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DOE OSTI2026

Beyond Mass and Multiscale Environments: What Shapes Low Surface Brightness Galaxies? Evidence from MaNGA

The origin of low surface brightness (LSB) galaxies remains a key open question in galaxy formation, reflecting the balance between internal mechanisms and environmental influence. Using MaNGA integral-field spectroscopy, we investigate whether LSB and high surface brightness (HSB) galaxies of comparable stellar mass (9 < logM * < 10) occupy distinct environments or differ primarily through internal evolution. Our late-type sample comprises 113 central and 29 satellite LSB galaxies, and 374 central and 142 satellite HSB galaxies. We characterize environments on scales from ∼100 kpc to 10 Mpc, analyzing radial profiles of stellar mass surface density (Σ * ), star formation activity, and gas-phase metallicity. Central LSB and HSB galaxies inhabit similarly low-density large-scale (>200 kpc) environments, but LSB galaxies are more isolated on small scales (∼100 kpc). Even after matching in stellar mass and environment, LSB galaxies show systematically lower Σ * , Σ SFR , and metallicities, often hosting diffuse, weakly star-forming bulges embedded in extended disks. These results indicate that LSB structure and star formation are not primarily governed by a large-scale environment or halo mass. While secondary halo properties such as spin, concentration, or gas accretion history are often invoked, their environmental dependence appears weak. Instead, LSB–HSB differences for centrals likely reflect divergent assembly or interaction histories and internal processes—such as angular momentum-driven disk evolution or inefficient gas conversion—largely decoupled from a large-scale environment. Nonetheless, the environment still influences the observed star formation and chemical differences between central and satellite LSB galaxies.

Shen, Mengting [Xiamen University (China); SDSS Co↗

DOE OSTI2024

Investigating SU(3) with Nf=8 fundamental fermions at strong renormalized coupling

Lattice simulations have observed a novel strong coupling symmetric mass generation (SMG) phase for the SU(3) gauge system with $N_f=8$ fundamental fermions (represented by two sets of staggered fields) at very large renormalized coupling ($g^2_{GF} \gtrsim 25$). The results of Phys.Rev.D 106 (2022) 014513 suggest that the SMG phase is separated from the weak coupling, conformal phase by a continuous phase transition, implying that the SMG phase exists in the continuum limit. To scrutinize these findings, we are generating a set of large volume zero temperature ensembles using nHYP improved staggered fermions with additional Pauli-Villars fields to tame gauge field fluctuations. We consider the low-lying meson spectrum and verify the existence of the SMG phase. Based on a finite size scaling analysis we predict that the phase transition between the strong and weak coupling phases is likely governed by a merged fixed point that is ultraviolet in the strong coupling but infrared in the weak coupling side. This finding suggests that the SU(3) 8-flavor system sits at the opening of the conformal window

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Coupled Thermo-Hydrological-Mechanical-Chemical Behavior of Anisotropic Granite for Geologic Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste: A Core-Scale Laboratory Investigation

The coupled thermo-hydrological-mechanical-chemical (THMC) behavior of rock within an Excavation Damaged Zone (EDZ) is critical for the safety and long-term performance of a geological repository for high-level radioactive wastes. While many laboratory experiments have been conducted to investigate EDZ rocks, the flow and deformation characteristics resulting from anisotropic rock textures and microcrack distribution under triaxial loading and elevated temperatures remain poorly understood. Particularly, cracks at various scales serve as fast paths for fluid flow and solute transport and present as focal points of mechanical weakness, which complicate the coupled THMC processes in anisotropic EDZ rocks and challenge modeling predictions. Here, in this study, a series of core-scale experiments was conducted on three granite samples under repository-relevant conditions. These rock samples were obtained from the Grimsel Underground Research Laboratory (URL), featured by anisotropic minerals (represented by bedding layers) and microcrack distributions and coarse cm-scale grain sizes. During the experiments, samples were subjected to an elevated temperature at 90 °C and different triaxial loading conditions either by radial (normal to bedding layers) or axial (parallel to bedding layers) compaction. Water was injected into the samples, and the rock permeability evolutions and effluent water chemistry were monitored closely. For intact samples, thermal expansion of minerals at 90 °C resulted in a large, 75% irreversible permeability reduction and rock strengthening under radial compaction, while thermal impact was limited to a 15% permeability reduction under axial compaction. In contrast, for a sample containing open cracks, the growth of fractures during the experiment resulted in an abrupt permeability increase and fast failure at 90 °C. The effluent water chemistry indicates much more considerable mineral dissolution from large shear sliding than that in rocks dominated by mechanical compaction. These results helped better understand the coupled THMC processes in anisotropic rocks containing cracks, evaluate the behaviors of EDZ rocks, and predict the long-term evolution of EDZ for the performance of the repositories.

