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At least 505 records · Page 28

Amplified spontaneous emission in the extreme ultraviolet by expanding xenon clusters

Focused short-wavelength free-electron laser (FEL) pulses interacting with gas phase samples can induce by inner-shell ionization a short-lived population inversion, followed by coherent collective emission of directed, short, and strong radiation bursts. We extend our studies into the warm-dense matter (WDM) regime by investigating the nanoplasmas produced in an ensemble of nanometer-sized clusters by FEL irradiation. Here, additional pathways can also lead to strong, laserlike emission: Electron-ion collisions can yield a long-lived population inversion, and subsequent amplified spontaneous emission. We observe amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in the extreme ultraviolet in xenon clusters excited by soft x-ray FEL pulses, we diagnose the generated nanoplasmas by fluorescence spectroscopy, and we study under various cluster and FEL parameters the directed ASE from the Xe 2+ 65 nm line. We show its exponential increase as a function of FEL irradiation power, and an accompanying collisional broadening of the emission spectra. These findings are corroborated by extensive numerical simulations based on theory, combining detailed hydrodynamic and kinetic simulations with time-dependent calculations of radiation transport, amplification, and collective emission in the WDM nanoplasma. Furthermore, our theoretical findings underline that population inversion is due to electron-ion collisions and that the observed decoherence processes can be empirically characterized by a phenomenological decoherence time in the range of 100–200 fs.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Criticality and Phase Classification for Quadratic Open Quantum Many-Body Systems

Here we study the steady states of translation-invariant open quantum many-body systems governed by Lindblad master equations, where the Hamiltonian is quadratic in the ladder operators, and the Lindblad operators are either linear or quadratic and Hermitian. These systems are called quasifree and quadratic, respectively. We find that steady states of one-dimensional systems with finite-range interactions necessarily have exponentially decaying Green’s functions. For the quasifree case without quadratic Lindblad operators, we show that fermionic systems with finite-range interactions are noncritical for any number of spatial dimensions and provide bounds on the correlation lengths. Quasifree bosonic systems can be critical in D > 1 dimensions. Last, we address the question of phase transitions in quadratic systems and find that, without symmetry constraints beyond invariance under single-particle basis and particle-hole transformations, all gapped Liouvillians belong to the same phase.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Characterization of scatter in digital mammography from use of Monte Carlo simulations and comparison to physical measurements

Purpose: Monte Carlo simulations were performed with the goal of verifying previously published physical measurements characterizing scatter as a function of apparent thickness. A secondary goal was to provide a way of determining what effect tissue glandularity might have on the scatter characteristics of breast tissue. The overall reason for characterizing mammography scatter in this research is the application of these data to an image processing-based scatter-correction program. Methods: MCNPX was used to simulate scatter from an infinitesimal pencil beam using typical mammography geometries and techniques. The spreading of the pencil beam was characterized by two parameters: mean radial extent (MRE) and scatter fraction (SF). The SF and MRE were found as functions of target, filter, tube potential, phantom thickness, and the presence or absence of a grid. The SF was determined by separating scatter and primary by the angle of incidence on the detector, then finding the ratio of the measured scatter to the total number of detected events. The accuracy of the MRE was determined by placing ring-shaped tallies around the impulse and fitting those data to the point-spread function (PSF) equation using the value for MRE derived from the physical measurements. The goodness-of-fit was determined for each data set as a means of assessing the accuracy of the physical MRE data. The effect of breast glandularity on the SF, MRE, and apparent tissue thickness was also considered for a limited number of techniques. Results: The agreement between the physical measurements and the results of the Monte Carlo simulations was assessed. With a grid, the SFs ranged from 0.065 to 0.089, with absolute differences between the measured and simulated SFs averaging 0.02. Without a grid, the range was 0.28–0.51, with absolute differences averaging −0.01. The goodness-of-fit values comparing the Monte Carlo data to the PSF from the physical measurements ranged from 0.96 to 1.00 with a grid and 0.65 to 0.86 without a grid. Analysis of the data suggested that the nongrid data could be better described by a biexponential function than the single exponential used here. The simulations assessing the effect of breast composition on SF and MRE showed only a slight impact on these quantities. When compared to a mix of 50% glandular/50% adipose tissue, the impact of substituting adipose or glandular breast compositions on the apparent thickness of the tissue was about 5%. Conclusions: The findings show agreement between the physical measurements published previously and the Monte Carlo simulations presented here; the resulting data can therefore be used more confidently for an application such as image processing-based scatter correction. The findings also suggest that breast composition does not have a major impact on the scatter characteristics of breast tissue. Application of the scatter data to the development of a scatter-correction software program can be simplified by ignoring the variations in density among breast tissues.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Code Generators for Floating-Point Unit Design in Integrated Circuits (OpenFloat) v1.0

