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At least 55 records · Page 3

Optical modeling of a space relay experiment

The optical modeling of laser beam propagation between two points on the earth's surface is discussed with reference to a space relay experiment using relay mirrors on one or more satellites. A two-dimensional laser beam propagation code is applied, and several novel modules are developed to realistically model the environment of the experiment. These are the Kolmogorov atmosphere, a deformable mirror, a segmented aperture, and wind shear. The model allows the calculation of the beam-Strehl ratio and efficiency of the energy transfer for an arbitrary input beam distribution.

Scholl, Marija S.↗

Uncertainty quantification of optical models in fission fragment deexcitation

Here, we take the first step towards incorporating compound nuclear observables at astrophysically relevant energies into the experimental evidence used to constrain optical models, by propagating the uncertainty in two global optical potentials, one phenomenological and one microscopic, to correlated fission observables using the Monte Carlo Hauser-Feshbach formalism. We compare to a wide range of historic and recent experimental fission measurements, and discuss in detail regions of disagreement. We find that the parametric optical model uncertainty in neutron-fragment correlated observables involving neutron energy is significant. On the other hand, we observe that other experimental features, particularly neutron-fragment correlations near the 132 Sn shell closure and the high energy component of neutron spectra, are unlikely to be explained by the optical potential, and will require further experimental and theoretical effort to explain.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Three-Dimensional Electron Optics Model Developed for Traveling-Wave Tubes

A three-dimensional traveling-wave tube (TWT) electron beam optics model including periodic permanent magnet (PPM) focusing has been developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field. This accurate model allows a TWT designer to develop a focusing structure while reducing the expensive and time-consuming task of building the TWT and hot-testing it (with the electron beam). In addition, the model allows, for the first time, an investigation of the effect on TWT operation of the important azimuthally asymmetric features of the focusing stack. The TWT is a vacuum device that amplifies signals by transferring energy from an electron beam to a radiofrequency (RF) signal. A critically important component is the focusing structure, which keeps the electron beam from diverging and intercepting the RF slow wave circuit. Such an interception can result in excessive circuit heating and decreased efficiency, whereas excessive growth in the beam diameter can lead to backward wave oscillations and premature saturation, indicating a serious reduction in tube performance. The most commonly used focusing structure is the PPM stack, which consists of a sequence of cylindrical iron pole pieces and opposite-polarity magnets. Typically, two-dimensional electron optics codes are used in the design of magnetic focusing devices. In general, these codes track the beam from the gun downstream by solving equations of motion for the electron beam in static-electric and magnetic fields in an azimuthally symmetric structure. Because these two-dimensional codes cannot adequately simulate a number of important effects, the simulation code MAFIA (solution of Maxwell's equations by the Finite-Integration-Algorithm) was used at Glenn to develop a three-dimensional electron optics model. First, a PPM stack was modeled in three dimensions. Then, the fields obtained using the magnetostatic solver were loaded into a particle-in-cell solver where the fully three-dimensional behavior of the beam was simulated in the magnetic focusing field. For the first time, the effects of azimuthally asymmetric designs and critical azimuthally asymmetric characteristics of the focusing stack (such as shunts, C-magnets, or magnet misalignment) on electron beam behavior have been investigated. A cutaway portion of a simulated electron beam focused by a PPM stack is illustrated.

Kory, Carol L.↗

Geometric-optical modeling of a conifer forest canopy

A geometric-optical model of a conifer forest canopy was constructed to describe the variance of a remotely-sensed image of a forest stand. The model is driven by interpixel variance generated from three sources: (1) the number of crowns in the pixel; (2) the size of the individual crowns; and (3) the overlapping of crowns and shadows. The illumination of a tree and its shadow is described as a cone using parallel-ray geometry. The model can also be inverted to provide estimates of the size, shape and spacing of the trees using remotely-sensed imagery and a minimum of ground measurements. The results of field tests using 10-meter and 80-meter multispectral imagery of two test conifer stands in northeastern California are presented. It is shown that the model produces reasonable estimates for the geometric parameters of the stand and appears to be sufficiently robust for application to other geometric shapes corresponding to different types of vegetation.

Li, X.↗

Optical modeling of stratopheric aerosols - Present status

A stratospheric aerosol optical model is developed which is based on a size distribution conforming to direct measurements. Additional constraints are consistent with large data sets of independently measured macroscopic aerosol properties such as mass and backscatter. The period under study covers background as well as highly disturbed volcanic conditions and an altitude interval ranging from the tropopause to about 30 km. The predictions of the model are used to form a basis for interpreting and intercomparing several diverse types of stratospheric aerosol measurement.