Coupled THMC processes↗

NASA NTRS1994

On the effects of filtering on convective-core statistics

Analysis of convective events north of Australia during the equatorial Monsoon Experiment (EMEX) reinforces accumulating evidence that convective cores over the tropical ocean are weak, with small diameters and vertical velocities. Superposition of smaller-scale turbulence on the convective core signal could yield artificially small cores, and thus produce sampling bias by aircraft. To investigate this potential source of bias, a side-by-side analysis of filtered and unfiltered vertical velocity data was performed while investigating the EMEX convective cores. Data were collected by the NOAA P3 and NCAR Electra using filtered (Graham filter) and non-filtered cores. The effects of filtering vertical velocity data to identify updraft and downdraft cores were noticeable but smaller than expected. Updraft cores had a vertical velocity greater than 1 m/sec for at least 500 m, and downdraft cores were defined analogously so that the filter eliminated events with less than a 500 m apparent diameter. Median and 10 percent core diameters were increased by 20-25 percent at most, with larger increases at higher levels (fewer small events). The maximum vertical velocity was changed only by changing the individual events in the distribution, but changes were detectable. At the lower levels, where many small, weak cores are introduced by filtering, average vertical velocity for the updraft cores was lowered by up to around 10 percent. Mass flux was changed the least, since diameter and mean vertical velocity respond to filtering in opposite ways. The filtering procedure increased total mass flux slightly due to inclusion of more upward moving air into the sample.

Lemone, Margaret A.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Magnetorotational instability in a swirling partially ionized gas

ABSTRACT The magnetorotational instability (MRI) has been proposed as the method of angular momentum transport that enables accretion in astrophysical discs. However, for weakly ionized discs, such as protoplanetary discs, it remains unclear whether the combined non-ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects of Ohmic resistivity, ambipolar diffusion, and the Hall effect make these discs MRI stable. While much effort has been made to simulate non-ideal MHD MRI, these simulations make simplifying assumptions and are not always in agreement with each other. Furthermore, it is difficult to directly observe the MRI astrophysically because it occurs on small scales. Here, we propose the concept of a swirling gas experiment of weakly ionized argon gas between two concentric cylinders threaded with an axial magnetic field that can be used to study non-ideal MHD MRI. For our proposed experiment, we derive the hydrodynamic equilibrium flow and a dispersion relation for MRI that includes the three non-ideal effects. We solve this dispersion relation numerically for the parameters of our proposed experiment. We find it should be possible to produce a non-ideal MRI in such an experiment because of the Hall effect, which increases the MRI growth rate when the vertical magnetic field is anti-aligned with the rotation axis. As a proof of concept, we also present experimental results for a hydrodynamic flow in an unmagnetized prototype. We find that our prototype has a small, but non-negligible, α-parameter that could serve as a baseline for comparison to our proposed magnetized experiment, which could be subject to additional turbulence from the MRI.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Block Design with Common Reference Samples Enables Robust Large-Scale Label-Free Quantitative Proteome Profiling

Label-free quantitative proteomics has become an increasingly popular tool for profiling global protein abundances. However, one major weakness is the potential performance drift of the LC-MS platform over time, which in turn limits its utility for analyzing large-scale sample sets. To address this, in this work we introduce an experimental and data analysis scheme based on a block-design with common controls within each block for enabling LC-MS-based large-scale label-free quantification. In this scheme, a large number of samples (e.g., >100 samples) are analyzed in smaller, and more manageable blocks, minimizing instrument drift and variability within a block. Furthermore, each designated block also contains common controls (or reference) samples for normalization within and across blocks. We demonstrated the effectiveness of this method by profiling the proteome response of human macrophage THP-1 cells to 11 engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) at two different doses. A total of 116 samples were analyzed in six blocks, yielding an average coverage of 4500 proteins per sample. The data revealed consistent quantification of proteins across all six blocks, as shown by highly stable quantification of house-keeping proteins in all samples and high levels of quantification correlation among samples from different blocks. The data also demonstrated that label-free quantification is robust and accurate enough to quantify even very subtle abundance changes as well as large fold-changes without potential ratio compression as often encountered with isobaric labeling. Our streamlined workflow is easy to implement and can be readily adapted to other large cohort studies for reproducible label-free proteome quantification.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2020

The scale of superpartner masses and electroweakino searches at the high-luminosity LHC

