Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “nonlocality”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 541 records · Page 30
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Fault-tolerant optical interconnects for neutral-atom arrays

We analyze the use of photonic links to enable large-scale fault-tolerant connectivity of locally error-corrected modules based on neutral atom arrays. Our approach makes use of recent theoretical results showing the robustness of surface codes to boundary noise and combines recent experimental advances in atom-array quantum computing with logical qubits with optical quantum networking techniques. We find the conditions for fault tolerance can be achieved with local two-qubit Rydberg gate and nonlocal Bell-pair errors below 1% and 10%, respectively, without requiring distillation or space-time overheads. Realizing the interconnects with a lens, a single optical cavity, or an array of cavities enables—with sufficient multiplexing—a Bell-pair generation rate in the 1–50 MHz range. When directly interfacing logical qubits, this rate translates to error-correction cycles in the 25–2000 kHz range, satisfying all requirements for fault tolerance and in the upper range fast enough for 100 kHz logical clock cycles. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Sinclair, Josiah (ORCID:0000000215238295)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Physics-informed transformation toward improving the machine-learned NLTE models of ICF simulations

The integration of machine-learning techniques into inertial confinement fusion (ICF) simulations has emerged as a powerful approach for enhancing computational efficiency. By replacing the costly nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) model with machine-learning models, significant reductions in calculation time have been achieved. However, determining how to optimize machine-learning-based NLTE models in order to match ICF simulation dynamics remains challenging, underscoring the need for physically relevant error metrics and strategies to enhance model accuracy with respect to these metrics. Thus, we propose novel physics-informed transformations designed to emphasize energy transport, use these transformations to establish new error metrics, and demonstrate that they yield smaller errors within reduced principal-component spaces compared to conventional transformations. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Two-dimensional hydrodynamic viscous electron flow in annular Corbino rings

The concept of fluidic viscosity is ubiquitous in condensed-matter systems hosting a continuum where macroscopic properties can emerge. While an important property of liquids and some solids, only recently was the viscosity of an electron shown to play a role in electronic transport experiments. In this Letter, we present nonlocal electronic transport measurements in concentric annular rings formed in high-mobility two-dimensional electron gases, and the resulting data show that viscous hydrodynamic flow can occur far away from the source-drain current region. Our conclusion of viscous electronic transport is further corroborated by simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations that are found to be in agreement with our measurements below T = 1 K . Finally, this work emphasizes the key role played by viscosity via electron-electron ( e − e ) interaction even when the electronic transport is restricted radially, and for which it should have played no major role. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Vijayakrishnan, Sujatha (ORCID:0009000080933182)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nature of Excitons and Their Ligand-Mediated Delocalization in Nickel Dihalide Charge-Transfer Insulators

The fundamental optical excitations of correlated transition-metal compounds are typically identified with multielectronic transitions localized at the transition-metal site, such as d d transitions. In this vein, intense interest has surrounded the appearance of sharp, below-band-gap optical transitions, i.e., excitons, within the magnetic phase of correlated Ni 2 + van der Waals magnets. The interplay of magnetic and charge-transfer insulating ground states in Ni 2 + systems raises intriguing questions on the roles of long-range magnetic order and of metal-ligand charge transfer in the exciton nature, which inspired microscopic descriptions beyond typical d d excitations. Here we study the impact of charge transfer and magnetic order on the excitation spectrum of the nickel dihalides ( Ni X 2 , X = Cl , Br, and I) using Ni- L 3 edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS). In all compounds, we detect sharp excitations, analogous to the recently reported excitons, and assign them to spin-singlet multiplets of octahedrally coordinated Ni 2 + stabilized by intra-atomic Hund’s exchange. Additionally, we demonstrate that these excitons are dispersive using momentum-resolved RIXS. Our data evidence a ligand-mediated multiplet dispersion, which is tuned by the charge-transfer gap and independent of the presence of long-range magnetic order. This reveals the mechanisms governing nonlocal interactions of on-site d d excitations with the surrounding crystal or magnetic structure, in analogy to ground-state superexchange. These measurements thus establish the roles of magnetic order, self-doped ligand holes, and intersite-coupling mechanisms for the properties of d d excitations in charge-transfer insulators. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

2-dimensional systems↗
DOE OSTI2025

Probing Electronic Coherence between Core-Level Vacancies at Different Atomic Sites