Rosen, J. M.↗

LISA Optics Model: Early Results

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) optics model is used to generate a synthetic data stream in the absence of gravitational waves. The simulation has the spacecraft in moving in their respective Keplerian orbits. The pointing of the spacecraft and station keeping about the proof masses is accomplished using a control scheme, which minimizes the disturbance on the proof masses in the sensitive direction. The resulting data stream gives an indication of the magnitude of instrumental noise due to pointing jitter and motions of the spacecraft with respect to the proof masses. Computational details are presented and the results discussed.

Waluschka, Eugene↗

LISA Optics Model: Computational Steps

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) optics model is used to propagate a laser beam inside and between widely, five million kilometers, separated spacecraft moving in orbits about the sun. Numerical beam propagation models have been around for a long time. However, because of the somewhat extreme requirements on the model, namely very large distances while still requiring sub-picometer accuracies, a detailed exposition of the computational steps is necessary to ensure that the results are understood.

Waluschka, Eugene↗

An optical model description of momentum transfer in heavy ion collisions

An optical model description of momentum transfer in relativistic heavy ion collisions, based upon composite particle multiple scattering theory, is presented. The imaginary component of the complex momentum transfer, which comes from the absorptive part of the optical potential, is identified as the longitudinal momentum downshift of the projectile. Predictions of fragment momentum distribution observables are made and compared with experimental data. Use of the model as a tool for estimating collision impact parameters is discussed.

Khan, F.↗

Uncertainty analysis of PIV measurements in bubbly flows considering sampling and bubble effects with ray optics modeling

In this report, a modeling-based approach is developed to investigate the external sources of uncertainty in particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements for two-phase bubbly flows. Primarily relied on ray optics modeling, this study focuses on the uncertainty in PIV measurements due to bubble-induced light distortion. In addition, the uncertainty due to sampling is also considered through synthetic PIV images generated from Monte Carlo sampling. Based on a PIV-planar laser induced florescence (PLIF) measurement system, three case studies are performed and discussed, considering respectively the sampling effect, bubble effect, and the combination of these two effects. These case studies confirm the validity of the ray optics modeling in obtaining accurate particle images through a benchmark test. Furthermore, it is also found that the bubble effect could significantly influence the particle images. On the other hand, the result of the case study with synthetic PIV images indicates that the bubble effect on particle images can be minimized by removing “outliers” in the obtained velocity vector field through a multi-pass post-processing procedure. However, the uncertainty of the velocity measurements will still increase.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Optical Modeling of the Alignment and Test of the NASA James Webb Space Telescope

Optical modeling challenges of the ground alignment plan and optical test and verification of the NASA James Webb Space Telescope are discussed. Issues such as back-out of the gravity sag of light-weighted mirrors, as well as the use of a sparse-aperture auto-collimating flat system are discussed. A walk-through of the interferometer based alignment procedure is summarized, and sensitivities from the sparse aperture wavefront test are included as examples.'

Howard, Joseph M.↗

Optical model description of momentum transfer in relativistic heavy ion collisions

An optical model description of momentum transfer in relativistic heavy ion collisions, based upon composite particle multiple scattering theory, is presented. The imaginary component of the complex momentum transfer, which comes from the absorptive part of the optical potential, is identified as the longitudinal momentum downshift of the projectile. Predictions of fragment momentum distribution observables are made and compared with experimental data. Use of the model as a tool for estimating collision impact parameters is discussed.

Khan, F.↗

Correlations in alpha-alpha scattering and semi-classical optical models

We show the equivalence of semi-classical solutions to optical model coupled-channel equations derived from Watson's form of the nucleus-nucleus multiple-scattering series to the Glauber multiple-scattering series. A second-order solution to the semi-classical coupled-channel elastic amplitude is shown to be nearly equivalent to a second-order optical-phase-shift approximation to the Glauber amplitude if the densities of all nuclear excited states are approximated by the ground-state density. Using the Jastrow method to model the two-body density we find an average excited-state density to be of negligible importance in the double-scattering region of alpha-alpha scattering.

