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At least 415 records · Page 23

Incorporating new evaluation on angular distributions and energy spectra of neutron-induced charged particle reactions into the next ENDF library release (Technical Progress Report)

This project aims to provide the improved Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) using the newly measured data as well as the latest nuclear reaction model for calculating angular distributions and energy spectra on neutron-induced charged particle reactions through the collaboration of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The LANL group will provide the experimental data for angular distributions and spectra of (n,p) and (n,α) on several structural materials such as Fe, Ni and Zn isotopes using the Low Energy Neutron-induced Charged-particle (Z) Chamber (LENZ) instrument at Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE). The KAERI group will provide the improved evaluated nuclear library which is based on the LANL experimental data, and further will predict angular distributions and spectra of (n,p) and (n,α) reactions on unmeasured nuclides, such as Cr, Mn, Co, Cu and so on. For the first year of this project, we planned to analyze (n,p) and (n,α) reactions for 54,56 Fe and perform new measurements on those reactions for 58,60 Ni isotopes with the LENZ instrument at LANSCE. For improving our evaluation quality, we have studied reaction models to reproduce LANL’s experimental angular distributions and energy spectra using the full Hauser-Feshbach model code, CoH3 with no approximations used. As the first year’s deliverables, we provided the experimental (n,p) and (n,α) reaction cross sections for 54,56 Fe and incorporate new evaluation on angular distributions and energy spectra of neutron-induced charged particle reactions into the current ENDF/B-VIII.0.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Atomistic Insight into Cation Effects on Binding Energies in Cu-Catalyzed Carbon Dioxide Reduction

Electrolyte properties in general and electrolyte ions in particular have been shown to have significant effects on the kinetics of electrochemical CO 2 and CO reduction at metal electrodes, but these effects have not yet been fully understood. Here, we investigate the effects of cations at the aqueous electrolyte–Cu(211) interface on adsorbate binding energies and the electrolyte structure using density functional theory (DFT). Charging the interface via explicit Na + has systematic effects on adsorbate–electrolyte interactions and conformations. We describe specific local adsorbate–ion interactions, including direct alkali ion–adsorbate coordination and hydrogen bonding via ion-coordinated water molecules. The relative importance of these specific interactions and purely electrostatic field–adsorbate interactions is investigated by comparing the DFT-calculated ion effects to those predicted by purely electrostatic models of the interface and the adsorbates. We find that the trend in ion effects among different adsorbates at constant surface charge density is well explained by a purely electrostatic interaction model. The binding energy of OCCHO is found to depend strongly on the surface charge density as well as the spatial distribution of ions at constant surface charge density. These effects are also explained by a purely electrostatic local electrostatic field–adsorbate model. This indicates that alkali ion effects can be mainly attributed to purely electrostatic field interactions and that the local field at ion-stabilized active sites can depend significantly on both the overall charge density and on the spatial distribution of ions at constant charge density. This work provides new insight on alkali ion effects on a variety of adsorbates relevant to the CO 2 and CO reduction reactions by describing specific local ion–adsorbate interactions, systematic changes in adsorbate–electrolyte interactions induced by explicit surface charge, and comparisons of the calculated effects on binding energies to simple electrostatic field–adsorbate models to explain trends among various adsorbates and at varying surface charge densities and supercell configurations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Exploring the phase diagram of 3D artificial spin-ice

Artificial spin-ices consist of lithographic arrays of single-domain magnetic nanowires organised into frustrated lattices. These geometries are usually two-dimensional, allowing a direct exploration of physics associated with frustration, topology and emergence. Recently, three-dimensional geometries have been realised, in which transport of emergent monopoles can be directly visualised upon the surface. Here we carry out an exploration of the three-dimensional artificial spin-ice phase diagram, whereby dipoles are placed within a diamond-bond lattice geometry. We find a rich phase diagram, consisting of a double-charged monopole crystal, a single-charged monopole crystal and conventional spin-ice with pinch points associated with a Coulomb phase. In experimental demagnetised systems, broken symmetry forces formation of ferromagnetic stripes upon the surface, forbidding the lower energy double-charged monopole crystal. Instead, we observe crystallites of single magnetic charge, superimposed upon an ice background. The crystallites are found to form due to the distribution of magnetic charge around the 3D vertex, which locally favours monopole formation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A potential model study of the nucleon's charge and mass radius