Searches for weakly interacting particles is one of the main goals of the high luminosity LHC run. In this work we study the well motivated cases of electroweakinos with mostly Wino and Bino components. We show the relevance of squark induced t-channel production in defining the production cross section and hence the LHC reach. Moreover, a realistic evaluation of the decay branching ratios show a strong dependence on the sign of μ and, for negative values of μ, on the relative size of the ratio of μ to the gaugino masses compared with tan β. Overall, unless it is kinematically suppressed, or specific conditions are fulfilled, the Higgs decay channel is the most significant one, and the trilepton channel becomes subdominant with respect to final states including bottom quarks. Although the properties are different than in the Higgsino-Bino case, also in this case the discovery reach extends to mass values that are significantly larger than the ones probed at current luminosities, leading to a strong motivation for the search for electroweakinos in the high luminosity LHC run.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Eigenstate entanglement scaling for critical interacting spin chains

With increasing subsystem size and energy, bipartite entanglement entropies of energy eigenstates cross over from the groundstate scaling to a volume law. In previous work, we pointed out that, when strong or weak eigenstate thermalization (ETH) applies, the entanglement entropies of all or, respectively, almost all eigenstates follow a single crossover function. The crossover functions are determined by the subsystem entropy of thermal states and assume universal scaling forms in quantum-critical regimes. This was demonstrated by field-theoretical arguments and the analysis of large systems of non-interacting fermions and bosons. Here, we substantiate such scaling properties for integrable and non-integrable interacting spin-1/2 chains at criticality using exact diagonalization. In particular, we analyze XXZ and transverse-field Ising models with and without next-nearest-neighbor interactions. Indeed, the crossover of thermal subsystem entropies can be described by a universal scaling function following from conformal field theory. Furthermore, we analyze the validity of ETH for entanglement in these models. Even for the relatively small system sizes that can be simulated, the distributions of eigenstate entanglement entropies are sharply peaked around the subsystem entropies of the corresponding thermal ensembles.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2024

Dark energy survey year 3 results: likelihood-free, simulation-based w CDM inference with neural compression of weak-lensing map statistics

We present simulation-based cosmological wcold dark matter (wCDM) inference using dark energy survey year 3 weak-lensing maps, via neural data compression of weak-lensing map summary statistics: power spectra, peak counts, and direct map-level compression/inference with convolutional neural networks (CNN). Using simulation-based inference, also known as likelihood-free or implicit inference, we use forward-modelled mock data to estimate posterior probability distributions of unknown parameters. This approach allows all statistical assumptions and uncertainties to be propagated through the forward-modelled mock data; these include sky masks, non-Gaussian shape noise, shape measurement bias, source galaxy clustering, photometric redshift uncertainty, intrinsic galaxy alignments, non-Gaussian density fields, neutrinos, and non-linear summary statistics. We include a series of tests to validate our inference results. This paper also describes the Gower Street simulation suite: 791 full-sky pkdgrav3 dark matter simulations, with cosmological model parameters sampled with a mixed active-learning strategy, from which we construct over 3000 mock dark energy survey lensing data sets. For wCDM inference, for which we allow –1 < w < –$\frac{1}{3}$⁠, our most constraining result uses power spectra combined with map-level (CNN) inference. Using gravitational lensing data only, this map-level combination gives Ω m = 0.283$^{+0.020}_{–0.027}$⁠, S 8 = 0.804$^{+0.025}_{–0.017⁠}$, and w < –0.80 (with a 68 per cent credible interval); compared to the power spectrum inference, this is more than a factor of two improvement in dark energy parameter (Ω⁠ DE , w⁠) precision.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1986

Influence of transient baroclinic eddies on planetary-scale waves

Low-order models with a mean zonal flow forced by zonally symmetric heating and one planetary-scale wave forced by topography have multiple flow equilibria. Two stable equilibria are characterized by strong zonal flow with low wave amplitude (high index circulation) and weak zonal flow with a high wave amplitude (low index circulation) fixed in phase with the topography. These two states presumably represent normal zonal circulation and a blocking configuration, respectively. When a shorter, baroclinically unstable wave is dded to this low-order model, the planetary-scale wave no longer stays in stable equilibrium states. Instead, the long wave remains in weather regimes or preferred regions in phase space. These regimes are, in general, different from the equilibria of the model with the planetary-scale wave only. Thus, the short unstable wave adds some randomness to planetary-scale circulation and changes its position with respect to the planetary-scale topography. The Reinhold and Pierrehumbert model is further explored here by adding a long-wave in the thermal forcing and exploring wider parameter space. When the symmetric thermal forcing is weak so that the short wave is stable, the planetary scale wave is fixed in amplitude and phase by the asymmetric forcing. However, when the symmetric forcing is increased to an unstable level, the planetary-scale wave becomes less organized. With asymmetric thermal forcing only (i.e., no topography) the long-wave is randomly distributed through phase space. Thermal forcing seems to be less effective in organizing weather regimes than topographic forcing.