The detailed understanding of electronic coherence in quantum systems requires measurements on the attosecond timescale. Attosecond x-ray pulses enable the study of electronic coherence in core-excited molecular systems. Here we report on the coherent motion of electrons in the 1,1-difluoroethylene ion following ionization of the K shell of the two nonequivalent carbon sites with a subfemtosecond x-ray pulse. Using the angular streaking technique to track the Auger-Meitner decay, we observe temporal modulations of the emission, indicating the electronic coherence of the core-excited ionic states, and extract a 6.5 ± 0.8 fs average lifetime of the core-level vacancies. A quantum-mechanical model is employed to interpret the measurement, and we find the observed temporal modulations are independent of charge density oscillations. This work opens a new regime of coherent electronic motion, beyond charge migration, where electronic coherence manifests in the nonlocal quantum correlation between atomic sites while charge density oscillation is absent. Our results broaden the landscape of electronic coherence in molecular systems. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Wang, Jun (ORCID:000000031962895X)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Photocurrent Nanoscopy of Quantum Hall Bulk

Understanding nanoscale electronic and thermal transport of two-dimensional (2D) electron systems in the quantum Hall regime, particularly in the bulk insulating state, poses considerable challenges. One of the primary difficulties arises from the presence of chiral edge channels, whose transport behavior obscures the investigation of the insulating bulk. Using near-field optical and photocurrent nanoscopy, we probe real-space variations of the optical and thermal dynamics of graphene in the quantum Hall regime without relying on complex sample or electrode geometries. Near the charge-neutrality point, we detect strong optical and photothermal signals from resonant inter-Landau-level (LL) magnetoexciton excitations between the zeroth and ± 1 st LLs, which gradually weaken with increasing doping due to Pauli blocking. Interestingly, at higher doping levels and full-integer LL fillings, photothermal signals reappear across the entire sample over an approximately 10 − μ m scale, indicating unexpectedly long cooling lengths and nonlocal photothermal heating through the insulating bulk. This observation suggests that thermal conductivity persists for the localized states even as electronic transport is suppressed—a clear violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law. Our experiments provide novel insights into nanoscale thermal and electronic transport in incompressible 2D gases, highlighting the roles of magnetoexcitons and chiral edge states in the thermo-optoelectric dynamics of the Dirac quantum Hall state. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Engineering 3D Floquet Codes by Rewinding

Floquet codes are a novel class of quantum error-correcting codes with dynamically generated logical qubits arising from a periodic schedule of noncommuting measurements. We utilize the interpretation of measurements in terms of condensation of topological excitations and the rewinding of measurement sequences to engineer new examples of Floquet codes. In particular, rewinding is advantageous for obtaining a desired set of instantaneous stabilizer groups on both toric and planar layouts. Our first example is a Floquet code with instantaneous stabilizer codes that have the same topological order as the three-dimensional (3D) toric code(s). This Floquet code also exhibits a splitting of the topological order of the 3D toric code under the associated sequence of measurements, i.e., an instantaneous stabilizer group of a single copy of the 3D toric code in one round transforms into an instantaneous stabilizer group of two copies of the 3D toric code up to nonlocal stabilizers in the following round. We further construct boundaries for this 3D code and argue that stacking it with two copies of the 3D subsystem toric code allows for a transversal implementation of the logical non-Clifford controlled-controlled- Z gate. We also show that the coupled-layer construction of the X-cube Floquet code can be modified by a rewinding schedule such that each of the instantaneous stabilizer codes is finite depth equivalent to the X-cube model up to toric codes; the X-cube Floquet code exhibits a splitting of the X-cube model into a copy of the X-cube model and toric codes under the measurement sequence. Our final 3D example is a generalization of the 2D Floquet toric code on the honeycomb lattice to three dimensions, which has instantaneous stabilizer codes with the same topological order as the 3D fermionic toric code. Published by the American Physical Society2024

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quantum Tensor-Product Decomposition from Choi-State Tomography

The Schmidt decomposition is the go-to tool for measuring bipartite entanglement of pure quantum states. Similarly, it is possible to study the entangling features of a quantum operation using its operator-Schmidt or tensor-product decomposition. While quantum technological implementations of the former are thoroughly studied, entangling properties on the operator level are harder to extract in the quantum computational framework because of the exponential nature of sample complexity. Here, we present an algorithm for unbalanced partitions into a small subsystem and a large one (the environment) to compute the tensor-product decomposition of a unitary the effect of which on the small subsystem is captured in classical memory, while the effect on the environment is accessible as a quantum resource. This quantum algorithm may be used to make predictions about operator nonlocality and effective open quantum dynamics on a subsystem, as well as for finding low-rank approximations and low-depth compilations of quantum circuit unitaries. We demonstrate the method and its applications on a time-evolution unitary of an isotropic Heisenberg model in two dimensions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Mansuroglu, Refik (ORCID:000000017352513X)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Probing Curved Spacetime with a Distributed Atomic Processor Clock

