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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

The mass and galaxy distribution around SZ-selected clusters

ABSTRACT We present measurements of the radial profiles of the mass and galaxy number density around Sunyaev–Zel’dovich (SZ)-selected clusters using both weak lensing and galaxy counts. The clusters are selected from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Data Release 5 and the galaxies from the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 data set. With signal-to-noise ratio of 62 (45) for galaxy (weak lensing) profiles over scales of about 0.2–20 h−1 Mpc, these are the highest precision measurements for SZ-selected clusters to date. Because SZ selection closely approximates mass selection, these measurements enable several tests of theoretical models of the mass and light distribution around clusters. Our main findings are: (1) The splashback feature is detected at a consistent location in both the mass and galaxy profiles and its location is consistent with predictions of cold dark matter N-body simulations. (2) The full mass profile is also consistent with the simulations. (3) The shapes of the galaxy and lensing profiles are remarkably similar for our sample over the entire range of scales, from well inside the cluster halo to the quasilinear regime. We measure the dependence of the profile shapes on the galaxy sample, redshift, and cluster mass. We extend the Diemer & Kravtsov model for the cluster profiles to the linear regime using perturbation theory and show that it provides a good match to the measured profiles. We also compare the measured profiles to predictions of the standard halo model and simulations that include hydrodynamics. Applications of these results to cluster mass estimation, cosmology, and astrophysics are discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modification of charged-particle jets in event-shape engineered Pb–Pb collisions at $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV

Charged-particle jet yields have been measured in semicentral Pb–Pb collisions at center-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision $\sqrt{S_{NN}}$ = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE detector at the LHC. These yields are reported as a function of the jet transverse momentum, and further classified by their angle with respect to the event plane and the event shape, characterized by ellipticity, in an effort to study the path-length dependence of jet quenching. Jets were reconstructed at midrapidity from charged-particle tracks using the anti-k T algorithm with resolution parameters R = 0.2 and 0.4, with event-plane angle and event-shape values determined using information from forward scintillating detectors. The results presented in this letter show that, in semicentral Pb–Pb collisions, there is no significant difference between jet yields in predominantly isotropic and elliptical events. However, out-of-plane jets are observed to be more suppressed than in-plane jets. Further, this relative suppression is greater for low transverse momentum (< 50 GeV/c) R = 0.2 jets produced in elliptical events, with out-of-plane to in-plane jet-yield ratios varying up to 5.2σ between different event-shape classes. These results agree with previous studies indicating that jets experience azimuthally anisotropic suppression when traversing the QGP medium, and can provide additional constraints on the path-length dependence of jet energy loss.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The estimation of Poisson’s ratio by time-averaging and Cornu’s method for isotropic beams

Prior research suggests that direct static (e.g., uniaxial testing) and dynamic (e.g., ultrasonic wave propagation analysis) measurements differ in the estimation of Poisson’s ratio because anisotropies and heterogeneities in the sample material affect the two types of tests differently. Even assuming isotropic and homogeneous material properties, prior research further suggests that discrepancies between static/dynamic test results will exist because the error of the diagnostic techniques for the measurand are inherently different. Finally, thermodynamic effects are not present in static tests but can significantly affect dynamic test results. Given the potential for all these variables to produce discrepancies, it would be helpful to have the measurement of Poisson’s ratio obtainable from the same theory and experimental measurements by either static or dynamic testing methods. Our finite element calculations show that by combining time-averaged scanning digital holography with Cornu’s method, it is theoretically possible to estimate the effective Poisson’s ratio from the anticlastic contours at the antinode of the first out-of-plane bending mode shape. This is true regardless of frequency and therefore applicable for both static and dynamic measurements. Our results show that the estimate of Poisson’s ratio by Cornu’s method using data from simulations of mode shapes approaches the true value of Poisson’s ratio. Additionally, our research suggests that beam geometry and boundary conditions are fundamental factors limiting the convergence of the estimate of Poisson’s ratio to the true value of Poisson’s ratio regardless of performing a static or dynamic test.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Demonstration and Automation of Reflected Target Optical Measurement for Heliostats

