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Further Improvement in 3DGRAPE

3DGRAPE/AL:V2 denotes version 2 of the Three-Dimensional Grids About Anything by Poisson's Equation with Upgrades from Ames and Langley computer program. The preceding version, 3DGRAPE/AL, was described in Improved 3DGRAPE (ARC-14069) NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 21, No. 5 (May 1997), page 66. These programs are so named because they generate volume grids by iteratively solving Poisson's Equation in three dimensions. The grids generated by the various versions of 3DGRAPE have been used in computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The main novel feature of 3DGRAPE/AL:V2 is the incorporation of an optional scheme in which anisotropic Lagrange-based trans-finite interpolation (ALBTFI) is coupled with exponential decay functions to compute and blend interior source terms. In the input to 3DGRAPE/AL:V2 the user can specify whether or not to invoke ALBTFI in combination with exponential-decay controls, angles, and cell size for controlling the character of grid lines. Of the known programs that solve elliptic partial differential equations for generating grids, 3DGRAPE/AL:V2 is the only code that offers a combination of speed and versatility with most options for controlling the densities and other characteristics of grids for CFD.

Alter, Stephen↗

Air-Sea Spray Airborne Radar Profiler Characterizes Energy Fluxes in Hurricanes

A report discusses ASAP (Air-sea Spray Airborne Profiler), a dual-wavelength radar profiler that provides measurement information about the droplet size distribution (DSD) of sea-spray, which can be used to estimate heat and moisture fluxes for hurricane research. Researchers have recently determined that sea spray can have a large effect on the magnitude and distribution of the air-sea energy flux at hurricane -force wind speeds. To obtain information about the DSD, two parameters of the DSD are required; for example, overall DSD amplitude and DSD mean diameter. This requires two measurements. Two frequencies are used, with a large enough separation that the differential frequency provides size information. One frequency is 94 GHz; the other is 220 GHz. These correspond to the Rayleigh and Mie regions. Above a surface wind speed of 10 m/ s, production of sea spray grows exponentially. Both the number of large droplets and the altitude they reach are a function of the surface wind speed.

Durden, Stephen L.↗

Separable physics-informed DeepONet: Breaking the curse of dimensionality in physics-informed machine learning

The deep operator network (DeepONet) has shown remarkable potential in solving partial differential equations (PDEs) by mapping between infinite-dimensional function spaces using labeled datasets. However, in scenarios lacking labeled data, the physics-informed DeepONet (PI-DeepONet) approach, which utilizes the residual loss of the governing PDE to optimize the network parameters, faces significant computational challenges, particularly due to the curse of dimensionality. This limitation has hindered its application to high-dimensional problems, making even standard 3D spatial with 1D temporal problems computationally prohibitive. Additionally, the computational requirement increases exponentially with the discretization density of the domain. Here, to address these challenges and enhance scalability for high-dimensional PDEs, we introduce the Separable physics-informed DeepONet (Sep-PI-DeepONet). This framework employs a factorization technique, utilizing sub-networks for individual one-dimensional coordinates, thereby reducing the number of forward passes and the size of the Jacobian matrix required for gradient computations. By incorporating forward-mode automatic differentiation (AD), we further optimize computational efficiency, achieving linear scaling of computational cost with discretization density and dimensionality, making our approach highly suitable for high-dimensional PDEs. We demonstrate the effectiveness of Sep-PI-DeepONet through three benchmark PDE models: the viscous Burgers’ equation, Biot’s consolidation theory, and a parameterized heat equation. Our framework maintains accuracy comparable to the conventional PI-DeepONet while reducing training time by two orders of magnitude. Notably, for the heat equation solved as a 4D problem, the conventional PI-DeepONet was computationally infeasible (estimated 289.35 h), while the Sep-PI-DeepONet completed training in just 2.5 h. These results underscore the potential of Sep-PI-DeepONet in efficiently solving complex, high-dimensional PDEs, marking a significant advancement in physics-informed machine learning.