Quantum dynamics on curved spacetime has never been directly probed beyond the Newtonian limit. Although we can describe such dynamics theoretically, experiments would provide empirical evidence that quantum theory holds even in this extreme limit. The practical challenge is the minute spacetime curvature difference over the length scale of the typical extent of quantum effects. Here, we propose a quantum network of alkaline earth (like) atomic processors for constructing a distributed quantum state that is sensitive to the differential proper time between its constituent atomic processor nodes, implementing a quantum observable that is affected by post-Newtonian curved spacetime. Conceptually, we propose to delocalize one clock between three locations by encoding the presence or absence of a clock into the state of the local atoms. By separating three atomic nodes over approximately kilometer-scale elevation differences and distributing one clock between them via a 𝑊 state, we demonstrate that the curvature of spacetime is manifest in the interference of the three different proper times that give rise to three distinct beat notes in our nonlocal observable. We further demonstrate that 𝑁-atom entanglement within each node enhances the interrogation bandwidth by a factor of 𝑁. We discuss how our proposed system can probe new facets of fundamental physics, such as the linearity, unitarity, and probabilistic nature of quantum theory on curved spacetime. Our protocol combines several recent advances with neutral atom and trapped ions to realize a novel quantum probe of gravity uniquely enabled by quantum networks.

Covey, Jacob P. [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Probing quantum entanglement with generalized parton distributions at the Electron-Ion Collider

Within the collinear factorization framework based on generalized parton distributions, we calculate the spin density matrix of exclusively produced quark and antiquark pairs $𝑢\bar{𝑢}$, $𝑑⁢\bar{d}$, $𝑠⁢\bar{𝑠}$, $𝑐\bar{⁢𝑐}$, $𝑏\bar{𝑏}$ in electron-proton scattering. The presence of both real and imaginary parts in the scattering amplitudes leads to a rich pattern of entanglement between the quark and the antiquark. We map out kinematical regions where the pairs exhibit entanglement, Bell nonlocality, and nonstabilizerness. We also predict that massive quarks and antiquarks are transversely polarized, similar to the well-known transverse hyperon polarization in unpolarized collisions. In strangeness, charm, and bottom productions, the polarization can reach 50%–80% in certain kinematic regions in the low-energy runs of the Electron-Ion Collider.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Neutron matter from local chiral effective field theory interactions at large cutoffs

Neutron matter is an important many-body system that provides valuable constraints for the equation of state (EOS) of neutron stars. Neutron-matter calculations employing chiral effective field theory (EFT) interactions have been extensively used for this purpose. Among the various many-body methods, quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) methods stand out due to their nonperturbative nature and the achievable precision. However, QMC methods require local interactions as input, which leads to the appearance of stronger regulator artifacts compared to nonlocal interactions. To circumvent this, we employ large-cutoff interactions derived within chiral EFT (400 MeV ≤ Λ 𝑐 ≤ 700MeV) for studies of pure neutron matter. These interactions have been adjusted to nucleon-nucleon scattering phase shifts, the triton binding energy, as well as the triton 𝛽-decay half-life. We find that regulator artifacts significantly decrease with increasing cutoff, leading to a significant reduction of uncertainties in the neutron-matter EOS. We discuss implications for the symmetry energy and demonstrate how our new calculations lead to a reduction in the theoretical uncertainty of predicted neutron-star radii by up to 30% for low-mass stars.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Noninvertible chiral symmetry and axions under electromagnetic duality

We study the implications of noninvertible chiral symmetry in a four-dimensional U(1) gauge theory coupled to massless fermions with electromagnetic 𝑆⁢𝐿⁡(2,ℤ) duality. This is done by deriving the Adler-Bell-Jackiw anomaly of massless QED in the dual frame that is used to explicitly construct the symmetry defect operator as well as the conserved two-form symmetry current. As expected, the noninvertible chiral symmetry is covariant under the duality transformation. This has implications for understanding the nature of kinetic and topological terms in the dual frame and for axion electrodynamics. In particular, we show that to generate an axion potential from a dyon loop, the one-form magnetic symmetry must be explicitly broken by a mutually nonlocal charged state with nonzero pairwise helicity.

