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At least 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Nearest neighbour distributions: New statistical measures for cosmological clustering

ABSTRACT The use of summary statistics beyond the two-point correlation function to analyse the non-Gaussian clustering on small scales, and thereby, increasing the sensitivity to the underlying cosmological parameters, is an active field of research in cosmology. In this paper, we explore a set of new summary statistics – the k-Nearest Neighbour Cumulative Distribution Functions (kNN-CDF). This is the empirical cumulative distribution function of distances from a set of volume-filling, Poisson distributed random points to the k-nearest data points, and is sensitive to all connected N-point correlations in the data. The kNN-CDF can be used to measure counts in cell, void probability distributions, and higher N-point correlation functions, all using the same formalism exploiting fast searches with spatial tree data structures. We demonstrate how it can be computed efficiently from various data sets – both discrete points, and the generalization for continuous fields. We use data from a large suite of N-body simulations to explore the sensitivity of this new statistic to various cosmological parameters, compared to the two-point correlation function, while using the same range of scales. We demonstrate that the use of kNN-CDF improves the constraints on the cosmological parameters by more than a factor of 2 when applied to the clustering of dark matter in the range of scales between 10 and $40\, h^{-1}\, {\rm Mpc}$. We also show that relative improvement is even greater when applied on the same scales to the clustering of haloes in the simulations at a fixed number density, both in real space, as well as in redshift space. Since the kNN-CDF are sensitive to all higher order connected correlation functions in the data, the gains over traditional two-point analyses are expected to grow as progressively smaller scales are included in the analysis of cosmological data, provided the higher order correlation functions are sensitive to cosmology on the scales of interest.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Microstructural characterization of random packings of cubic particles

Understanding the properties of random packings of solid objects is of critical importance to a wide variety of fundamental scientific and practical problems. The great majority of the previous works focused, however, on packings of spherical and sphere-like particles. We report the first detailed simulation and characterization of packings of non-overlapping cubic particles. Such packings arise in a variety of problems, ranging from biological materials, to colloids and fabrication of porous scaffolds using salt powders. In addition, packing of cubic salt crystals arise in various problems involving preservation of pavements, paintings, and historical monuments, mineral-fluid interactions, CO 2 sequestration in rock, and intrusion of groundwater aquifers by saline water. Not much is known, however, about the structure and statistical descriptors of such packings. We have developed a version of the random sequential addition algorithm to generate such packings, and have computed a variety of microstructural descriptors, including the radial distribution function, two-point probability function, orientational correlation function, specific surface, and mean chord length, and have studied the effect of finite system size and porosity on such characteristics. Here, the results indicate the existence of both spatial and orientational long-range order in the packing, which is more distinctive for higher packing densities.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Atomic Dynamics in Simple Liquid: de Gennes Narrowing Revisited

The de Gennes narrowing phenomenon is frequently observed by neutron or x-ray scattering measurements of the dynamics of complex systems, such as liquids, proteins, colloids, and polymers. The characteristic slowing down of dynamics in the vicinity of the maximum of the total scattering intensity is commonly attributed to enhanced cooperativity. In this Letter, we present an alternative view on its origin through the examination of the time-dependent pair correlation function, the van Hove correlation function, for a model liquid in two, three, and four dimensions. We find that the relaxation time increases monotonically with distance and the dependence on distance varies with dimension. We propose a heuristic explanation of this dependence based on a simple geometrical model. Furthermore, this finding sheds new light on the interpretation of the de Gennes narrowing phenomenon and the α-relaxation time.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

The Aemulus Project. V. Cosmological Constraint from Small-scale Clustering of BOSS Galaxies

