy neutron libraries. Different scenarios were investigated, including normal operation and water flooded conditions to represent nominal and hypothetical accident scenarios. Sensitivity and similarity analyses are also performed using the TSUNAMI sequence of SCALE 6.3.2, and the similarity analysis uses all the experiments from the ICSBEP Handbook with High Enriched Uranium (HEU), Intermediate and mixed Enriched Uranium (IEU) and Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) systems. Many ICSBEP experiments were found marginally similar, with similarity index (ck) values greater than 0.8, to the GCMR and HPMR cask models, especially in flooded conditions that may be more constraining due to reduced reactivity margins. Some experiments using TRISO fuel particles and graphite moderator, including the recent THETA and Deimos experiments from LANL, together with some IRPhEP experiments, were also used for the similarity analyses. These TRISO-fueled and graphite moderated experiments behaved similarly to the GCMR models, with maximum ck value greater than 0.9, but they are less similar to the HPMR models. This observation indicates that additional critical experiments might be needed to further validate the criticality safety models, especially for heat-pipe based microreactor transport packages and for non-flooded transportation configurations.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Derivative-free optimization of a rapid-cycling synchrotron

Here, we develop and solve a constrained optimization model to identify an integrable optics rapid-cycling synchrotron lattice design that performs well in several capacities. Our model encodes the design criteria into 78 linear and nonlinear constraints, as well as a single nonsmooth objective, where the objective and some constraints are defined from the output of Synergia, an accelerator simulator. We detail the difficulties of the 23-dimensional simulation-constrained decision space and establish that the space is nonempty. We use a derivative-free manifold sampling algorithm to account for structured nondifferentiability in the objective function. Our numerical results quantify the dependence of solutions on constraint parameters and the effect of the form of objective function.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Development of Advanced, Radiation Resistant, Optical-based Detector Technology for Future Experiments.

The primary objective of this project has been to advance the design of high-performance electromagnetic (EM) calorimeters for future particle physics experiments, to identify and measure the timing, position and energy of electrons, positrons and gamma rays, particularly in high-luminosity environments with intense radiation and pileup conditions. To meet such challenges, the proposed research has focused on the development of ultra-compact, radiation-hard calorimeter modules, to provide excellent timing, spatial, and energy resolution. The work aligns with the DOE’s Basic Research Needs (BRN) for High Energy Physics (HEP) Instrumentation and the research team contributes actively to the Coordinating Panel on Advanced Detectors (CPAD) RDC9 calorimetry collaboration in the USA and the European Committee on Future Accelerators (ECFA) DRD-CALO calorimetry collaboration at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics located in Geneva, Switzerland. The research builds on the RADiCAL (radiation-hard, ultra-compact) modular sampling calorimeter approach, developed by the research team, which employs dense and very bright optical materials such as LYSO:Ce scintillator plates that are interleaved with very dense tungsten plates to minimize detector size while optimizing performance. The modules are comparable in size to a human index finger, dimensionally 14 mm x 14 mm in cross section and 135 mm in length. And despite the small size, the structure is capable of providing excellent timing and energy resolution. This is facilitated through the use of specialized quartz capillaries filled with wavelength-shifting filaments, positioned at various depths along the length of a module, to collect and guide light signals to silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) which detect and convert the optical signals to electronic signals for analysis. The primary goals of this project have been: (1) Achieve a timing resolution to σ t ≤ 30 ps for high-energy electrons and photons, important for their association with specific events produced in colliding-beam experiments and for the detection of decays-in-flight of long-lived particles. The project has achieved this goal in beam tests of a single RADiCAL module at CERN, during which a timing resolution of σ t = 27 ps was measured for electrons of energy E = 150 GeV. Based upon a mathematical fit to the data measured over a broad energy range from low energy to high energy, a resolution of σ t ≤ 18 ps has been estimated for electrons of very high (TeV) energy. From these measurements and with further expected technical improvements, the timing resolution should reach σ t ≤ 10 ps, important for searches for discovery physics in upcoming and future experiments. (2) Achieve an energy resolution of σ E / E ≤ 10% / $\sqrt{E}$. The project has yet to achieve this goal, but is close to it, having measured a value of σ E / E ≤ 15.9% / $\sqrt{E}$ using a modular array. Ultimately, the resolution goal is expected to be reached by adjustments to material thicknesses within the modules, which will improve the sampling fraction to measure more precisely the shower energy for lower energy particles. The versatility of the modular RADiCAL approach enables the testing of advanced materials, photosensors and electronics, developed in collaboration with CPAD RDC and ECFA DRD-CALO groups. The structure can distinguish electrons, positrons and gamma rays from hadrons and muons and beam-induced backgrounds, making it a valuable tool in a variety of detector environments, including future circular colliders (FCC-ee, FCC-hh) proposed for the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the muon-collider proposed for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), and searches for new physics in beam-dump, fixed target and forward-physics experiments. And, while designed with particle physics applications in mind, the technologies developed in this project have the potential for application more broadly in particle and nuclear physics, materials science, and medical physics, underscoring the far-reaching potential of this line of instrumentation research and development.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