NASA Discipline Number 04-10↗

Development and Validation of High Precision Thermal, Mechanical, and Optical Models for the Space Interferometry Mission

SIM Planetquest (SIM) is a large optical interferometer for making microarcsecond measurements of the positions of stars, and to detect Earth-sized planets around nearby stars. To achieve this precision, SIM requires stability of optical components to tens of picometers per hour. The combination of SIM s large size (9 meter baseline) and the high stability requirement makes it difficult and costly to measure all aspects of system performance on the ground. To reduce risks, costs and to allow for a design with fewer intermediate testing stages, the SIM project is developing an integrated thermal, mechanical and optical modeling process that will allow predictions of the system performance to be made at the required high precision. This modeling process uses commercial, off-the-shelf tools and has been validated against experimental results at the precision of the SIM performance requirements. This paper presents the description of the model development, some of the models, and their validation in the Thermo-Opto-Mechanical (TOM3) testbed which includes full scale brassboard optical components and the metrology to test them at the SIM performance requirement levels.

astronomy↗

Evolution of proton shells in 20 ⩽ Z ⩽ 28 and 20 ⩽ N ⩽ 50 nuclei and dispersive optical model

Experimental single-particle proton energies in spherical and nearly spherical 20 ⩽ Z ⩽ 28 medium-mass nuclei and their counterparts evaluated with the aid of data formirror nuclei were analyzed on the basis of the dispersive optical model. The parameters of the dispersive optical potential were extrapolated to the region of unstable nuclei, and the values obtained in this way were then used to predict the single-particle proton energies in the 20 ⩽ N ⩽ 50 nuclei under study. The evolution of the particle-hole energy gap was traced, and features peculiar to single-particle spectra of magic and nonmagic nuclei were revealed by comparing single-particle energies with proton-separation energies.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Optical model methods of predicting nuclide production from spallation reactions

Quantum mechanical optical model methods for calculating isotope production cross sections from the spallation of heavy nuclei by high-energy protons are developed from a modified abrasion-ablation collision formalism. The abrasion step is treated quantum-mechanically as a knockout process which leaves the residual prefragment nucleus in an excited state. In ablation the prefragment deexcites to produce the final fragment. The excitation energies of the prefragments are estimated from a combination of liquid drop and frictional-spectator interaction considerations. Estimates of elemental and isotopic production cross sections are in good agreement with recently published cross section measurements.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗

Neutron single-particle structure of molybdenum isotopes within the dispersive optical model

The evolution of neutron single-particle spectra in molybdenum isotopes was calculated on the basis of the dispersive optical model over the region extending from stable isotopes to the neutron drip line. The question of how the dependence of surface absorption on the neutron–proton asymmetry and the weakening of spin–orbit interaction affect the single-particle spectra in question is studied. The results agree with the concept according to which the shell effect becomes weaker near the neutron drip line.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Application of a folding-model optical potential to analyzing inelastic pion–nucleus scattering and the in-medium effect on a pion–nucleon amplitude

The folding-model optical potential is generalized in such a way as to apply it to calculating the cross sections for inelastic scattering of π{sup ±}-mesons on {sup 28}Si, {sup 40}Ca, {sup 58}Ni, and {sup 208}Pb nuclei at the energies of 162, 180, 226, and 291 MeV leading to the excitation of the 2{sup +} and 3{sup −} collective states. In doing this, use is made of known nucleon-density distributions in nuclei and the pion–nucleon scattering amplitude whose parameters were obtained previously by fitting the elastic scattering cross sections for the same nuclei. Thus, the values of quadrupole (β{sub 2}) and octupole (β{sub 3}) deformations of nuclei appear here as the only adjustable parameters. The scattering cross section is calculated by solving the relativistic wave equation, whereby effects of relativization and distortion in the entrance and exit scattering channels are taken exactly into account. The cross sections calculated in this way for inelastic scattering are in good agreement with respective experimental data. The importance of the inclusion of in-medium effects in choosing parameters of the pion–nucleon amplitude is emphasized.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Evolution of the N = 40 neutron subshell in 20 ≤ Z ≤ 30 nuclei within the dispersive optical model

The evolution of single-particle neutron spectra in the N = 40 isotones {sup 60}Ca, {sup 62}Ti, {sup 64}Cr, {sup 66}Fe, {sup 68}Ni, and {sup 70}Zn is calculated on the basis of the mean-field model featuring a dispersive optical potential. The results of these calculations agree with the idea that the degree of collectivity becomes higher in the {sup 64}Сr nucleus and that the coupling of single-particle motion to this collectivity becomes stronger, as well as with available experimental data, which are indicative of the closure of the N = 40 subshell in {sup 68}Ni and of the trend toward this closure in {sup 60}Ca.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