We study the charge and mass distributions within a nucleon and compute the associated squared radii based on a potential model approach. Different constituent quark configurations such as Δ, Y, and quark-diquark are considered and compared, with model parameters calibrated by experimental measurements of the proton and neutron charge radius. The results suggest that while the charge radius is dictated by quark dynamics, the mass radius is strongly influenced by nonperturbative QCD contributions to a nucleon's mass that are not sensitive to the constituent quarks. As a result, the mass radius could become substantially different from the charge radius. The obtained nucleon mass distributions of different configurations are further used for simulations of the initial conditions in heavy ion collisions. Furthermore, the computed eccentricities ε 2 and ε 3 are found to demonstrate a considerable sensitivity to the input nucleon profiles, especially to the mass radius in the peripheral region as well as for systems with fewer participants.

Gallimore, Daniel [Indiana University, Bloomington↗

Technical Impacts of Light-Duty and Heavy-Duty Transportation Electrification on a Coordinated Transmission and Distribution System

In this study, we propose a strategy to model the required spatiotemporal charging demand from light-duty (LD) and medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) electric vehicles (EVs) using actual transportation data by mapping the demand for the required EV charging to a realistic and coordinated distribution and transmission electric grid at the predicted times of the day to study their impact on the power system in a variety of load, weather, and EV penetration scenarios. This work is the first study that includes the actual weather data and transportation data with realistic and coordinated distribution and transmission grid data in a large industry-scale level study. The main goal of this study is to identify possible issues and required upgrades in the electric grid, caused by an increase in EV integration. The transmission case study is a large grid with 6717 buses over a Texas footprint, and the distribution grid is over Houston, a city in Texas, covering over three million customers. The resulting overloads and voltage violations experienced in the system are discussed, and required planning upgrades to avoid these issues are suggested.

AC optimal power flow (AC-OPF)↗

Time-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering in a pumped Mott insulator

Collective excitations contain rich information about photoinduced transient states in correlated systems. In a Mott insulator, charge degrees of freedom are frozen, but can be activated by photodoping. The energy-momentum distribution of the charge excitation spectrum reflects the propagation of charge degrees of freedom and provides information about the interplay among various intertwined instabilities on the timescale set by the pump. To reveal charge excitations out of equilibrium, here we simulate time-resolved x-ray absorption and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering using a Hubbard model. After pumping, the former resolves photodoping, while the latter characterizes the formation, dispersion, weight, and nonlinear effects of collective excitations. Intermediate-state information from time-resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (trRIXS) can be used to decipher the origin of these excitations, including bimagnons, Mott-gap excitations, doublon and single-electron in-gap states, and anti-Stokes relaxation during an ultrafast pump. This paper provides a theoretical foundation for existing and future trRIXS experiments.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Fission with Exotic Nuclei (Abbreviated Report)