Accurate optical surfaces are a primary driver of concentrated solar power plant performance. Errors in pointing and tracking mirrors, the canting of individual mirror facets, and the surface slope of the mirror itself can be caused by errors during assembly, transportation, wind loading, gravity, and many other sources. The tools that exist to measure these error sources today largely rely on fringe deflectometry (SOFAST, QDec, others), or photogrammetry with targets attached to the mirror surface. Since 2022, NREL has been developing a measurement method called the Reflected Target Non-intrusive Assessment (ReTNA) system. This system differs from most established methods in that we perform deflectometry with a pattern of coded targets, identified in space with photogrammetry. Reflected target systems have several advantages over traditional fringe deflectometry systems. Firstly, they can be operated in bright or ambient lighting, a challenge for fringe systems that use a projector and screen. Reflected target systems also can use a much lighter and less expensive target than projector-based systems. Lastly, 2D slope measurement can be solved from a single image, which leads to several advantages for accommodating faster measurements and smaller sized targets. These advantages make ReTNA particularly well-suited for applications where there are space or lighting constraints, like performing heliostat quality assurance on an assembly line. It's also useful when a lightweight, flexible system is needed, like for heliostat developers to quickly measure a new heliostat design at different orientations, to observe gravitational effects on the mirror surface shape. In the last year, significant improvements were made to this tool to make it more useful for these applications. These improvements were focused around validation of the ReTNA measurement system, and automation of the setup and measurement process. First, we present an improved ReTNA layout, for use on the heliostat assembly line. Next, we detail the various changes to the ReTNA software and computer vision methods to automate data collection in this new setup, and lessons learned from this process. The goal with this new setup is to perform a full heliostat surface characterization without removing the mirror from the assembly line. Lastly, we share results from several ReTNA validation studies undertaken over the last year. These include repeated ReTNA measurement on demonstration mirror facets, comparisons with other optical measurement tools, and some studies aimed at quantifying the uncertainty of ReTNA measurement under various constraints (mirror-target spacing, camera resolution, etc.). These results are compared with 2024 HelioCon performance targets, and our planned next steps for the ReTNA measurement system are presented.

CSP↗
DOE OSTI2022

Fast External Quantum Efficiency Measurements of Photovoltaic Modules

The external quantum efficiency (EQE) or associated spectral response is widely used to evaluate the performance of photovoltaics, light emitting diodes, photodetectors, photodiodes, semiconductor lasers, laser-induced refrigeration of solids etc. For photovoltaic (PV) devices, The EQE is used to determine the spectral mismatch correction that is used to convert a performance measurement from a non-ideal simulator spectrum to a standard spectrum in PV device calibrations. Moreover, EQE can provide important insight into the physics of a PV device. For instance, the EQE shape can be used to infer mechanisms limiting the performance of the device. However, EQE measurements of full-size PV modules remain a challenge in the PV community due to rare availability of reliable module QE measurement tools worldwide and the size and complexity of module architecture that comprises several cells connected in strings (series or/and parallel). Here, we use a customized nondestructive tool made of high-power light emitting diodes to perform high-throughput EQE measurements on PV modules. Circuit simulations show that the measurement system can safely be used to measure both crystalline silicon and thin film-based PV modules with series connected cells without the risk of damage through reverse bias. In addition, EQE mapping combined with electroluminescence show a strong correlation and provide a way to determine both spatial non-uniformity of the spectral response and defects/degradation effects across the module.