We analyze clustering measurements of BOSS galaxies using a simulation-based emulator of two-point statistics. We focus on the monopole and quadrupole of the redshift-space correlation function, and the projected correlation function, at scales of 0.1 ~ 60 h -1 Mpc. Although our simulations are based on wCDM with general relativity (GR), we include a scaling parameter of the halo velocity field, γ f , defined as the amplitude of the halo velocity field relative to the GR prediction. We divide the BOSS data into three redshift bins. After marginalizing over other cosmological parameters, galaxy bias parameters, and the velocity scaling parameter, we find fσ 8 (z = 0.25) = 0.413 ± 0.031, fσ 8 (z = 0.4) = 0.470 ± 0.026, and fσ 8 (z = 0.55) = 0.396 ± 0.022. Compared with Planck observations using a flat Lambda cold dark matter model, our results are lower by 1.9σ, 0.3σ, and 3.4σ, respectively. These results are consistent with other recent simulation-based results at nonlinear scales, including weak lensing measurements of BOSS LOWZ galaxies, two-point clustering of eBOSS LRGs, and an independent clustering analysis of BOSS LOWZ. All these results are generally consistent with a combination of ${\gamma }_{f}^{1/2}{\sigma }_{8}\approx 0.75$. We note, however, that the BOSS data is well fit assuming GR, i.e., γf = 1. We cannot rule out an unknown systematic error in the galaxy bias model at nonlinear scales, but near-future data and modeling will enhance our understanding of the galaxy–halo connection, and provide a strong test of new physics beyond the standard model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1972

Very High-Frequency (VHF) ionospheric scintillation fading measurements at Lima, Peru

During the spring equinox of 1970, scintillating signals at VHF (136.4 MHz) were observed at Lima, Peru. The transmission originated from ATS 3 and was observed through a pair of antennas spaced 1200 feet apart on an east-west baseline. The empirical data were digitized, reduced, and analyzed. The results include amplitude probability density and distribution functions, time autocorrelation functions, cross correlation functions for the spaced antennas, and appropriate spectral density functions. Results show estimates of the statistics of the ground diffraction pattern to gain insight into gross ionospheric irregularity size, and irregularity velocity in the antenna planes.

Blank, H. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Strong fluctuation theory for electromagnetic wave scattering by a layer of random discrete scatterers

The strong fluctuation theory is applied to the study of electromagnetic wave scattering from a layer of random discrete scatterers. The singularity of the dyadic Green's function is taken into account in the calculation of the effective permittivity functions. The correlation functions for the random medium with different scatterer constituents and size distributions are derived. Applying the dyadic Green's function for a two-layer medium and using the bilocal and distorted Born approximations, the first and the second moments of the fields are then calculated. Both the backscattering and bistatic scattering coefficients are obtained, and the former is shown to match favorably with experimental data obtained from snow fields.

Jin, Y. Q.↗
NASA NTRS2002

VEXT: A Virtual Observatory Exploration Toolkit

This final report consists of two main parts. The first is taken from a paper by the PiCA (Pittsburgh Computational Astrostatistics) Group which describes our ongoing work in fast computation of n-point correlation functions. We present here a new algorithm for the fast computation of N-point correlation functions in large astronomical data sets. The algorithm is based on kd-trees which are decorated with cached sufficient statistics thus allowing for orders of magnitude speed-ups over the naive non-tree-based implementation of correlation functions. We further discuss the use of controlled approximations within the computation which allows for further acceleration. In summary, our algorithm now makes it possible to compute exact, all-pairs, measurements of the two, three and four-point correlation functions for cosmological data sets like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the next generation of Cosmic Microwave Background experiments. The second part summarizes the progress made by the PiCA Group in this area through the AISR grant.

Schneider, Jeff↗
NASA NTRS1989

Three-point correlations of galaxy clusters

A relation between two- and three-point correlation functions similar to that of galaxies is presently established by estimating the irreducible angular three-point correlation function of Abell clusters in distance classes 5 and 6, for Galactic latitudes below 40 deg. The shape of the three-point correlation function is fully consistent with the quadratic scaling law found by Groth and Peebles (1977) for galaxies. The three-point correlation function is inconsistent with the expectations from biasing.