Branscome, L. E.↗

NASA NTRS1997

On the Asymptotic Regimes and the Strongly Stratified Limit of Rotating Boussinesq Equations

Asymptotic regimes of geophysical dynamics are described for different Burger number limits. Rotating Boussinesq equations are analyzed in the asymptotic limit, of strong stratification in the Burger number of order one situation as well as in the asymptotic regime of strong stratification and weak rotation. It is shown that in both regimes horizontally averaged buoyancy variable is an adiabatic invariant for the full Boussinesq system. Spectral phase shift corrections to the buoyancy time scale associated with vertical shearing of this invariant are deduced. Statistical dephasing effects induced by turbulent processes on inertial-gravity waves are evidenced. The 'split' of the energy transfer of the vortical and the wave components is established in the Craya-Herring cyclic basis. As the Burger number increases from zero to infinity, we demonstrate gradual unfreezing of energy cascades for ageostrophic dynamics. The energy spectrum and the anisotropic spectral eddy viscosity are deduced with an explicit dependence on the anisotropic rotation/stratification time scale which depends on the vertical aspect ratio parameter. Intermediate asymptotic regime corresponding to strong stratification and weak rotation is analyzed where the effects of weak rotation are accounted for by an asymptotic expansion with full control (saturation) of vertical shearing. The regularizing effect of weak rotation differs from regularizations based on vertical viscosity. Two scalar prognostic equations for ageostrophic components (divergent velocity potential and geostrophic departure ) are obtained.

Babin, A.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Kinetic structure of rotational discontinuities: Implications for the magnetopause

Magnetic field rotations in the high ion beta magnetosheath that are part of the magnetopause structure are expected to have only a small normal component. We have studied the properties of rotational discontinuities (RDs) under these conditions, viewed as the limit of weak intermediate shocks (ISs), by performing hybrid simulations with a reflecting wall boundary condition (piston method). With this dynamic formation, the sense and size of rotation are not arbitrarily predetermined, but rather evolve from the given upstream (magnetosheath) and downstream (magnetospheric) boundary conditions, similar to what takes place at the magnetopause. This work focuses on several aspects: the observed minimum shear of RDs, their width, their internal signature, and their relation to ISs in isotropic plasmas. Our simulation results are in agreement with the minimum shear observations, that is, the RDs choose the sense of rotation that corresponds to the minimum angle between the upstream and downstream field vector. The RDs are stable, with a unique scale size. Typical gradient scale half widths are one to four ion inertial lengths with a total width up to ten times of that, in agreement with magnetopause observations. We develop a generalized fluid theory of RDs and discuss the characteristic internal signatures of the rotational layer, comparing the kinetic simulation results to predictions from the generalized fluid theory. The results show that ion inertia, anisotropic pressure, finite Larmor radius effects, nonzero ion heat flux, and reflected ions all contribute to the signatures of RDs on kinetic scales. The RDs may have upstream or downstream wave trains, which become weak for high ion beta and small normal components of the magnetic field. We explain the presence and direction of wave trains in terms of the kinetic properties of the Alfven/ion-cyclotron mode. Away from the RD limit there is a smooth transition to weak intermediate shocks, which have small jumps close to expected Rankine-Hugoniot values. Apart from that, there are few kinetic plasma signatures that distinguish RDs from their neighboring ISs. However, noncoplanar ISs evolve in time into thin RDs. Using the properties of RDs and ISs, we make specific suggestions how these discontinuities can be distinguished observationally in the case of an isotropic plasma.

Krauss-Varban, D.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Atmospheric Diabatic Heating in Different Weather States and the General Circulation

Analysis of multiple global satellite products identifies distinctive weather states of the atmosphere from the mesoscale pattern of cloud properties and quantifies the associated diabatic heating/cooling by radiative flux divergence, precipitation, and surface sensible heat flux. The results show that the forcing for the atmospheric general circulation is a very dynamic process, varying strongly at weather space-time scales, comprising relatively infrequent, strong heating events by ''stormy'' weather and more nearly continuous, weak cooling by ''fair'' weather. Such behavior undercuts the value of analyses of time-averaged energy exchanges in observations or numerical models. It is proposed that an analysis of the joint time-related variations of the global weather states and the general circulation on weather space-time scales might be used to establish useful ''feedback like'' relationships between cloud processes and the large-scale circulation.