PV module↗
DOE OSTI2023

Covariance Shaping Over Riemannian Manifolds for Massive MIMO Communication

Acquiring accurate instantaneous channel state information (CSI) is a challenging aspect of massive multi-input multi-output (MIMO) communication. Utilizing statistical information, such as channel covariance matrix, to design statistical beamforming vectors is robust when compared to instantaneous CSI. In this paper, we propose a novel MIMO covariance shaping scheme over Riemannian manifolds. It serves as an effective statistical beamforming solution to a number of close proximity user equipment (UE) that are undergoing substantial channel correlation. Proposed algorithm exploits the Hermitian positive definite nature of covariance matrices lying over Riemannian manifold. We introduce Wasserstein distance function as a Riemannian metric to measure distances between channel covariance matrices. Furthermore, K-means clustering technique is utilized to effectively identify the optimal shape of effective optimal covariance matrices. Our findings suggest that maximizing the geodesic distance between covariance matrices ultimately leads to a corresponding increase in the network throughput, as determined by the beamforming vector used to shape the covariance matrices. Simulation results validate that the proposed solution converges faster than Euclidean-based state-of-the-art, while maintaining the same computational complexity. Finally, the sum rate performance asymptotically achieves full capacity for two-UE case and more than 96% of the upper bound exhaustive search benchmark for multi-UE scenario.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evidence for Cosmic Acceleration Is Robust to Observed Correlations between Type Ia Supernova Luminosity and Stellar Age

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) are powerful standardizable candles for constraining cosmological models and provided the first evidence of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Their precision derives from empirical correlations, now measured from >1000 SNe Ia, between their luminosities, light-curve shapes, colors, and most recently with the stellar mass of their host galaxy. As mass correlates with other galaxy properties, alternative parameters have been investigated to improve SN Ia standardization though none have been shown to significantly alter the determination of cosmological parameters. We re-examine a recent claim, based on 34 SN Ia in nearby passive host galaxies, of a 0.05 mag Gyr -1 dependence of standardized SN Ia luminosity on host age, which, if extrapolated to higher redshifts, would be a bias up to 0.25 mag, challenging the inference of dark energy. We reanalyze this sample of hosts using both the original method and a Bayesian hierarchical model and find after a fuller accounting of the uncertainties the significance of a dependence on age to be ≤2σ and ~1σ after the removal of a single poorly sampled SN Ia. Here, to test the claim that a trend seen in old stellar populations can be applied to younger ages, we extend our analysis to a larger sample that includes young hosts. We find the residual dependence of host age (after all standardization typically employed for cosmological measurements) to be consistent with zero for 254 SNe Ia from the Pantheon sample, ruling out the large but low significance trend seen in passive hosts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Measurement of the 252 Cf ⁢(sf) prompt fission neutron spectrum utilizing 12 C ⁡(𝑛, 𝑛) and 9 Be ⁢(𝑛, 𝑛) neutron scattering reference measurements

The 252 Cf spontaneous fission (sf), prompt fission neutron spectrum (PFNS) is a fundamental quantity for nuclear physics measurements of neutron-emitting reactions. This energy distribution of neutrons emitted from fission has been considered a neutron data standard for decades and has been utilized as a reference for neutron detection efficiency, validation of Monte Carlo simulations, benchmarking of dosimetry standards, and more. A significant portion of the global collection of nuclear data on neutron-induced reactions is correlated with the 252 Cf ⁢(sf) PFNS. Despite the reliance on this quantity by the nuclear physics community, the historical collection of 252 Cf PFNS measurements display systematic disagreements that are not understood or easily explained. These experimental discrepancies could potentially bias the 252 Cf PFNS Standard evaluation. On top of this, these past experiments frequently employed correlated experimental measurement or analysis methods. The artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML)-informed californium chi-nuclear data experiment (AIACHNE) project was formed to (a) investigate these discrepancies utilizing AI/ML methods to identify outlying regions of literature data, assign these regions to features of the experiment itself, and perform an improved evaluation of the 252 Cf PFNS and (b) perform a new experimental measurement of this quantity designed to improve upon the existing literature database. Here, in this work, we report on the AIACHNE 252 Cf PFNS experiment utilizing a new analysis method uncorrelated with all previous measurements: neutron efficiency determinations based on elastic neutron scattering on 12 C and 9 Be . This new method provides an independent test of the existing literature data and evaluation of the 252 Cf ⁢(sf) PFNS. The method is described with detailed covariance quantification procedures, as well as a direct discussion of the sources of uncertainty described as requirements in the “Templates” series of papers. The 252 Cf ⁢(sf) PFNS reported in this work agrees well with the overall shape of the existing standard PFNS evaluation as well as many literature measurements, thus verifying the current evaluation utilizing new techniques. However, the results suggest that there are deficiencies in the angle-differential 12 C and 9 Be ⁢(𝑛, 𝑛) evaluated nuclear data, which produce unphysical structures in the reported result. While these structures are relatively minor, they become obvious because of the high statistical precision of the data and the expected smooth continuity of the 252 Cf ⁢(sf) PFNS.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Visualizing How the Structure of Large-Radius Jets Shapes Their Wakes