Nuclear fission is a key mechanism involved in the synthesis of heavy elements in the Cosmos and is the primary explanation for the stability of superheavy elements. Nevertheless, our knowledge of fission remains extremely fragmented. Most experiments have been conducted only on a tiny number of stable actinide nuclei and are often incomplete, leading to gaps in our basic understanding of the process. For many radioactive isotopes, basic fission data such as the charge or mass distribution of the fragments is unknown. These gaps cannot always be filled by simulation alone. Common fission models contain too many free parameters and lack predictive power. In contrast, the fundamental theory of fission under development at LLNL is much more predictive, but its current computational cost is too high to be used extensively for data evaluations. A unique window of opportunity to resolve these limitations has recently opened: the U.S. nuclear science community is ramping up major experimental programs at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB, the DOE flagship facility in low-energy nuclear science), and techniques from machine learning have shown great potential to simplify the use of a fundamental, quantum-mechanical theory of fission. This project has two components. On the experimental side, we acquired and deployed at the HIGS facility a new dual Frisch-Grid ionization chamber to measure correlated fragment-mass, kinetic energy, and angular distributions of fission fragments from induced fission. This new device was used to perform measurements of charge, mass and total kinetic energy of fission fragments in the photofission of 238 U and eight gamma-ray beam energies between 6.2 and 13 MeV, which allowed extracting high-precision independent yields for this reaction. The device was also used to perform measurements of the same quantities in the neutron-induced fission of 234 U with monoenergetic beams of energy between 5 and 8 MeV. In parallel, we collaborated with a team at Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA) to perform a series of measurements of fission yields in inverse kinematics for the two isotopes of 236 U and 240 Pu. The experiment took place at the Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds in France in June 2023. The deployment of the VAMOS spectrometer with a new array called PISTA allowed determining the excitation energy of the fissioning system within 1 Mega-electronvolts. The second component of the project involved using deep neural networks to build fast and reliable emulators of our current fission models. In an invited paper published in Frontier in Physics, we showed that autoencoders could successfully compress nuclear wavefunctions in nuclear density functional theory. We achieved a dimensionality reduction of the order of two orders of magnitude while keeping the error in the total energy to less than 0.01%. In a second paper submitted to Physical Review Letters in June 2023 with our collaborators at CEA, we showed that variational autoencoders can learn the collective degrees of freedom driving the fission process.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Equivalent equilibrium ion distributions in ion sources and beams

Ion sources and ion beams often contain ions of more than one charge-to-mass ratio, due to the presence of multiple ionization states and/or multiple atomic and molecular ion species in the source. We show that, under certain conditions, analysis of these systems can be simplified using the notion of “equivalent equilibrium ion distributions” (EEIDs). These distributions have identical ion trajectories, space-charge distributions, and electric-field distributions, but can be composed of ion species with arbitrary charge-to-mass ratios. We use this result to obtain multi-species generalizations for the perveance of an ion diode, which relates the diode voltage to the extracted beam current, and for the perveance of a drifting ion beam, which determines the axial length-scale for beam expansion due to the self-electric field. Applied to a quasi-neutral plasma ion source containing cold ions and hot electrons, we find that the location of the beam-plasma interface (meniscus), where ions are extracted from the plasma, depends on the electron density and ion energy per unit charge at the interface, independent of the ion composition. For certain types of numerical simulations, EEIDs allow one to calculate the beam optics of an intense multi-species ion source by doing a simulation for a single ion species with an artificial charge-to-mass ratio chosen to minimize computation time. We illustrate these results using the 3D particle-in-cell, finite-element code Aleph. The simulations show how ions in a plasma source self-consistently accelerate to the supersonic speed needed for steady, radially expanding flow. Multi-species equilibria are subject to streaming instabilities because, while the different species have the same kinetic energy per unit charge, their velocities scale with the square root of the charge-to-mass ratio. The simulations show that a strong ion streaming instability can occur in a multi-species plasma ion source.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Single-shot ionization-based monitor for pulsed electron beams

In this work, we present an experimental demonstration of a single-shot, nondestructive electron beam diagnostic based on the ionization of a low-density pulsed gas jet. In our study, 7 MeV electron bunches from a radio-frequency photoinjector, carrying up to 100 pC of charge, traversed a localized distribution of nitrogen gas (N 2 ). The interaction of the electron bunches with the N 2 gas generated a correlated signature in the ionized particle distribution, which was spatially magnified using a series of electrostatic lenses and recorded with a microchannel-plate detector. Various modalities, including point-to-point imaging and velocity mapping, are investigated. A temporal trace of the detector current enabled the identification of single- and double-ionization events. The characteristics of the ionization distribution, dependence on gas density, total bunch charge, and other parameters, are described. Approaches to scaling to higher electron bunch density and energy are suggested. Additionally, the instrument proves useful for comprehensive studies of the ionization process itself.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

