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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Search for Axions in Magnetic White Dwarf Polarization at Lick and Keck Observatories

We present the most sensitive search to date for light axion-like particles with masses below a micro-eV, using spectropolarimetric data collected from the Lick and Keck Observatories. The conversion of optical photons emitted from the surface of a magnetic white dwarf (MWD) into axions in the strong magnetic field around the star induces a nearly wavelength-independent linear polarization in the observed starlight. We analyze the Stokes parameters $(U, Q, I)$ measured with the Kast spectrograph at the Lick Observatory toward the MWDs SDSS J033320+000720 and ZTF J190132+145807, and with the LRISp-ADC instrument at the Keck Observatory toward ZTF J190132+145807, SDSS J002129+150223, and SDSS J100356+053825 to search for this effect. The data show no evidence of axion-induced linear polarization, and we set world-leading constraints on the axion-photon coupling $|g_{aγγ}| \lesssim 1.7 \times 10^{-12} \,\mathrm{GeV}^{-1}$ at the $95\%$ confidence level for masses $m_a \lesssim 2 \times 10^{-7}\,\mathrm{eV}$.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Novel Approach to Fast Calculation of High-Order Q-Cumulants

The method of Q-cumulants has been shown as a powerful tool to study the fine details of the azimuthal anisotropies in high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions. A new method for the fast calculation of arbitrary order Q-cumulant $v_{n}\{2k\}$ values, based on the partition of a non-negative integer l $\le$ m for calculation of the 2m-particle azimuthal correlations is presented in this paper. Unlike the standard Q-cumulants method in which the calculation of high-order multi-particle calculations is impractical, the newly proposed method enables easy calculation. The validity of the method is proven via a toy model that uses the elliptic power distribution to simulate anisotropic emission of particles. The method enables the study of fine details of the $v_{2}$ distribution, such as higher-order central moments of the $v_{2}$ distribution, as well as the hydrodynamic behavior of the Quark-Gluon Plasma.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

What is the Quark-Gluon Plasma made of?

This article surveys our present understanding of the internal structure of the fully developed quark-gluon plasma at temperatures outside the crossover region. The theoretical part of the review covers perturbative and nonperturbative approaches to quark-gluon plasma structure, in particular, hard-thermal loop effective theory, lattice QCD and the functional renormalization group. The phenomenological part of the review scrutinizes the information that has been derived from bulk observables and hard probes in relativistic heavy ion collisions in terms of how it informs our knowledge about the structure of the quark-gluon plasma. The final section lists possible avenues for future progress.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Discovering the Higgsino at CTAO-North within the Decade

We demonstrate that higgsino dark matter (DM) could be discovered within the next few years using the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory's soon-to-be-operational northern site (CTAO-North). A 1.1 TeV thermal higgsino is a highly motivated yet untested model of DM. Despite its strong theoretical motivation in supersymmetry and beyond, the higgsino is notoriously difficult to detect; it lies deep within the neutrino fog of direct detection experiments and could pose a challenge even for a future muon collider. We show that, in contrast, higgsino detection could be possible within this decade with CTAO-North in La Palma, Spain. The Galactic Center is the region where the dominant DM annihilation signature emerges, but it only barely rises above the horizon at the CTAO-North site. However, we project that this challenge can be overcome with large-zenith-angle observations at the northern site, enabling the conclusive detection of a higgsino signal by 2030 for a range of DM density profiles in the inner Galaxy.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.C↗
DOE OSTI2025

Search for the nonresonant and resonant production of a Higgs boson in association with an additional scalar boson in the $γγττ$ final state in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

The results of a search for the production of two scalar bosons in final states with two photons and two tau leptons are presented. The search considers both nonresonant production of a Higgs boson pair, HH, and resonant production via a new boson X which decays either to HH or to H and a new scalar Y. The analysis uses up to 138 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collision data, recorded between 2016 and 2018 by the CMS experiment at the LHC at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. No evidence for signal is found in the data. For the nonresonant production, the observed (expected) upper limit at 95% confidence level (CL) on the HH production cross section is set at 930 (740) fb, corresponding to 33 (26) times the standard model prediction. At 95% CL, HH production is observed (expected) to be excluded for values of $κ_λ$ outside the range between $-$12 ($-$9.4) and 17 (15). Observed (expected) upper limits at 95% CL for the XHH cross section are found to be within 160 to 2200 (200 to 1800) fb, depending on the mass of X. In the X $\to$ Y($γγ$)H($ττ$) search, the observed (expected) upper limits on the product of the production cross section and decay branching fractions vary between 0.059$-$1.2 fb (0.087$-$0.68 fb). For the X $\to$ Y($γγ$)H($ττ$) search the observed (expected) upper limits on the product of the production cross section and Y $to$ $γγ$ branching fraction vary between 0.69$-$15 fb (0.73$-$8.3 fb) in the low Y mass search, tightening constraints on the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model, and between 0.64$-$10 fb (0.70$-$7.6 fb) in the high Y mass search.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2026