An Update to the Letter of Intent for MATHUSLA: Search for Long-Lived Particles at the HL-LHC

We report on recent progress in the design of the proposed MATHUSLA Long Lived Particle (LLP) detector for the HL-LHC, updating the information in the original Letter of Intent (LoI), see CDS:LHCC-I-031, arXiv:1811.00927. A suitable site has been identified at LHC Point 5 that is closer to the CMS Interaction Point (IP) than assumed in the LoI. The decay volume has been increased from 20 m to 25 m in height. Engineering studies have been made in order to locate much of the decay volume below ground, bringing the detector even closer to the IP. With these changes, a 100 m x 100 m detector has the same physics reach for large c$\tau$ as the 200 m x 200 m detector described in the LoI and other studies. The performance for small c$\tau$ is improved because of the proximity to the IP. Detector technology has also evolved while retaining the strip-like sensor geometry in Resistive Plate Chambers (RPC) described in the LoI. The present design uses extruded scintillator bars read out using wavelength shifting fibers and silicon photomultipliers (SiPM). Operations will be simpler and more robust with much lower operating voltages and without the use of greenhouse gases. Manufacturing is straightforward and should result in cost savings. Understanding of backgrounds has also significantly advanced, thanks to new simulation studies and measurements taken at the MATHUSLA test stand operating above ATLAS in 2018. We discuss next steps for the MATHUSLA collaboration, and identify areas where new members can make particularly important contributions.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Explainable physics-based constraints on reinforcement learning for accelerator optimization

We present a reinforcement learning (RL) framework for optimizing particle accelerator experiments that builds explainable physics-based constraints on agent behavior. The goal is to increase transparency and trust by letting users verify that the agent’s decision-making process incorporates suitable physics. Our algorithm uses a learnable surrogate function for physical observables, such as energy, and uses them to fine-tune how actions are chosen. This surrogate can be represented by a neural network or by an interpretable sparse dictionary model. We test our algorithm on a range of particle accelerator optimization environments designed to emulate the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility at Jefferson Lab. By examining the mathematical form of the learned constraint function, we are able to confirm the agent has learned to use the established physics of each environment. In addition, we find that the introduction of a physics-based surrogate enables our RL algorithms to reliably converge for difficult high-dimensional accelerator optimization environments.

explainability↗
DOE OSTI2024

Beam test results for the Endcap Timing ReadOut Chip (ETROC2) for the CMS ETL upgrade

The Endcap Timing ReadOut Chip (ETROC) for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Minimum ionizing particle Timing Detector (MTD) is designed to process Low Gain Avalanche Diode (LGAD) signals with a time resolution of 40-50ps per hit, with 30-35 ps per charged particle using two layer detector. The ETROC2, is the first full size (16x16 pixels) and full functionally design that has been tested in hadron and electron beams at CERN and DESY (Sep 2023 - June 2024). Precision timing studies at these test beams are done using a self-referential beam telescope composed of up to 4 layers/chips. This talk describes the ETROC2 beam telescope and summarizes the performance of the ETROC2 chips bump-bonded to (16x16) Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) and Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (HPK) LGAD sensors using results from recent test beams. The experiences and lessons learned during the course of these test beams are also detailed in this talk.

Safdari, Murtaza↗