EV Forecasting-Based Model Predictive Control for Distribution System Congestion Mitigation

The uncoordinated charging of electric vehicles (EVs) in time and space brings congestion issues to the distribution network. This paper proposes an EV charging demand forecasting-based model predictive control (MPC) method for distribution system congestion management. To effectively forecast the time-series EV station charging demand, a hybrid forecasting model that integrates the long short-term memory network (LSTM) and Transformer is proposed. The Transformer-LSTM model is trained using a one-year real historical charging dataset of EV stations to forecast future charging demand in 15-minute intervals. This informs the MPC for distribution network congestion management and minimization of PV curtailment. Numerical results carried out on the modified IEEE 123-bus distribution system demonstrate that the proposed method can effectively resolve line congestion issues through EV smart charging and PV curtailment while outperforming other benchmarks.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,SOLAR ENERGY↗

Semi-inclusive direct photon + jet and 𝜋 0 + jet correlations measured in 𝑝 + 𝑝 and central Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200GeV

The STAR experiment at RHIC reports new measurements of jet quenching based on the semi- inclusive distribution of charged-particle jets recoiling from direct photon (γ dir ) and neutral pion (π 0 ) triggers in pp and central Au + Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV, for triggers in the range 9 < $E$$^{trig}_{T}$ < 20 GeV. The datasets have integrated luminosities of 3.9nb −1 for Au + Au and 23pb −1 for 𝑝𝑝 collisions. Jets are reconstructed using the anti-𝑘 𝑇 algorithm with resolution parameters 𝑅 = 0.2 and 0.5. The large uncorrelated jet background in central Au + Au collisions is corrected using a mixed-event approach, which enables precise charged-particle jet measurements at low transverse momentum 𝑝$^{ch}_{𝑇,jet}$ and large 𝑅. Recoil-jet distributions are reported in the range 𝑝$^{ch}_{𝑇,jet}$ < 25 GeV/𝑐. Comparison of the distributions measured in 𝑝𝑝 and Au + Au collisions reveals strong medium-induced jet yield suppression for 𝑅 = 0.2 with markedly less suppression for 𝑅 = 0.5. Comparison is also made to theoretical models incorporating jet quenching. Furthermore, these data provide new insight into the mechanisms underlying jet quenching and the angular dependence of medium-induced jet-energy transport and provide new constraints on modeling such effects.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Measurements of ion velocity distributions in a large scale laser-produced plasma

Laser-produced plasma velocity distributions are an important, but difficult quantity to measure. In this work, we present a noninvasive technique for measuring individual charge state velocity distributions of laser-produced plasmas using a high temporal and spectral resolution monochromator. The novel application of this technique is its ability to detect particles up to seven meters from their inception (significantly larger than most laboratory plasma astrophysics experiments, which take place at or below the millimeter scale). The design and assembly of this diagnostic is discussed in terms of maximizing the signal to noise ratio, maximizing the spatial and temporal resolution, and other potential use cases. The analysis and results of this diagnostic are demonstrated by directly measuring the time-of-flight velocity of all ion charge states in a laser produced carbon plasma.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Local measurements of the spatial magnetic field distribution in a z-pinch plasma during and near stagnation using polarization spectroscopy