This IP provides a comprehensive set of code generators for various floating-point units (FPUs) essential for integrated circuit design and integration, targeting a broad spectrum of applications, including machine learning and scientific computing. The suite includes FP adders, multipliers, subtractors, dividers, reciprocals, exponentials, square roots, trigonometric functions (sine, cosine, arctangent), and more. It supports customizable hardware design parameters, such as precision (16, 32, 64, and 128 bits) and pipeline depths, offering users enhanced flexibility and productivity. The generated code is in an industry-standard hardware description language, ensuring compatibility with standard design flows, including simulation, verification, synthesis, and implementation on both field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Shalf, JohnM. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborato↗

Self-Shielding Of Transmission Lines

The use of shielding to contend with noise or harmful EMI/EMR energy is not a new concept. An inevitable trade that must be made for shielding is physical space and weight. Space was often not as much of a painful design trade in older larger systems as they are in today’s smaller systems. Today we are packing in an exponentially growing number of functionality within the same or smaller volumes. As systems become smaller and space within systems become more restricted, the implementation of shielding becomes more problematic. Often, space that was used to design a more mechanically robust component must be used for shielding. As the system gets smaller and space is at more of a premium, the trades starts to result in defects, designs with inadequate margin in other performance areas, and designs that are sensitive to manufacturing variability. With these challenges in mind, it would be ideal to maximize attenuation of harmful fields as they inevitably couple onto transmission lines without the use of traditional shielding. Dr. Tom Van Doren proposed a design concept for transmission lines to a class of engineers while visiting New Mexico. This design concept works by maximizing Electric field (E) and Magnetic Field (H) field containment between operating transmission lines to achieve what he called “Self-Shielding”. By making the geometric centroid of the outgoing current coincident with the return current, maximum field containment is achieved. The reciprocal should be true as well, resulting in greater attenuation of incident fields. Figure’s 1(a)-1(b) are examples of designs where the current centroids are coincident. Coax cables are good examples of transmission lines with co-located centroids but they demonstrate excellent field attenuation for other reasons and can’t be used to test this design concept. Figure 1(b) is a flex circuit design that demonstrate the implementation of self-shielding vs a standard conductor layout.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Spectra of cosmic gamma-ray bursts in the hard X-ray range

Hard X-ray measurements of six gamma-ray bursts observed by detectors on the OGO-5 and OSO-6 satellites during the period Oct. 1969 to Apr. 1971 are presented. Spectra for five of the six bursts were determined using measurements from both satellites in order to reduce ambiguities due to uncertain source locations. A significant fraction, 20 to 60%, of the energy of the bursts fall in the hard X-ray range (20 to 130 keV). The time-integrated spectra were fitted by power-law, exponential, and thermal bremsstrahlung functions. They are consistent with power-laws which steepen at energies approx. above 150 keV, as reported earlier for two other bursts. Evidence for spectral variability from event to event in the hard X-ray region is presented. The hard X-ray spectra of the gamma-ray bursts differ from those of the recently discovered 1 to 15 keV bursts.

Share, G. H.↗

The isotopes of hydrogen and helium in the Galactic cosmic radiation - Their source abundances and interstellar propagation

A self-consistent model describing the interstellar propagation of Galactic cosmic radiation is developed using low-energy measurements and calculations of the effects of interstellar propagation and solar modulation. The source ratio H-1/He-4 at constant energy per nucleon is determined to be 12.2 + or - 1.5, and the mean path length for an exponential path length weighting function required to account for the data is 7.2 + or - 1.0 g/sq cm. The measured H-2/He-4 and He-3/He-4 ratios do not vary by more than about 30 percent over the solar cycle. The behavior of the ratios during the solar cycle reflects the energy dependence of the local interstellar ratios, and leads to an energy dependence of the mean path length below 1 GeV per nucleon weaker than that inferred from boron/carbon. The source ratio H-1/He-4 inferred from the low-energy data is consistent both with the value inferred from high-energy cosmic ray data using a model of rigidity-dependent confinement and with the solar system abundance ratio.

Beatty, James J.↗

Vortex creep and the internal temperature of neutron stars - Linear and nonlinear response to a glitch

The dynamics of pinned superfluid in neutron stars is determined by the thermal 'creep' of vortices. Vortex creep can respond to changes in the rotation rate of the neutron star crust and provide the observed types of dynamical relaxation following pulsar glitches. It also gives rise to energy dissipation, which determines the thermal evolution of pulsars once the initial heat content has been radiated away. The different possible regimes of vortex creep are explored, and it is shown that the nature of the dynamical response of the pinned superfluid evolves with a pulsar's age. Younger pulsars display a linear regime, where the response is linear in the initial perturbation and is a simple exponential relaxation as a function of time. A nonliner response, with a characteristic nonlinear dependence on the initial perturbation, is responsible for energy dissipation and becomes the predominant mode of response as the pulsar ages. The transition from the linear to the nonlinear regime depends sensitively on the temperature of the neutron star interior. A preliminary review of existing postglitch observations is given within this general evolutionary framework.