Neural operator↗

Parameter space mapping of the Princeton magnetorotational instability experiment

Extensive simulations of the Princeton Magnetorotational Instability (MRI) Experiment with the Spectral/Finite Element code for Maxwell and Navier-Stokes Equations (SFEMaNS) have been performed to map the MRI-unstable region as a function of inner cylinder angular velocity and applied vertical magnetic field. The angular velocities of the outer cylinder and the end-cap rings follow the inner cylinder in fixed ratios optimized for MRI. Here, we first confirm the exponential growth of the MRI linear phase using idealized conducting vertical boundaries (end caps) rotating differentially with a Taylor-Couette profile. Subsequently, we run a multitude of simulations to scan the experimental parameter space and find that the normalized volume-averaged mean-square radial magnetic field, our main instability indicator, rises significantly where MRI is expected. At various locations, the local radial components of fluid velocity and generated magnetic field are well correlated with the volume-averaged indicator. Based on this correlation, a diagnostic system that will measure the radial magnetic field at several locations on the inner cylinder is proposed as the main comparison between simulation and experiment. A detailed analysis of poloidal mode structures in the SFEMaNS code indicates that MRI, rather than Ekman circulation or Rayleigh instability, dominates the fluid behavior in the region where MRI is expected.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Research highlights: June 1990 - May 1991

Linear instability calculations at MSFC have suggested that the Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell (GFFC) should exhibit classic baroclinic instability at accessible parameter settings. Interest was in the mechanisms of transition to temporal chaos and the evolution of spatio-temporal chaos. In order to understand more about such transitions, high resolution numerical experiments for the physically simplest model of two layer baroclinic instability were conducted. This model has the advantage that the numerical code is exponentially convergent and can be efficiently run for very long times, enabling the study of chaotic attractors without the often devastating effects of low-order trunction found in many previous studies. Numerical algorithms for implementing an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the high resolution numerical results were completed. Under conditions of rapid rotation and relatively low differential heating, convection in a spherical shell takes place as columnar banana cells wrapped around the annular gap, but with axes oriented along the axis of rotation; these were clearly evident in the GFFC experiments. The results of recent numerical simulations of columnar convection and future research plans are presented.

Source record↗

Sparse Cholesky factorization for solving nonlinear PDEs via Gaussian processes

In recent years, there has been widespread adoption of machine learning-based approaches to automate the solving of partial differential equations (PDEs). Among these approaches, Gaussian processes (GPs) and kernel methods have garnered considerable interest due to their flexibility, robust theoretical guarantees, and close ties to traditional methods. They can transform the solving of general nonlinear PDEs into solving quadratic optimization problems with nonlinear, PDE-induced constraints. However, the complexity bottleneck lies in computing with dense kernel matrices obtained from pointwise evaluations of the covariance kernel, and its partial derivatives, a result of the PDE constraint and for which fast algorithms are scarce. The primary goal of this paper is to provide a near-linear complexity algorithm for working with such kernel matrices. We present a sparse Cholesky factorization algorithm for these matrices based on the near-sparsity of the Cholesky factor under a novel ordering of pointwise and derivative measurements. The near-sparsity is rigorously justified by directly connecting the factor to GP regression and exponential decay of basis functions in numerical homogenization. We then employ the Vecchia approximation of GPs, which is optimal in the Kullback-Leibler divergence, to compute the approximate factor. This enables us to compute ϵ-approximate inverse Cholesky factors of the kernel matrices with complexity O(N log d (N/ϵ)) in space and O(N log 2d (N/ϵ)) in time. We integrate sparse Cholesky factorizations into optimization algorithms to obtain fast solvers of the nonlinear PDE. We numerically illustrate our algorithm’s near-linear space/time complexity for a broad class of nonlinear PDEs such as the nonlinear elliptic, Burgers, and Monge-Ampère equations. In summary, we provide a fast, scalable, and accurate method for solving general PDEs with GPs and kernel methods.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The Spiral Galaxies Flat Rotational Velocity Curve Explained by the Constant Group Velocity of a Nonlinear Density Wave