The ATLAS collaboration has introduced and implemented a strategy for selecting and analyzing large-radius jets composed of skinny $R=0.2$ subjets in heavy ion collisions at the LHC. We show how measurements of these jets teach us about the resolution length $L_{\rm res}$ of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and can teach us how jet substructure shapes the wakes that jets excite in the QGP droplets through which they pass. We use Hybrid Model calculations to reproduce measurements of $R_{AA}$ for large-radius jets in PbPb collisions, and study their dependence on the angle between the two skinny subjets involved in the final reclustering step of an $R=1$ jet. We show how these observables can constrain the value of $L_{\rm res}$ and demonstrate that the ATLAS data rule out any picture in which an entire parton shower loses energy coherently as if it were a single entity. Determining the degree to which the QGP can resolve partons within a jet is central to the broader program of using jet quenching measurements to probe QGP. We make further use of this setup by analyzing the response of the medium to the passage of large-radius $R=2$ jets containing two skinny subjets in gamma-jet events. We introduce novel jet-shape observables that allow us to visualize the angular shape of the soft hadrons originating from the wakes that wide jets with two skinny subjets excite in a droplet of QGP, as a function of the angular separation between the subjets. We find that even when they are $\sim 0.8- 1$ radian apart, a single broad wake is produced. Only when the two subjets are even farther apart is the presence of two sub-wakes revealed. We show that the way in which jet structure shapes jet wakes can be visualized with similar clarity in experiments by using only those hadrons with low $p_T$. These observables thus offer a new and distinctive way of seeing jet wakes in heavy ion collision data.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2026

Demonstration of gold nanorod systems for enhanced total efficiency: Experimental and numerical analysis

This study investigates the photothermal performance of gold nanorods engineered to exhibit longitudinal plasmon resonances at 695 nm, 780 nm, and 970 nm. The work combines synthesis, structural characterization, extinction measurements, numerical modeling, and controlled temperature experiments to quantify how nanorod geometry, resonance tuning, concentration, and chamber shape jointly influence heat generation. Transmission electron microscopy confirms that increasing nanorod aspect ratio systematically shifts the longitudinal plasmon peak toward the near-infrared region. Extinction measurements show strong agreement with theoretical predictions, validating the numerical model across two independent datasets. Three chamber geometries were tested under laser excitation at 640 nm, 808 nm, and 980 nm: an ascending stepped base, a flat base, and a descending stepped base. Without nanorods, the ascending geometry produced the highest efficiency due to enhanced natural convection. After introducing gold nanorods, all geometries exhibited substantial thermal enhancement, with total efficiencies exceeding 20%. The strongest improvement was obtained for nanorods resonant at 780 nm with a mass concentration of 4.6 mg/mL implemented on the descending stepped-base geometry. This performance resulted from the combined effect of spectral overlapping with the 808 nm laser, the highest nanorod concentration, and localized heat accumulation that intensified buoyancy-driven flow. The findings demonstrate that total efficiency is governed by a synergistic interplay between optical resonance, nanoparticle concentration, and macroscopic chamber design, revealing the system-level coupling between nanoscale plasmonic absorption and macroscale heat-transfer phenomena. The results provide a validated framework for tuning nanoscale plasmonic absorbers and optimizing thermal systems for applications requiring efficient light-to-heat conversion.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Potential bill impacts of dynamic electricity pricing on California utility customers