We present here the detailed measurements of radial distribution of the magnetic field in a gas-puff z-pinch plasma at the final stages of the implosion phase and at stagnation. While the measurements are chordal, the radial distribution of different charge states was utilized to measure the magnetic field locally for certain radii, so that unlike chordal measurements in general, the magnetic field radial distribution was obtained with no need for the Abel inversion of the data. The distribution was measured using the Zeeman effect via a novel spectroscopic technique, at several axial locations, and demonstrates striking features such as the peak field remaining at a radius much larger than the stagnation radius at all times. Furthermore, while the distribution observed is sometimes monotonic with respect to the radius, it is often not, a behavior that can be linked to 2D features in the plasma column resulting from the Rayleigh–Taylor instability. The current flowing through the stagnating plasma was found to be a small fraction of the total current, resulting in clearly insufficient magnetic pressure to balance the plasma pressure at stagnation. The magnetic field data, taken over several axial positions, are used to obtain the true inductance in the imploding plasma for the first time; it is found that the data cannot explain the current turnover at stagnation. A simulation with the MACH2-Tabular Collisional-Radiative Equilibrium magnetohydrodynamics code in the r–z plane shows that the peak of the magnetic field pinches to a much smaller radius than is observed in the spectroscopic data. Furthermore, the depth of the computed current turnover at stagnation is smaller than the measured one. The two observed features of a radially extended magnetic field at stagnation together with a deep current turnover are a challenge to match in simulations. Various calculations and estimates of the inductive and resistive load voltages are examined to ascertain if they are responsible for the observed current notch. Lastly, the results demonstrate that the knowledge of the true inductance in the driven load requires such magnetic-field-distribution measurements and that imaging data or electrical measurements are insufficient.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Phase-space tailoring and cooling of charged-particle beams for energy- and intensity-frontier applications

This project addressed accelerator science & technology researches relevant to the Intensity and Energy frontiers by investigating generic techniques to tailor and cool the phase-space distributions of charged-particle beams. Specifically, the project had two main research thrusts: (i) the development of phase-space tailoring techniques using externally-applied electromagnetic fields and (ii) the investigation of phase-space control using the beam’s self-field such as the optical-stochastic cooling (OSC). The work related to the development of phase-space-tailoring techniques leveraged on the research performed under our previous grant DE-SC0011831 where new temporal-shaping methods were proposed and some experimentally demonstrated. The work related to the concept of beam manipulation using self fields, and especially OSC, built on the achievements supported by grant DE-SC0013761 which focused on a OSC proof-of-principle experiment at the Fermilab’s IOTA ring.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

A Measurement of the Neutron Electromagnetic Form Factor Ratio from a Rosenbluth Technique with Simultaneous Detection of Neutrons and Protons

The internal structure of protons and neutrons provides insight into both the dynamical behavior of the constitute quarks and gluons, and emergent properties of the nucleons (such as mass, spin, and electromagnetic distributions). Elastic electron-nucleon scattering can probe the elastic electromagnetic form factors of the nucleon. The electric and magnetic form factors, respectively, encode information about the internal charge and magnetization distributions within the nucleon. Precision data for these form factors, over a broad range of the four-momentum transfer squared, Q^2, can benchmark theoretical models describing the strong interaction of nuclear physics. The Super BigBite Spectrometer (SBS) program in Hall A at Jefferson Lab, is a series of high-precision experiments which seek to significantly extend the Q^2 reach of previous data for the nucleon electromagnetic form factors. The first two experiments of this program are known as G_M^n and the neutron Two Photon Exchange (nTPE) and the data were collected from October 2021 to February 2022. Both experiments were conducted with the simultaneous measurement of D(e,e'n) and D(e,e'p) reactions for quasi-elastic electron-deuteron scattering. The scattered electrons were detected in the BigBite Spectrometer, which features multiple large-acceptance Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) detectors. The Super BigBite Spectrometer provided simultaneous detection of scattered nucleons, and utilized a large acceptance dipole magnet and Hadron Calorimeter (HCal). The G_M^n experiment provides precision measurements of the neutron magnetic form factor, via the ratio method, over a Q^2 range of 3.0 to 13.5 (GeV/c)2. From this data analysis, preliminary values for G_M^n/µ_n G_D are extracted. For Q^2=4.48 (GeV/c)2 we find G_M^n/µ_n G_D=0.9546±0.0132 and for Q^2=4.476 (GeV/c)2 we find G_M^n/µ_n G_D=0.9563±0.0110. These preliminary G_M^n/µ_n G_D values are more precise than existing world data in this Q^2 regime and are consistent with the most recent parameterization of the G_M^n/µ_n G_D world data. The nTPE experiment provides a first measurement of the neutron Rosenbluth Slope and seeks to quantify the two-photon exchange(TPE) contribution to elastic electron-neutron scattering at a fixed Q^2=4.5 (GeV/c)2 with two different beam energies and scattering angle values. For data of the proton form factor ratio, µ_p G_E^p/G_M^p, significant discrepancies exist between values obtained from Rosenbluth Separation and polarization transfer measurement, particularly at large Q^2, and TPE contributions are thought to resolve this discrepancy. The impacts of TPE contributions have not yet been experimentally established for the neutron. From the data analysis presented in this dissertation, a preliminary result for the neutron Rosenbluth Slope is found as S^n=(G_E^n )^2/t_n (G_M^n )^2=0.0916±0.0476 for Q^2=4.48 (GeV/c)2. This value of the neutron Rosenbluth Slope is consistent with the world data extrapolation and the absence of large TPE corrections.