Alpar, M. A.↗

CVS Decomposition of 3D Homogeneous Turbulence Using Orthogonal Wavelets

This paper compares the filtering used in Coherent Vortex Simulation (CVS) decomposition with an orthogonal wavelet basis, with the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) or Fourier filtering. Both methods are applied to a field of Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) data of 3D forced homogeneous isotropic turbulence at microscale Reynolds number R(sub lambda) = 168. We show that, with only 3%N retained modes, CVS filtering separates the coherent vortex tubes from the incoherent background flow. The latter is structureless, has an equipartition energy spectrum, and has a Gaussian velocity probability distribution function (PDF) and an exponential vorticity PDF. On the other hand, the Fourier basis does not extract the coherent vortex tubes cleanly and leaves organized structures in the residual high wavenumber modes whose PDFs are stretched exponentials for both the velocity and the vorticity.

Farge, Marie↗

Role of metabolic gases in bubble formation during hypobaric exposures

Our hypothesis is that metabolic gases play a role in the initial explosive growth phase of bubble formation during hypobaric exposures. Models that account for optimal internal tensions of dissolved gases to predict the probability of occurrence of venous gas emboli were statistically fitted to 426 hypobaric exposures from National Aeronautics and Space Administration tests. The presence of venous gas emboli in the pulmonary artery was detected with an ultrasound Doppler detector. The model fit and parameter estimation were done by using the statistical method of maximum likelihood. The analysis results were as follows. 1) For the model without an input of noninert dissolved gas tissue tension, the log likelihood (in absolute value) was 255.01. 2) When an additional parameter was added to the model to account for the dissolved noninert gas tissue tension, the log likelihood was 251.70. The significance of the additional parameter was established based on the likelihood ratio test (P < 0.012). 3) The parameter estimate for the dissolved noninert gas tissue tension participating in bubble formation was 19. 1 kPa (143 mmHg). 4) The additional gas tissue tension, supposedly due to noninert gases, did not show an exponential decay as a function of time during denitrogenation, but it remained constant. 5) The positive sign for this parameter term in the model is characteristic of an outward radial pressure of gases in the bubble. This analysis suggests that dissolved gases other than N2 in tissues may facilitate the initial explosive bubble-growth phase.

NASA Center JSC↗

A Flexible Parameterization for Shortwave Optical Properties of Ice Crystals

A parameterization is presented that provides extinction cross section sigma (sub e), single-scattering albedo omega, and asymmetry parameter (g) of ice crystals for any combination of volume, projected area, aspect ratio, and crystal distortion at any wavelength in the shortwave. Similar to previous parameterizations, the scheme makes use of geometric optics approximations and the observation that optical properties of complex, aggregated ice crystals can be well approximated by those of single hexagonal crystals with varying size, aspect ratio, and distortion levels. In the standard geometric optics implementation used here, sigma (sub e) is always twice the particle projected area. It is shown that omega is largely determined by the newly defined absorption size parameter and the particle aspect ratio. These dependences are parameterized using a combination of exponential, lognormal, and polynomial functions. The variation of (g) with aspect ratio and crystal distortion is parameterized for one reference wavelength using a combination of several polynomials. The dependences of g on refractive index and omega are investigated and factors are determined to scale the parameterized (g) to provide values appropriate for other wavelengths. The parameterization scheme consists of only 88 coefficients. The scheme is tested for a large variety of hexagonal crystals in several wavelength bands from 0.2 to 4 micron, revealing absolute differences with reference calculations of omega and (g) that are both generally below 0.015. Over a large variety of cloud conditions, the resulting root-mean-squared differences with reference calculations of cloud reflectance, transmittance, and absorptance are 1.4%, 1.1%, and 3.4%, respectively. Some practical applications of the parameterization in atmospheric models are highlighted.

parameterization↗

Updated Stagnation-Point Aeroheating Correlations for Mars Entry

The objective of this work was to develop new stagnation-point aeroheating engineering correlations for Mars entry vehicles. New convective and radiative heating relations were formulated over a wide range of entry conditions. These relations were based on computational fluid dynamics simulations informed by recent experimental testing and modeling enhancements. For convective heating, a relation similar to the Sutton-Graves relation was developed that is accurate to within ±25% across the domain of relevant Mars entry conditions. For radiative heating, two different functional forms were developed: exponential and polynomial relations. Each of these relation, which represents two different levels of complexity for implementation, were able to predict the radiative heating within about ±25%. The correlations were tested by applying them to the Mars Pathfinder entry trajectory to demonstrate their applicability. These new correlations are significant improvement over existing relations in terms of the accuracy, domain of applicability, and the captured physics, including CO2 inferred radiation and thermochemical nonequilibrium.