The rotation velocity curves of stars in galaxies, the motions of pairs of galaxies, and the behavior of galaxies in clusters and super-clusters all indicate that there is a lack of mass on different scales in the universe. In this paper, we derive the expression for rotational velocity using the nonlinear density wave theory considering only stellar components and we show that such theory can support the observed flat rotational velocity curve due to the main property of the soliton wave, which is a constant group velocity of the wave. The surface mass density (SMD) function, used to derive gravitational potential gradient and rotational velocity, is not assumed but rather derived as a solution of the nonlinear Srödinger equation, on the contrary to the widely used, in the literature, exponential disk approximation. Three parameters relevant to the curve shape are the intensities of equilibrium SMD, the amplitude of the wave, and total angular velocity or differential rotation, equivalently. Since the shape of the rotational velocity is highly sensitive to the mentioned parameters, this theory eventually provides a method for a very accurate estimation of galaxy mass and angular velocity as well.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Discrete approximation methods for parameter identification in delay systems

Approximation schemes for parameter identification problems in which the governing state equation is a linear functional differential equation of retarded type are constructed. The basis of the schemes is the replacement of the parameter identification problem having an infinite dimensional state equation by a sequence of approximating parameter identification problems in which the states are given by finite dimensional discrete difference equations. The difference equations are constructed using linear semigroup theory and rational function approximations to the exponential. Sufficient conditions are given for the convergence of solutions to the approximating problems, which can be obtained using conventional methods, to solutions to the original parameter identification problem. Finite difference and spline based schemes using Paderational function approximations to the exponential are constructed, and shown to satisfy the sufficient conditions for convergence. A discussion and analysis of numerical results obtained through the application of the schemes to several examples is included.

Rosen, I. G.↗

Contamination of liquid oxygen by pressurized gaseous nitrogen

The penetration of pressurized gaseous nitrogen (GN2) into liquid oxygen (LOX) was investigated experimentally in the 7-inch High Temperature Tunnel, the pilot tunnel for the 8-foot High Temperature Tunnel (8'HTT) at Langley Research Center. A preliminary test using a nuclear monitor revealed the extent of the liquid nitrogen (LN2) build-up at the LOX interface as a function of GN2 pressure. Then an adaptation of the differential flash vaporization technique was used to determine the binary diffusivity of the LOX-LN2 system at a temperature of 90.2 K. The measured value D equals 0.000086 sq cm/s + or - 25 percent together with two prior measurements at lower temperatures revealed an excellent fit to the Arrhenius equation, yielding a pre-exponential factor D sub 0 equals 0.0452 sq cm/s and an activation enthalpy H equals 1.08 kcal/mol. At a pressure of 1700 psi and holding time of 15 min, the penetration of LN2 into LOX (to a 1 percent contamination level) was found to be 0.9 cm, indicating but minimal impact upon 8'HTT operations.

Zuckerwar, Allan J.↗

On the Cauchy problem for Boltzmann equation modeling a polyatomic gas

In the present article, we consider the Boltzmann equation that models a polyatomic gas by introducing one additional continuous variable, referred to as microscopic internal energy. We establish existence and uniqueness theory in the space homogeneous setting for the full non-linear case, under an extended Grad-type assumption on transition probability rates, which comprises hard potentials for both the relative speed and internal energy with the rate in the interval 0,2, multiplied by an integrable angular part and integrable partition functions. The Cauchy problem is resolved by means of an abstract ordinary differential equation (ODE) theory in Banach spaces for the initial data with finite and strictly positive gas mass and energy, finite momentum, and additionally finite K* polynomial moment, with K* depending on the rate of the transition probability and the structure of a polyatomic molecule or its internal degrees of freedom. Moreover, we prove that polynomially and exponentially weighted Banach space norms associated with the solution are both generated and propagated uniformly in time.