Wertz, Ezekiel [Thomas Jefferson National Accelera↗

π phase shift across stripes in a charge density wave system

Many strongly correlated materials are characterized by deeply intertwined charge and spin order. Besides their high superconducting transition temperatures, one of the central features of these complex patterns in cuprates is a phase shift which occurs across lines of decreased hole density. That is, when doped away from their antiferromagnetic phase, the additional charge is not distributed uniformly, but rather in “stripes.” The sublattices preferentially occupied by up and down spin are reversed across these stripes, a phenomenon referred to as a “π phase shift.” Many of the spin-charge patterns, including the π phase shift, are reproduced by density matrix renormalization group and quantum Monte Carlo calculations of simplified tight binding (repulsive Hubbard) models. In this paper we demonstrate that this sublattice reversal is generic by considering the corresponding phenomenon in the attractive Hubbard Hamiltonian, where a charge density wave phase forms at half filling. Here, we introduce charge stripes via an appropriate local chemical potential; measurements of charge correlation across the resulting lines of lowered density reveal a clear π phase.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Intrinsic Kinetic Limitations in Substituted Lithium-Layered Transition-Metal Oxide Electrodes

Substituted Li-layered transition-metal oxide (LTMO) electrodes such as Li x Ni y Mn z Co 1-y-z O 2 (NMC) and Li x Ni y Co 1-y-z Al z O 2 (NCA) show reduced first cycle Coulombic efficiency (90-87% under standard cycling conditions) in comparison with the archetypal Li x CoO 2 (LCO; similar to 98% efficiency). Focusing on Li x Ni 0.8 Co 0.15 Al 0.0.5 O 2 as a model compound, we use operando synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to demonstrate that the apparent first-cycle capacity loss is a kinetic effect linked to limited Li mobility at x > 0.88, with near full capacity recovered during a potentiostatic hold following the galvanostatic charge- discharge cycle. This kinetic capacity loss, unlike many capacity losses in LTMOs, is independent of the cutoff voltage during delithiation and it is a reversible process. The kinetic limitation manifests not only as the kinetic capacity loss during discharge but as a subtle bimodal compositional distribution early in charge and, also, a dramatic increase of the charge-discharge voltage hysteresis at x > 0.88. 7 Li NMR measurements indicate that the kinetic limitation reflects limited Li transport at x > 0.86. Electrochemical measurements on a wider range of LTMOs including Li x (Ni,Fe) y Co 1-y O 2 suggest that 5% substitution is sufficient to induce the kinetic limitation and that the effect is not limited to Ni substitution. In this paper, we outline how, in addition to a reduction in the number of Li vacancies and shrinkage of the Li-layer size, the intrinsic charge storage mechanism (two-phase vs solid-solution) and localization of charge give rise to additional kinetic barriers in NCA and nonmetallic LTMOs in general.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