Eta Fragmentation Functions Revisited

We revisit the extraction of parton-to-eta meson fragmentation functions at next-to-leading order accuracy in QCD in the light of the recent hadroproduction measurements in proton-proton collisions obtained by the PHENIX, LHCb, and ALICE collaborations. In addition to an increased precision, the data explore complementary rapidity ranges and center-of-mass system energies. The analysis exploits the theoretical scale dependence to ease tensions among the data sets at different energies that are potentially caused by QCD corrections beyond the next-to-leading order. The resulting set of fragmentation functions yields a consistent description of all available data. Estimates of uncertainties are obtained with the Monte Carlo replica method.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Multicentered black hole saddles for supersymmetric indices

The supersymmetric index in string theory can sometimes have a discontinuous integer-valued jump at co-dimension one surfaces in moduli space called walls of marginal stability. When the index counts black hole microstates, crossing such walls of marginal stability amounts to the appearance or disappearance of a large number of such states. While wall-crossing has been understood in string theory and through the disappearance of extremal Lorentzian supergravity solutions as the moduli are varied, there has been no understanding about how the discontinuous changes in the index occur at the level of the gravitational path integral. In this paper, we find the finite-temperature saddles in $4d$ flatspace supergravity in which fermionic fields are periodic when going around the thermal circle that correspond to the multi-center black hole contributions to the index. By analyzing these saddles, we can explain how wall-crossing occurs: as the scalar moduli in supergravity are varied at the asymptotic boundary, for a given split of the charges, the saddle point equations can no longer be solved and, consequently, the corresponding multi-center saddle no longer contributes to the index. While the values of the scalars and the jump in the index when a wall is crossed all agree with the prediction from previously found Lorentzian supergravity solutions, the saddles in the index exhibit a much richer moduli space, which we analyze in detail.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

The Baby Universe is Fine and the CFT Knows It: On Holography for Closed Universes

Big bang/big crunch closed universes can be realized in AdS/CFT, even though they lack asymptotically AdS boundaries. With enough bulk entanglement, the bulk Hilbert space of a closed universe can be holographically encoded in the CFT. We clarify the relation of this encoding to observer-clone proposals and refute recent arguments about the breakdown of semiclassical physics in such spaces. In the limit of no bulk entanglement, the holographic encoding breaks down. The oft-cited one-dimensional nature of the closed universe Hilbert space represents the limitation of the external (CFT) Hilbert space to access the quantum information in the closed universe, similar to the limitations imposed on observers outside a perfectly isolated quantum lab. We advocate that the CFT nevertheless continues to determine the physical properties of the closed universe in this regime, showing how to interpret this relationship in terms of a final state projection in the closed universe. We provide a dictionary between the final state wavefunction and CFT data. We propose a model of the emergence of an arrow of time in the universe with a given initial or final state projection. Finally, we show that the conventional EFT in the closed universe, without any projection, can be recovered as a maximally ignorant description of the final state. This conventional EFT is encoded in CFT data, and it can be probed by computing coarse-grained observables. We provide an example of one such observable. Taken together, these results amount to a clean bill of health for baby universes born of AdS/CFT.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Black Hole Airy Tail

In Jackiw-Teitelboim (JT) gravity, which is dual to a random matrix ensemble, the annealed entropy differs from the quenched entropy at low temperatures and goes negative. However, computing the quenched entropy in JT gravity requires a replica limit that is poorly understood. To circumvent this, we define an intermediate quantity called the semi-quenched entropy, which has the positivity properties of the quenched entropy, while requiring a much simpler replica trick. We compute this in JT gravity in different regimes using i) a bulk calculation involving wormholes corresponding to the Airy limit of the dual matrix integral and ii) a boundary calculation involving one-eigenvalue instanton saddles proposed by Hernández-Cuenca, demonstrating consistency between these two calculations in their common regime of validity. We also clarify why similar one-eigenvalue instanton saddles cannot be used to compute the quenched entropy due to a breakdown of the saddle-point approximation for the one-eigenvalue instanton in the replica limit. Our results show how to use the gravitational path integral to prove that black holes in JT gravity have isolated ground states and to study their properties.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Wino and Real Minimal Dark Matter Excluded by Fermi Gamma-Ray Observations