Physics↗

Thermal and Nonthermal Contributions to the Solar Flare X-Ray Flux

The relative thermal and nonthermal contributions to the total energy budget of a solar flare are being determined through analysis of RHESSI X-ray imaging and spectral observations in the energy range from approx. 5 to approx. 50 keV. The classic ways of differentiating between the thermal and nonthermal components - exponential vs. sources - can now be combined for individual flares. In addition, RHESSI's sensitivity down to approx. 4 keV and energy resolution of approx. 1 keV FWHM allow the intensities and equivalent widths of the complex of highly ionized iron lines at approx. 6.7 keV and the complex of highly ionized iron and nickel lines at approx. 8 keV to be measured as a function of time. Using the spectral line and continuum intensities from the Chianti (version 4.2) atomic code, the thermal component of the total flare emission can be more reliably separated from the nonthermal component in the measured X-ray spectrum. The abundance of iron can also be determined from RHESSI line-to-continuum measurements as a function of time during larger flares. Results will be shown of the intensity and equivalent widths of these line complexes for several flares and the temperatures, emission measures, and iron abundances derived from them. Comparisons will be made with 6.7-keV Fe-line fluxes measured with the RESIK bent crystal spectrometer on the Coronas-F spacecraft operating in third order during the peak times of three flares (2002 May 31 at 00:12 UT, 2002 December 2 at 19:26 UT, and 2003 April 26 at 03:OO UT). During the rise and decay of these flares, RESIK was operating in first order allowing the continuum flux to be measured between 2.9 and 3.7 keV for comparison with RHESSI fluxes at its low-energy end.

Dennis, Brian R.↗

Magnus method for electronic structure calculations at extreme conditions

We present the application of Magnus based methods to the solution of first order coupled ordinary differential equations in High Energy Density (HED) physics applications. Our focus is on the application to quantum mechanical methods, specifically on the solution of the radial Dirac equation for real and complex energies. HED applications require accurate solutions across a wide range of spatial and energy domains, including regimes where the solutions exhibit pronounced oscillatory behavior. Such cases pose significant computational challenges. We demonstrate that Magnus-based integrators can efficiently and accurately address these challenges. We discuss the implementation of the Magnus method for the solution of the radial Dirac equation, including practical considerations such as the evaluation of matrix exponentials, numerical integration, error estimation, and adaptive step size control. We also discuss the application of these methods to complex energy Green’s function techniques and the efficient approximation of integrals of the solutions relevant to HED electronic structure calculations. Here, we demonstrate the accuracy and robustness of the resulting method in applications to the free-particle case, for which analytic solutions are available for comparison, as well as the challenging case of gold at HED conditions.

general physics↗

On the nonlinear three dimensional instability of Stokes layers and other shear layers to pairs of oblique waves

The nonlinear evolution of a pair of initially oblique waves in a high Reynolds Number Stokes layer is studied. Attention is focused on times when disturbances of amplitude epsilon have O(epsilon(exp 1/3)R) growth rates, where R is the Reynolds number. The development of a pair of oblique waves is then controlled by nonlinear critical-layer effects. Viscous effects are included by studying the distinguished scaling epsilon = O(R(exp -1)). This leads to a complicated modification of the kernel function in the integro-differential amplitude equation. When viscosity is not too large, solutions to the amplitude equation develop a finite-time singularity, indicating that an explosive growth can be introduced by nonlinear effects; we suggest that such explosive growth can lead to the bursts observed in experiments. Increasing the importance of viscosity generally delays the occurrence of the finite-time singularity, and sufficiently large viscosity may lead to the disturbance decaying exponentially. For the special case when the streamwise and spanwise wavenumbers are equal, the solution can evolve into a periodic oscillation. A link between the unsteady critical-layer approach to high-Reynolds-number flow instability, and the wave vortex approach is identified.

Wu, Xuesong↗

Analytic solutions of the DGLAP evolution and theoretical uncertainties

The energy dependence for the singlet sector of Parton Distributions Functions (PDFs) is described by an entangled pair of ordinary linear differential equations. Although there are no exact analytic solutions, it is possible to provide approximated results depending on the assumptions and the methodology adopted. These results differ in their sub-leading, neglected terms and ultimately they are associated with different treatments of the theoretical uncertainties. In this work, a novel analytic approach in Mellin space is presented and a new methodology for obtaining closed and exponentiated analytic solutions is devised. Different results for the DGLAP evolution at Next-Leading-Order are compared, discussing advantages and disadvantages for each solution. The generalizations to higher orders are addressed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Finite Control in Underdamped Distributed Parameter Systems