The rapid growth of renewable generation is creating challenges for the California grid in the form of the “duck curve,” with increasingly steep ramping required for conventional generation resources in the morning and evening, and growing curtailment of solar resources in midday periods. Time-varying electricity tariffs have received considerable attention as a tool to address these challenges, with a renewed recent focus on the potential for dynamic tariffs that vary to reflect conditions on the grid in near-real time. Consideration of dynamic tariffs may raise concerns about the financial impact on utility customers, especially for those who have limited flexibility to modify their electricity consumption in response. Specific areas of concern include electricity bills, bill volatility, and equity implications related to cost shifting among customer groups. In this paper we leverage smart meter data for more than 400,000 California utility customers, spanning residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural customers, to assess potential customer bill impacts arising from a multi-component dynamic tariff . Specifically, we compute impacts on customer bills and bill volatility under the assumption of fully inelastic demand, i.e., where customers do not change their consumption patterns in response to the tariff. We also assess various approaches designing subscription load shapes that customers can pre-purchase as a hedge that may provide a measure of protection against large negative impacts, while still incentivizing the modification of loads on the margin. We compare and contrast the relative impacts on different customer classes and discuss benefits and pitfalls of different dynamic tariff structures and subscription load shapes.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Resolving Nonequilibrium Shape Variations among Millions of Gold Nanoparticles

Nanoparticles, exhibiting functionally relevant structural heterogeneity, are at the forefront of cutting-edge research. Now, high-throughput single-particle imaging (SPI) with X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) creates opportunities for recovering the shape distributions of millions of particles that exhibit functionally relevant structural heterogeneity. To realize this potential, three challenges have to be overcome: (1) simultaneous parametrization of structural variability in real and reciprocal spaces; (2) efficiently inferring the latent parameters of each SPI measurement; (3) scaling up comparisons between 10 5 structural models and 10 6 XFEL-SPI measurements. Here, we describe how we overcame these three challenges to resolve the nonequilibrium shape distributions within millions of gold nanoparticles imaged at the European XFEL. These shape distributions allowed us to quantify the degree of asymmetry in these particles, discover a relatively stable “shape envelope” among nanoparticles, discern finite-size effects related to shape-controlling surfactants, and extrapolate nanoparticles’ shapes to their idealized thermodynamic limit. Ultimately, these demonstrations show that XFEL SPI can help transform nanoparticle shape characterization from anecdotally interesting to statistically meaningful.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Hyper Suprime-Cam Year 3 results: Cosmology from galaxy clustering and weak lensing with HSC and SDSS using the emulator based halo model