We show that minimal, fermionic dark matter (DM) models in the $n$-dimensional representation of the weak force with zero hypercharge that make up 100% of the DM under the standard cosmological history are strongly excluded for $n < 9$. This includes the thermal wino, which we show is ruled out even allowing for DM core sizes up to $\sim$6.7 kpc with the preferred local DM density or $\sim$3.7 kpc in addition to the local DM density being half the preferred value, at less than $0.2$ GeV/cm$^3$. We reach these conclusions through dedicated searches with 14 years of Fermi gamma-ray data in the inner Galaxy between 30 GeV and 2 TeV for the continuum gamma-rays produced in the decays of unstable particles produced in DM annihilation and bound-state formation processes. We consider a variety of Milky Way DM profiles in our analyses, including those motivated by modern hydrodynamic cosmological simulations, and show that all the $n < 9$ minimal DM models are disfavored even under the most conservative assumptions for these density profiles. While wino, quintuplet ($n=5$), and $n = 7$ DM models are strongly disfavored by our analyses under the standard cosmology, we discuss how non-standard cosmological histories or DM sub-fractions could still allow for these particles to be realized in nature, with discovery opportunities at next-generation particle colliders and gamma-ray telescopes.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.C↗
DOE OSTI2025

Characterization of Lateral Amorphous Selenium Photodetectors for Low-Photon and VUV Detection at Cryogenic Temperatures

The performance of amorphous selenium (a-Se) as a cryogenic photodetector material is evaluated through a series of experiments using laterally structured devices operated in a custom optical test stand. These studies investigate the response of a-Se detectors to low-photon fluxes at high electric fields near avalanche conditions, the linearity of the photoconductive response over a wide dynamic range and the direct detection of narrowband 130 nm vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) illumination. At 87 K, matched-filter analysis shows reliable single-shot detection with efficiencies greater than or equal to 80 percent and area under the curve (AUC) greater than or equal to 0.85 using as few as approximately 6800 incident 401 nm photons, corresponding to approximately 3400 photons within field-active regions after accounting for geometric constraints. Measurements are performed at cryogenic temperatures using calibrated photon fluxes derived from a silicon photomultiplier reference and a characterized optical filter stack. Additional experiments using a tellurium-doped a-Se (a-SeTe) device explore the material's behavior under identical test conditions and demonstrate that avalanche is achievable in a-SeTe at cryogenic temperatures. The results demonstrate reproducible low-noise operation, VUV sensitivity and field-dependent gain behavior in a lateral a-Se architecture, representing the first reported observation of avalanche multiplication in laterally structured a-Se and a-SeTe devices at cryogenic temperatures. These findings support the potential integration of laterally structured a-Se devices into next-generation pixelated liquid-argon time projection chambers (TPCs) requiring scalable, high-field-compatible photon detection systems.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Anomalies of global symmetries on the lattice

't Hooft anomalies of global symmetries play a fundamental role in quantum many-body systems and quantum field theory (QFT). In this paper, we make a systematic analysis of lattice anomalies - the analog of 't Hooft anomalies in lattice systems - for which we give a precise definition. Crucially, a lattice anomaly is not a feature of a specific Hamiltonian, but rather is a topological invariant of the symmetry action. The controlled setting of lattice systems allows for a systematic and rigorous treatment of lattice anomalies, shorn of the technical challenges of QFT. We find that lattice anomalies reproduce the expected properties of QFT anomalies in many ways, but also have crucial differences. In particular, lattice anomalies and QFT anomalies are not, contrary to a common expectation, in one-to-one correspondence, and there can be non-trivial anomalies on the lattice that are infrared (IR) trivial: they admit symmetric trivial gapped ground states, and map to trivial QFT anomalies at low energies. Nevertheless, we show that lattice anomalies (including IR-trivial ones) have a number of interesting consequences in their own right, including connections to commuting projector models, phases of many-body localized (MBL) systems, and quantum cellular automata (QCA). We make substantial progress on the classification of lattice anomalies and develop several theoretical tools to characterize their consequences on symmetric Hamiltonians. Our work places symmetries of quantum many-body lattice systems into a unified theoretical framework and may also suggest new perspectives on symmetries in QFT.

Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.d↗
DOE OSTI2025

Instant Folded Strings, Dark Energy and a Cyclic Bouncing Universe

We present a wholly self-consistent, complete cyclic bouncing cosmology based on components drawn from string theory and constructed in a way that is under perturbative control throughout (e.g., with temperature much less than the string scale and string coupling $g_s \ll 1$ at all times). The cyclic evolution is governed by standard dilaton-gravity in $(3+1)$-dimensions with a perturbatively generated potential and a coupling between the dilaton and a second field that becomes massless at $ϕ= ϕ_{ESP}$, resulting in an enhanced symmetry point (ESP) that prevents the dilaton from running all the way to zero coupling. A central role is played by instant folded strings (IFSs) - fundamental strings with the unusual property of being much lighter than the string mass while extending far beyond the string length, and violating the Null Energy Condition (NEC). IFSs are produced classically when the string coupling grows with time, which occurs at two critical points in each cycle. In turn, they fulfill a dual function: enabling cosmological bounces and initiating transient epochs of dark-energy domination that naturally transition into slow contraction. The resulting cosmology eliminates the cosmic singularity and multiverse problems of big bang inflationary models and robustly predicts time-varying IFS-induced dark energy and the absence of primordial B-mode polarization in the cosmic microwave background.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.C↗
DOE OSTI2025

First Light from Beam Neutrinos on an LAPPD in ANNIE,

The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) probes the physics of neutrino-nucleus interactions in a gadolinium-loaded water (Gd-water) target while serving as a flexible testbed for advanced next-generation optical neutrino detection technologies. These advanced technologies include novel detection media (particularly Gd-water and hybrid Cherenkov-scintillation through water-based liquid scintillator) and novel photosensors. In this paper we demonstrate the first implementation of a fully-integrated setup for Large Area Picosecond PhotoDetectors (LAPPDs) in a neutrino experiment. Details are presented regarding the design, commissioning, and deployment of an LAPPD and the supporting systems. We also present the first neutrino interactions ever observed with an LAPPD.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

FM4NPP: A Scaling Foundation Model for Nuclear and Particle Physics

Large language models have revolutionized artificial intelligence by enabling large, generalizable models trained through self-supervision. This paradigm has inspired the development of scientific foundation models (FMs). However, applying this capability to experimental particle physics is challenging due to the sparse, spatially distributed nature of detector data, which differs dramatically from natural language. This work addresses if an FM for particle physics can scale and generalize across diverse tasks. We introduce a new dataset with more than 11 million particle collision events and a suite of downstream tasks and labeled data for evaluation. We propose a novel self-supervised training method for detector data and demonstrate its neural scalability with models that feature up to 188 million parameters. With frozen weights and task-specific adapters, this FM consistently outperforms baseline models across all downstream tasks. The performance also exhibits robust data-efficient adaptation. Further analysis reveals that the representations extracted by the FM are task-agnostic but can be specialized via a single linear mapping for different downstream tasks.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Response of AC-coupled Low Gain Avalanche Detectors to Ionizing and Non-ionizing Radiation Damage

Low gain avalanche diodes with DC- and AC-coupled readout were exposed to ionizing and non-ionizing radiation at levels relevant to future experiments in particle, nuclear, and medical physics and to astrophysics. Damage-related change in their acceptor removal constants and in the resistivity of the region between the guard ring and the active area are reported, as is change in the leakage current and depletion voltages of the active volumes.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

The algebraic structure of gravitational scrambling

We introduce a new algebraic framework to describe gravitational scrambling, including the semiclassical limit of any out-of-time-order correlation function that is built out of operator insertions separated by approximately the scrambling time. In two dimensions, the scrambling algebra, which we call a modular-twisted product, is defined in terms of two copies of the Leutheusser-Liu half-sided modular inclusion of von Neumann algebras; these describe early- and late-time operators respectively. In limits where the separation between insertions is taken to be either significantly greater or smaller than the scrambling time, the modular-twisted product reduces, respectively, to free- and tensor-product algebras that were previously studied in [arXiv:2209.10454]. In a sense, the modular-twisted product interpolates between these two products. Including the Hamiltonian in the scrambling algebra leads to a Type II$_\infty$ von Neumann algebra with finite renormalized entropies that interpolate between single-QES and multi-QES phases. We also describe how to generalize the modular-twisted product algebra to higher dimensions, including spatially localized boundary excitations.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2025

Axion lines from nuclear de-excitations in galactic stellar populations

We show that mono-energetic axions are produced in abundance through nuclear de-excitations in nearby galaxies such as M87, which is the central galaxy of the Virgo cluster, and the starburst galaxy M82. If the axion couples to both nucleons and photons and is ultralight, then monochromatic hard X-ray signatures are induced by the subsequent axion-to-photon conversion in the magnetic fields permeating these systems. We search for evidence of such signals using NuSTAR data, focusing specifically on the $^{57}$Fe de-excitation line at 14.4 keV, and we catalog other potentially relevant nuclear lines. We find no evidence for axions from M87 or M82 and set leading constraints on the combined axion-nucleon and axion-photon coupling at the level of $|g_{ann} \times g_{aγγ}| \lesssim 1.1 \times 10^{-22}$ GeV$^{-1}$ in the limit $m_a \lesssim 10^{-10}$ eV, at 95% confidence.

Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA)↗