Toth, Gabor↗
DOE OSTI2019

Water Dynamics in Nanoporous Silica: Ultrafast Vibrational Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Nanoporous silica materials are important in catalysis, energy, and materials applications in which water is an essential component. System performance is intimately connected to the water dynamics occurring in the confined environment. However, the dynamics and associated structures of water in nanoporous silica have proven challenging to measure and predict. Here, confined water dynamics are examined via the ultrafast infrared spectroscopy of selenocyanate (SeCN – ) dissolved in the hydrated ~2.4 nm silica mesopores of MCM41. Polarization selective pump–probe and two-dimensional infrared measurements on the CN stretching mode of SeCN – are used to probe the effect of confinement on orientational relaxation and spectral diffusion dynamics. Here, the dynamics of SeCN – provide information on the surrounding water hydrogen bond dynamics. The long CN stretch lifetime (~36 ps), relative to the water hydroxyl stretch (<2 ps), significantly extends the time scales that can be accessed. Complete orientational relaxation (C 2 (t), orientational correlation function) and spectral diffusion (C ω (t), frequency–frequency correlation function) dynamics are presented and compared to the simulated time correlation functions in a model silica pore of the same size. A slow decay component not present in the bulk liquid is observed in both experiments, indicating that the hydrogen bond dynamics are significantly altered by confinement. The simulations reveal a qualitative difference in the functional dependence of C 2 (t;d) and C ω (t;d) on d, the distance from the interface. The former becomes exponentially faster with distance while the latter makes an abrupt transition from slower to faster dynamics midway between the surface and pore center, d ≅ 6 Å.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Next-to-leading order transverse momentum-weighted Sivers asymmetry in semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering: The role of the three-gluon correlator

Here, we study the Sivers asymmetry in semi-inclusive hadron production in deep inelastic scattering. We concentrate on the contribution from the photon-gluon fusion channel at O(α em 2 α s ), where three-gluon correlation functions play a major role within the twist-3 collinear factorization formalism. We establish the correspondence between such a formalism with three-gluon correlation functions and the usual transverse momentum-dependent (TMD) factorization formalism at moderate hadron transverse momenta. We derive the coefficient functions used in the usual TMD evolution formalism related to the quark Sivers function expansion in terms of the three-gluon correlation functions. We further perform the next-to-leading order calculation for the transverse momentum-weighted spin-dependent differential cross section and identify the off-diagonal contribution from the three-gluon correlation functions to the QCD collinear evolution of the twist-3 Qiu-Sterman function.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Strong Clustering of Lyman Break Galaxies around Luminous Quasars at Z ∼ 4

In the standard picture of structure formation, the first massive galaxies are expected to form at the highest peaks of the density field, which constitute the cores of massive proto-clusters. Luminous quasars (QSOs) at z ∼ 4 are the most strongly clustered population known, and should thus reside in massive dark matter halos surrounded by large overdensities of galaxies, implying a strong QSO–galaxy cross-correlation function. We observed six z ∼ 4 QSO fields with VLT/FORS, exploiting a novel set of narrow-band filters custom designed to select Lyman Break Galaxies (LBGs) in a thin redshift slice of Δz∼0.3, mitigating the projection effects that have limited the sensitivity of previous searches for galaxies around z≳4 QSOs. We find that LBGs are strongly clustered around QSOs, and present the first measurement of the QSO–LBG cross-correlation function at z ∼ 4, on scales of 0.1≲R≲9 h{sup −1} Mpc (comoving). Assuming a power-law form for the cross-correlation function ξ=(r/r{sub 0}{sup QG}){sup γ}, we measure r{sub 0}{sup QG}=8.83{sub −1.51}{sup +1.39} h{sup −1} Mpc for a fixed slope of γ=2.0. This result is in agreement with the expected cross-correlation length deduced from measurements of the QSO and LBG auto-correlation function, and assuming a deterministic bias model. We also measure a strong auto-correlation of LBGs in our QSO fields, finding r{sub 0}{sup GG}=21.59{sub −1.69}{sup +1.72} h{sup −1} Mpc for a fixed slope of γ=1.5, which is ∼4 times larger than the LBG auto-correlation length in blank fields, providing further evidence that QSOs reside in overdensities of LBGs. Our results qualitatively support a picture where luminous QSOs inhabit exceptionally massive (M{sub halo}>10{sup 12} M{sub ⊙}) dark matter halos at z ∼ 4.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Joint Analysis of Galaxy Clustering, Galaxy Lensing, and CMB Lensing Two-point Functions