Cooling↗

DOE OSTI2026

Emissive Colloidal GaAs Quantum Dots

Colloidal quantum dots offer tunable optical properties for optoelectronic applications, but the synthesis of high-quality III–V quantum dots (QDs) other than indium pnictides, and particularly GaAs, has remained elusive due to synthetic challenges. Colloidal GaAs QDs have been reported very recently and have shown only weak band-edge photoluminescence. Here, we demonstrate a large-scale synthesis of colloidal GaAs QDs in molten salts, followed by a high-temperature surface treatment with K 2 S, which removes native oxide and enables uniform zinc chalcogenide shell growth on GaAs. These QDs demonstrate bright band-edge photoluminescence and electroluminescence in QD LED devices. Low-temperature spectroscopy reveals a well-resolved exciton fine structure with distinct bright-state splitting and temperature-independent decay dynamics from 4 to 100 K. These results establish a practical pathway for the preparation of high-quality colloidal GaAs QDs from molten salts with potential applications in quantum technologies and optoelectronics.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2020

Electron temperature of the solar wind

Significance The problem of solar wind heating is one of the long-standing fundamental problems of space plasma physics. We propose that the electron component of the solar wind plasma is heated by electrons streaming from the hot solar corona and slowly losing their energy due to weak Coulomb collisions. Our first-principle kinetic derivation predicts the scaling of the solar wind electron temperature with the heliocentric distance, which is in good agreement with observations. Our theory reveals the role of the non-Maxwellian electron distribution function in the heating mechanism, and it may be valuable for interpreting the results of in situ satellite measurements.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Suppression of one-dimensional weak localization by band asymmetry

Herein we investigate disorder-induced localization in metals that break time-reversal and inversion symmetries through their energy dispersion, ε k ≠ε– k , but lack Berry phases. In the perturbative regime of disorder, we show that weak localization is suppressed due to a mismatch of the Fermi velocities of left and right movers. To substantiate this analytical result, we perform quench numerics on chains shorter than the Anderson localization length ξ—the latter computed and verified to be finite using the recursive Green's function method—and find a sharp rise in the saturation value of the participation ratio due to band asymmetry, indicating a tendency to delocalize. Interestingly, for weak disorder strength η, we see a better fit to the scaling behavior ξ∝1/η 2 for asymmetric bands than conventional symmetric ones.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2025

Tracing cosmic gas in filaments and halos: Low-redshift insights from the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect

In this work, we leverage cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and LSS data from the imaging survey conducted by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) to study the distribution of gas around galaxy groups at low redshift, z ≈ 0.3, via the kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect. In particular, we perform velocity-weighted stacking on the photometric galaxies from the Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS) to isolate the monopole and quadrupole of the kSZ signal, orienting the stacked images along 2D filaments identified using the Hessian of the projected gravitational potential. We find a 7.2σ detection in the monopole of the signal (i.e., the gas density profile) and a 4σ detection in the quadrupole (m = 2), constituting the first measurement of the alignment between gas distribution and the cosmic web through the kSZ effect. As it is a linear probe of the local gas density, the kSZ has heightened sensitivity to the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), which is believed to house the majority of the "missing baryons."Mapping out the gas density at low redshifts, as enabled by our measurements, is crucial for weak lensing surveys, for which the impact of baryons on small scales is a major impediment. We compare the anisotropic signal against two hydrodynamical simulations, TNG300-1 and Illustris, which have very different baryonic feedback prescriptions. We find that the anisotropic signal measured in the data is comparable but slightly larger and more extended compared with the simulations. Further, this suggests that there is excess accretion and feedback taking place through the filaments, hinting at the possible presence of spin-filament alignment of the BGS objects.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS1981

Direct numerical simulations of turbulent shear flows

Numerical simulations of wakes of axisymmetric bodies and of turbulent mixing layers are reported. The flows were assumed to be statistically homogeneous in the mean flow direction, in concert with experimental data and the self-similarity theorem. The nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations were solved by a pseudo-spectral numerical method using a 32 x 32 x 33 point grid and an algorithm for fast Fourier transforms and inverse transforms. Leapfrog time differencing was employed on nonlinear terms and time differencing on viscous terms. Towed wakes and wakes behind a self-propelled body were simulated, showing that the towed wakes exhibited a proper temporal behavior after an initial period of adjustment, including the development of a kurtosis near the wake edge, which is experimentally verifiable. The mixing-layer simulation displayed the laboratory demonstrated presence of large scale features such as vortex cores, while the lateral coherence was weak.

Metcalfe, R. W.↗