We present cosmology results from a blinded joint analysis of cosmic shear, galaxy-galaxy weak lensing, and projected galaxy clustering, measured from the Hyper Suprime-Cam three-year (HSC-Y3) shape catalog and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) DR11 spectroscopic galaxy catalog—a cosmology analysis. We define luminosity-cut, and therefore nearly volume-limited, samples of SDSS galaxies to serve as the tracers of w p and as the lens samples for Δ⁢Σ in three spectroscopic redshift bins spanning the range 0.15± and Δ⁢Σ measurements, we use a single sample of about seven million source galaxies over 416 deg 2 , selected from HSC-Y3 based on having photometric redshifts (photo-z) greater than 0.75. The deep, high-quality HSC-Y3 data enable significant detections of the Δ⁢Σ signals, with integrated signal-to-noise ratio S/N~24 in the range 3≤R/[ℎ –1 Mpc]≤30 over the three lens samples. ξ ± has S/N ~19 in the range 8' ≤$\theta$ ≤5⁢0' and 30' ≤$\theta$ ≤15⁢0' for ξ + and ξ – , respectively. For cosmological parameter inference, we use the dark emulator package, combined with a halo occupation distribution prescription for the relation between galaxies and halos, to model w p and Δ⁢Σ down to quasinonlinear scales, and we estimate cosmological parameters after marginalizing over nuisance parameters. In our baseline analysis we employ an uninformative flat prior of the residual photo-z error, given by Π⁡(Δz ph )=$U$⁡(–1,1), to model a residual bias in the mean redshift of HSC source galaxies. Comparing the relative lensing amplitudes for Δ⁢Σ in the three redshift bins and for ξ ± with the single HSC source galaxy sample allows us to calibrate the photo-z parameter Δ⁢z ph to the precision of σ⁡(Δ⁢z ph )≃0.09. With these methods, we obtain a robust constraint on the cosmological parameters for the flat Λ⁢CDM model: S 8 =σ 8 ⁢(Ω m /0.3) 0.5 =$0.763^{+0.040}_{–0.036}$, or the best-constrained parameter given by $S^{'}_{8}$ = σ 8 ⁢(Ω m /0.3) 0.22 =0.721±0.028, determined with about 4% fractional precision. Based on multidimensional tension metrics, HSC-Y3 data exhibits about 2.5σ tension with the cosmological constraint inferred by Planck for the Λ⁢CDM model, and hints at a nonzero residual photo-z bias implying that the true mean redshift of the HSC galaxies at z ≳0.75 is higher than that implied by the original photo-z estimates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

High Flux Isotope Reactor Neutron Spectrum Shape Estimation From Activation Experiment Data

Here, this article provides a comprehensive review of historical irradiation dosimetry available for different locations within the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). This article includes a summary of the available measured activation target data covering a span of over 15 years and 39 experimental campaigns, including 200 individual sample locations evaluated. Using this broad set of data, we reconstruct historic average neutron spectra shapes for HFIR at various locations, including within the flux trap region, beryllium reflectors, and hydraulic tube (HT) regions, at both the 100- and 85-MW operational power. Our findings indicate that the general axial flux distribution shows a relatively small change in transition from 100- to 85-MW operating power, with differences of -6% to +15% for the thermal energy range and around -16% to +8% for the fast range, indicating a sharper drop-off of the thermal neutron flux away from the axial center. Compared with historical dosimetry estimates of the HFIR flux shape, we generally find a moderately broader axial profile shape for thermal neutrons in the interior target regions for the 100-MW samples evaluated but relatively close agreement for the present 85-MW flux shape for both thermal and fast fluxes.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Upgrades and redesign of the National Ignition Facility’s soft x-ray opacity spectrometer (OpSpec)

The soft x-ray Opacity Spectrometer (OpSpec) used on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) has recently incorporated an elliptically shaped crystal. The original OpSpec used two convex cylindrical crystals for time-integrated measurements of point-projection spectra from 540 to 2100 eV. However, with the convex geometry, the low-energy portion of the spectrum suffered from high backgrounds due to scattered x-rays as well as reflections from alternate crystal planes. An elliptically shaped crystal allows an acceptance aperture at the crossover focus between the crystal and the detector, which reduces background and eliminates nearly all reflections from alternate crystal planes. The current elliptical design is an improvement from the convex cylindrical design but has a usable energy range from 900 to 2100 eV. In addition, OpSpec is currently used on 18 NIF shots/year, in which both crystals are typically damaged beyond reuse, so efficient production of 36 crystals/year is required. Design efforts to improve the existing system focus on mounting reliability, reducing crystal strain to increase survivability between mounting and shot time, and extending the energy range of the instrument down to 520 eV. The elliptical design, results, and future options are presented.