We perform a joint analysis of the auto and cross-correlations between three cosmic fields: the galaxy density field, the galaxy weak lensing shear field, and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) weak lensing convergence field. These three fields are measured using roughly 1300 sq. deg. of overlapping optical imaging data from first year observations of the Dark Energy Survey and millimeter-wave observations of the CMB from both the South Pole Telescope Sunyaev-Zel'dovich survey and Planck. We present cosmological constraints from the joint analysis of the two-point correlation functions between galaxy density and galaxy shear with CMB lensing. We test for consistency between these measurements and the DES-only two-point function measurements, finding no evidence for inconsistency in the context of flat $\Lambda$CDM cosmological models. Performing a joint analysis of five of the possible correlation functions between these fields (excluding only the CMB lensing autospectrum) yields $S_{8}\equiv \sigma_8\sqrt{\Omega_{\rm m}/0.3} = 0.782^{+0.019}_{-0.025}$ and $\Omega_{\rm m}=0.260^{+0.029}_{-0.019}$. We test for consistency between these five correlation function measurements and the Planck-only measurement of the CMB lensing autospectrum, again finding no evidence for inconsistency in the context of flat $\Lambda$CDM models. Combining constraints from all six two-point functions yields $S_{8}=0.776^{+0.014}_{-0.021}$ and $\Omega_{\rm m}= 0.271^{+0.022}_{-0.016}$. These results provide a powerful test and confirmation of the results from the first year DES joint-probes analysis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Disconnected covariance of 2-point functions in large-scale structure

Optimal analyses using the 2-point functions of large-scale structure probes require accurate covariance matrices. A covariance matrix of the 2-point function comprises the disconnected part and the connected part. While the connected covariance only becomes important on small scales, the disconnected covariance is dominant on large scales, where the survey window has a significant impact. In this work, we develop an analytical method to compute the disconnected covariance, accounting for the window effect. Derived under the flat-sky approximation, our formalism is applicable to wide surveys by swapping in the curved-sky window functions. Our method works for both the power spectrum and the correlation function, and applies to the covariances of various probes including the multipoles and the wedges of 3D clustering, the angular and the projected statistics of clustering and shear, as well as the cross covariances between different probes. We verify the analytic covariance against the sample covariance from the galaxy mock simulations in two test cases: (1) the power spectrum multipole covariance, and (2) the joint covariance of the projected correlation function and the correlation function multipoles. Our method achieve good agreement with the mocks, while at a negligible computational cost. Unlike mocks, our analytic covariance is free of sampling noise, which often leads to numerical problems and the need to inflate the errors. In addition, our method can use the best-fit power spectrum as input, in contrast to the standard procedure of using a fiducial model that may deviate significantly from the truth. We also show that a naive diagonal power spectrum covariance underestimates the signal-to-noise ratio compared to our analytic covariance. The code that accompanies this paper is available at https://github.com/eelregit/covdisc.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fourier band-power E/B-mode estimators for cosmic shear

We introduce new Fourier band-power estimators for cosmic shear data analysis and E/B-mode separation. We consider both the case where one performs E/B-mode separation and the case where one does not. The resulting estimators have several nice properties which make them ideal for cosmic shear data analysis. First, they can be written as linear combinations of the binned cosmic shear correlation functions. Secondly, they account for the survey window function in real-space. Thirdly, they are unbiased by shape noise since they do not use correlation function data at zero separation. Fourthly, the band-power window functions in Fourier space are compact and largely non-oscillatory. Fifthly, they can be used to construct band-power estimators with very efficient data compression properties. In particular, we find that all of the information on the parameters Ωm, σ8 and ns in the shear correlation functions in the range of ~10–400 arcmin for single tomographic bin can be compressed into only three band-power estimates. Finally, we can achieve these rates of data compression while excluding small-scale information where the modelling of the shear correlation functions and power spectra is very difficult. Given these desirable properties, these estimators will be very useful for cosmic shear data analysis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Consistency relations for sharp inflationary non-Gaussian features