Thomas K West, IV↗

Gradient flow of the stochastic relaxation on a generic exponential family

We study the natural gradient flow of the expected value E{sub p} [f] of an objective function f for p in an exponential family. We parameterize the exponential family with the expectation parameters and we show that the dynamical system associated to the natural gradient flow can be extended outside the marginal polytope.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Molecular radiotherapy: The NUKFIT software for calculating the time-integrated activity coefficient

Purpose: Calculation of the time-integrated activity coefficient (residence time) is a crucial step in dosimetry for molecular radiotherapy. However, available software is deficient in that it is either not tailored for the use in molecular radiotherapy and/or does not include all required estimation methods. The aim of this work was therefore the development and programming of an algorithm which allows for an objective and reproducible determination of the time-integrated activity coefficient and its standard error.Methods: The algorithm includes the selection of a set of fitting functions from predefined sums of exponentials and the choice of an error model for the used data. To estimate the values of the adjustable parameters an objective function, depending on the data, the parameters of the error model, the fitting function and (if required and available) Bayesian information, is minimized. To increase reproducibility and user-friendliness the starting values are automatically determined using a combination of curve stripping and random search. Visual inspection, the coefficient of determination, the standard error of the fitted parameters, and the correlation matrix are provided to evaluate the quality of the fit. The functions which are most supported by the data are determined using the corrected Akaike information criterion. The time-integrated activity coefficient is estimated by analytically integrating the fitted functions. Its standard error is determined assuming Gaussian error propagation. The software was implemented using MATLAB.Results: To validate the proper implementation of the objective function and the fit functions, the results of NUKFIT and SAAM numerical, a commercially available software tool, were compared. The automatic search for starting values was successfully tested for reproducibility. The quality criteria applied in conjunction with the Akaike information criterion allowed the selection of suitable functions. Function fit parameters and their standard error estimated by using SAAM numerical and NUKFIT showed differences of <1%. The differences for the time-integrated activity coefficients were also <1% (standard error between 0.4% and 3%). In general, the application of the software is user-friendly and the results are mathematically correct and reproducible. An application of NUKFIT is presented for three different clinical examples.Conclusions: The software tool with its underlying methodology can be employed to objectively and reproducibly estimate the time integrated activity coefficient and its standard error for most time activity data in molecular radiotherapy.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Gauges, loops, and polynomials for partition functions of graphical models

Graphical models represent multivariate and generally not normalized probability distributions. Computing the normalization factor, called the partition function, is the main inference challenge relevant to multiple statistical and optimization applications. The problem is #P-hard that is of an exponential complexity with respect to the number of variables. Here, aimed at approximating the partition function, we consider multi-graph models where binary variables and multivariable factors are associated with edges and nodes, respectively, of an undirected multi-graph. We suggest a new methodology for analysis and computations that combines the Gauge function technique from Chertkov and Chernyak with the technique developed in Anari and Oveis Gharan 2017 arXiv:1702.02937; Gurvits 2011 arXiv:1106.2844; Straszak and Vishnoi 2017 55th Annual Allerton Conf. on Communication, Control, and Computing, based on the recent progress in the field of real stable polynomials. We show that the Gauge function, representing a single-out term in a finite sum expression for the partition function which achieves extremum at the so-called belief-propagation gauge, has a natural polynomial representation in terms of gauges/variables associated with edges of the multi-graph. Moreover, Gauge function can be used to recover the partition function through a sequence of transformations allowing appealing algebraic and graphical interpretations. Algebraically, one step in the sequence consists of the application of a differential operator over gauges associated with an edge. Graphically, the sequence is interpreted as a repetitive elimination/contraction of edges resulting in multi-graph models on decreasing in size (number of edges) graphs with the same partition function as in the original multi-graph model. Even though the complexity of computing factors in the sequence of the derived multi-graph models and respective Gauge functions grow exponentially with the number of eliminated edges, polynomials associated with the new factors remain bi-stable if the original factors have this property. Moreover, we show that BP estimations in the sequence do not decrease, each low-bounding the partition function.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Statistical properties and correlation functions for drift waves

The dissipative one-field drift wave equation is solved using the pseudospectral method to generate steady-state fluctuations. The fluctuations are analyzed in terms of space-time correlation functions and modal probability distributions. Nearly Gaussian statistics and exponential decay of the two-time correlation functions occur in the presence of electron dissipation, while in the absence of electron dissipation long-lived vortical structures occur. Formulas from renormalized, Markovianized statistical turbulence theory are given in a local approximation to interpret the dissipative turbulence.

Horton, W.↗