Specifically, a class of distributed parameter systems is defined using Hilbert space methods based on a partial differential equation model of a structure. In this space a simple, easy to check definition of underdamping is constructed based on the well known single degree of freedom concept of critical damping. It is then shown that if a given distributed parameter system satisfies this definition, each mode of the modal expansion of the solution is in fact an underdamped function of time. It is noted that a distributed parameter system which is underdamped is also uniformly exponentially stable. By appealing to the work of Gibson, a finite dimensional model of the system will yield satisfactory control laws. Furthermore, it is shown that the assumption of the underdamping also allows straightforward computation of rough bounds on the magnitude of the unmodeled or residual modes for a modal truncation scheme. Hence, underdamped systems are precisely that class of distributed parameter systems which are not likely to have spillover problems and which will yield convergence of finite dimensional control laws to control laws which are optimal for the full distributed parameter model of the system.

Inman, D. J.↗

Differentially Private Map Matching (DPMM) v1.0

Human mobility trajectories provide valuable information for developing mobility applications, as they contain diverse and rich information about the users. User mobility data is valuable for various applications such as intelligent transportation systems (ITS), commercial business models, and disease-spread models. However, such spatio-temporal traces may pose a threat to user privacy. GPS trajectories in their raw form are not suitable for transportation studies, as they require matching locations with nearest road links — a process called map-matching. This software implements a differential privacy (DP)-based map-matching algorithm, called DPMM, that generates link-level location trajectories in a privacy-preserving manner to protect users' origin destinations (OD) and travel paths. OD privacy is achieved by injecting Planar Laplace noise to the user OD GPS points. Travel-path privacy is provided with randomized travel path construction using exponential DP mechanism. The injected noise level is selected adaptively, by considering the link density of the location and the functional category of the localized links. For path privacy, our mechanism samples waypoints and selects candidate paths between waypoints. DPMM provides privacy effectively with respect to link density instead of other trajectory samples in the database compared to other privacy mechanisms. Compared to the different baseline models our DP-based privacy model offers closer query responses to the raw data in terms of individual and aggregate trajectory-level statistics with an average at absolute deviation from the baseline for individual statistics on ϵ = 1.0. Beyond individual trajectory statistics, the DPMM outperforms the other benchmark DP-based mechanisms on different aggregate statistics with up to 8x improvement in utility.

Peisert, Sean [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborato↗

Turbulence and the Stabilization Principle

Further results of research, reported in several previous NASA Tech Briefs articles, were obtained on a mathematical formalism for postinstability motions of a dynamical system characterized by exponential divergences of trajectories leading to chaos (including turbulence). To recapitulate: Fictitious control forces are introduced to couple the dynamical equations with a Liouville equation that describes the evolution of the probability density of errors in initial conditions. These forces create a powerful terminal attractor in probability space that corresponds to occurrence of a target trajectory with probability one. The effect in ordinary perceived three-dimensional space is to suppress exponential divergences of neighboring trajectories without affecting the target trajectory. Con sequently, the postinstability motion is represented by a set of functions describing the evolution of such statistical quantities as expectations and higher moments, and this representation is stable. The previously reported findings are analyzed from the perspective of the authors Stabilization Principle, according to which (1) stability is recognized as an attribute of mathematical formalism rather than of underlying physics and (2) a dynamical system that appears unstable when modeled by differentiable functions only can be rendered stable by modifying the dynamical equations to incorporate intrinsic stochasticity.

Zak, Michail↗

A survey of solar protons and alpha differential spectra between 1 and greater than 400 MeV/nucleon

Attempts to systematically measure and fit a large sample of flare spectra from IMP 7 and 8 satellite data to determine the spectral forms that characterize the data and the range of spectral slopes are reported. Proton spectra are constructed covering the range 0.9 to over 400 MeV, and alpha fluxes from 1.4-80 MeV/nucleon. The event spectra are composed of fluxes measured at different times at each energy, and fitting procedures were employed such as a power law in kinetic energy, an exponential in rigidity, an exponential in energy, and a Bessel function of momentum/nucleon. Best fits were obtained with the exponential in rigidity and the Bessel function, with the Bessel function having a better numerical accuracy for all 21 proton spectra considered.

Mcguire, R. E.↗