Wallace, M. S. (ORCID:0000000310871216)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Nanomechanical vibrational response from electrical mixing measurements

Driven nanomechanical resonators based on low-dimensional materials are routinely and efficiently detected with electrical mixing measurements. However, the measured signal is a non-trivial combination of the mechanical eigenmode displacement and an electrical contribution, which makes the extraction of the driven mechanical response challenging. Here, we report a simple yet reliable method to extract solely the driven mechanical vibrations by eliminating the contribution of pure electrical origin. This enables us to measure the spectral mechanical response as well as the driven quadratures of motion. This method is crucial for nanomechanical vibrations in the nonlinear regime, since the shape of the mechanical response depends on the physics at work. We further show how to calibrate the measured signal into units of displacement. Our method marks a key step forward in the study of nanoelectromechanical resonators based on low-dimensional materials in the nonlinear regime.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Picturing QCD jets in anisotropic matter: from jet shapes to energy energy correlators

Abstract Recent theoretical developments in the description of jet evolution in the quark gluon plasma have allowed to account for the effects of hydrodynamic gradients in the medium modified jet spectra. These constitute a crucial step towards using jets as tomographic probes of the nuclear matter they traverse. In this work, we complement these studies by providing leading order calculations of widely studied jet observables, taking into account matter anisotropies. We show that the energy distribution inside a jet is pushed towards the direction of the largest matter anisotropy, while the away region is depleted. As a consequence, the jet mass and girth gain a non-trivial azimuthal dependence, with the average value of the distribution increasing along the direction of largest gradients. However, we find that, for these jet shapes, matter anisotropic effects can be potentially suppressed by vacuum Sudakov factors. We argue that the recently proposed measurements of energy correlations within jets do not suffer from such effects, with the azimuthal dependence being visible in a large angular window, regardless of the shape of the distribution.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Timelike Compton Scattering from a longitudinally polarised target with CLAS12 at Jefferson Lab

Explorations into the internal dynamics of hadrons are constantly evolving, and the requirement for experimental results to verify theoretical models of hadron structure is paramount. A key area in this field is the study of Generalised Parton Distributions (GPDs), which are functions used to model the momenta of quarks and gluons within hadrons, and the methods to access GPDs experimentally. One such scattering process that allows access to these is Timelike Compton Scattering. TCS complements existing Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering experiments and allows investigation into the universality of GPDs through access to the real and imaginary parts of the parton helicity independent GPD Hq via beam spin asymmetries (BSA), and it provides novel access to the real and imaginary parts of the parton helicity dependent GPD ˜Hq through target polarisation asymmetries (TSA). This thesis work presents a comparative study with the first published BSA for TCS at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab), alongside a first time extraction of a Target Spin Asymmetry with the Summer 2022 data taking run. JLab hosts the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) which provides a 12 GeV electron beam to four experimental halls. Hall-B contains the CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer, which took data across three run periods on a longitudinally polarised NH3 and ND3 fixed target from 2022-2023, to extract measurements of electron-proton scattering, from which a TCS signal could be extracted. The thesis discusses work done to understand and eliminate contributions from the non-/low-polarised nuclear background, testing pre-established cuts to eliminate pion background from a dilepton (e+e-) final state and modifying them as needed for the new experimental run, and attempts to hone in on a clean TCS signal from which to extract the two asymmetry observables. A comparison with existing BSA results was performed; however, the statistical errors are too large to draw a significant conclusion as to whether there is agreement across each bin. More data is needed for a multidimensionally binned extraction. A proof of principle was achieved in the TSA measurements, with two out of four kinematic bins showing preliminary agreement in shape with theoretical values. Again, the errors are significant due to the contributions from the nuclear background. To support these conclusions, a further study was done, which takes into account an estimate of the asymmetries with the full available dataset (this thesis is based only on data taken in the summer set; at the time of writing processing was still being conducted for the final two datasets), as well as an estimate including additional future experiment days that were awarded in July 2024. Additional work was done on a secondary project exploring the feasibility of measuring TCS at the upcoming Electron Ion Collider, supporting the design proposal for the detector for the first interaction region and giving a positive outlook for the future of these types of measurements beyond JLab.

Gates, Kayleigh [Univ. of Glasgow, Scotland (Unite↗