If cosmic inflation suffered tiny time-dependent deviations from the slow-roll regime, these would induce the existence of small scale-dependent features imprinted in the primordial spectra, with their shapes and sizes revealing information about the physics that produced them. Small sharp features could be suppressed at the level of the two-point correlation function, making them undetectable in the power spectrum, but could be amplified at the level of the three-point correlation function, offering us a window of opportunity to uncover them in the non-Gaussian bispectrum. In this article, we show that sharp features may be analyzed using only data coming from the three point correlation function parametrizing primordial non-Gaussianity. More precisely, we show that if features appear in a particular non-Gaussian triangle configuration (e.g. equilateral, folded, squeezed), these must reappear in every other configuration according to a specific relation allowing us to correlate features across the non-Gaussian bispectrum. As a result, we offer a method to study scale-dependent features generated during inflation that depends only on data coming from measurements of non-Gaussianity, allowing us to omit data from the power spectrum.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Electronic Structures and Magnetism of Zr-, Th-, and U-based Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) by Density Functional Theory

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently gained wide interest as candidate materials for nuclear waste immobilization. While the fundamental thermodynamic properties, such as the substitution energies determine the favorability of radionuclide sequestration by utilization of a MOF matrix, the studies of MOF electronic structure reveal the role of d-, and/or f-electrons on changes in physical properties of actinide-containing materials. We use density functional theory (DFT) calculations to investigate the electronic structures of Zr-, Th-, and U-MOFs, including their electronic band structures and, where appropriate, their magnetic properties. We employ various DFT methods including DFT+U, collinear spin-polarization, spin-orbit coupling, and different flavors of exchange-correlation functionals to assess the robustness to the specific exchange-correlation functional. Unlike the Zr-, and Th-MOFs, the U-MOF is found to be sensitive to electron localization and spin; hence we explore the magnetic structure of the U-MOF in further detail.

Metal-Organic Framework, MOF, Actinides, DFT↗
DOE OSTI2017

Scrambling and thermalization in a diffusive quantum many-body system

Out-of-time ordered (OTO) correlation functions describe scrambling of information in correlated quantum matter. They are of particular interest in incoherent quantum systems lacking well defined quasi-particles. Thus far, it is largely elusive how OTO correlators spread in incoherent systems with diffusive transport governed by a few globally conserved quantities. Here, we study the dynamical response of such a system using high-performance matrix-product-operator techniques. Specifically, we consider the non-integrable, one-dimensional Bose–Hubbard model in the incoherent high-temperature regime. Our system exhibits diffusive dynamics in time-ordered correlators of globally conserved quantities, whereas OTO correlators display a ballistic, light-cone spreading of quantum information. The slowest process in the global thermalization of the system is thus diffusive, yet information spreading is not inhibited by such slow dynamics. We furthermore develop an experimentally feasible protocol to overcome some challenges faced by existing proposals and to probe time-ordered and OTO correlation functions. As a result, our study opens new avenues for both the theoretical and experimental exploration of thermalization and information scrambling dynamics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Alcock Paczy'nski test with Baryon Acoustic Oscillations: systematic effects for future surveys

We investigate the Alcock Paczy'nski (AP) test applied to the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) feature in the galaxy correlation function. By using a general formalism that includes relativistic effects, we quantify the importance of the linear redshift space distortions and gravitational lensing corrections to the galaxy number density fluctuation. We show that redshift space distortions significantly affect the shape of the correlation function, both in radial and transverse directions, causing different values of galaxy bias to induce offsets up to 1% in the AP test. On the other hand, we find that the lensing correction around the BAO scale modifies the amplitude but not the shape of the correlation function and therefore does not introduce any systematic effect. Furthermore, we investigate in details how the AP test is sensitive to redshift binning: a window function in transverse direction suppresses correlations and shifts the peak position toward smaller angular scales. We determine the correction that should be applied in order to account for this effect, when performing the test with data from three future planned galaxy redshift surveys: Euclid, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