Anomalies↗
DOE OSTI2025

Microscopic optical potentials from a Green's function approach

Optical potentials are a standard tool in the study of nuclear reactions, as they describe the interaction between a target nucleus and a projectile. The use of phenomenological optical potentials built using experimental data on stable isotopes is widespread. Although successful in their dedicated domain, it is unclear whether these phenomenological potentials can provide reliable predictions for unstable isotopes. To address this problem, optical potentials based on microscopic nuclear structure input calculations prove to be crucial and are an important current line of research. In this work we present an explicit implementation of the Feshbach formalism for the systematic derivation of optical potentials using input from nuclear structure models. Numerical tools for the derivation of Green's functions associated with nonlocal potentials are presented. In conclusion, the new optical potential, based on the valence shell model, is applied to the calculations of 𝑛 + 24 Mg elastic scattering and yields a close agreement with the experimental data.

Direct reactions↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Polynomial-Time Classical Algorithm for Noisy Quantum Circuits

We provide a polynomial-time classical algorithm for noisy quantum circuits. The algorithm computes the expectation value of any observable for any circuit, with a small average error over input states drawn from an ensemble (e.g., the computational basis). Our approach is based upon the intuition that noise exponentially damps nonlocal correlations relative to local correlations. This enables one to classically simulate a noisy quantum circuit by keeping track of only the dynamics of local quantum information. Our algorithm also enables sampling from the output distribution of a circuit in quasipolynomial time, so long as the distribution anticoncentrates. A number of implications are discussed, including a fundamental limit on the efficacy of noise mitigation strategies: For constant noise rates, any quantum circuit for which error mitigation succeeds in polynomial-time on most input states can also be classically simulated in polynomial-time on most input states. Our algorithms scale exponentially in the inverse noise rate, which is fundamental and makes them impractical for current quantum devices.

decoherence↗
DOE OSTI2025

On the Quantum Mechanics of Entropic Forces

It was conjectured 30 years ago that gravity could arise from the entropic rearrangement of information. We offer a set of microscopic quantum models which realize this idea in detail. In particular, we suggest a simple mechanism by which Newton’s law of gravity arises from extremization of the free energy of a collection of qubits or oscillators, rather than from the exchange of virtual quanta of a fundamental field. We give both a local and a nonlocal version of the construction and show how to distinguish a range of these entropic models from ordinary perturbative quantum gravity using existing observations and near-term experiments.

quantum fluctuations↗
DOE OSTI2023

Transfer Learning of High-Fidelity Opacity Spectra in Autoencoders and Surrogate Models

Simulations of high energy density physics are expensive, largely in part for the need to produce nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium opacities. High-fidelity spectra may reveal new physics in the simulations not seen with low-fidelity spectra, but the cost of these simulations also scales with the level of fidelity of the opacities being used. Neural networks are capable of reproducing these spectra, but neural networks need data to train them, which limits the level of fidelity of the training data. Here this article demonstrates that it is possible to reproduce high-fidelity spectra with median errors in the realm of 3%–4% using as few as 50 samples of high-fidelity Krypton data by performing transfer learning on a neural network trained on many times more low-fidelity data.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Biphoton spectral quantum interference for information processing and delay metrology

Broadband time-energy entangled photons feature strong temporal correlations with potential for precision delay metrology, but previous work has leveraged only time-of-flight information ultimately limited by the detection jitter and resolution of the time-tagging electronics. Firstly, our work pushes the entanglement-based nonlocal delay metrology from the conventional time-of-flight measurement to a new direction—two-photon interferometry with subpicosecond sensitivity independent of detection resolution. Next, we show the selective sensitivity of frequency-bin encoded Bell states to the sum and difference of biphoton-delays by using a novel reconfigurable setup capable of switching between the Bell states by successively employing single and dual spectral-line pumps.

Seshadri, Suparna↗
DOE OSTI2023

Microscopic activated dynamics theory of the shear rheology and stress overshoot in ultradense glass-forming fluids and colloidal suspensions

We formulate a particle and force level, activated dynamics-based statistical mechanical theory for the continuous startup nonlinear shear rheology of ultradense glass-forming hard sphere fluids and colloidal suspensions in the context of the elastically collective nonlinear Langevin equation approach and a generalized Maxwell model constitutive equation. Activated structural relaxation is described as a coupled local-nonlocal event involving caging and longer range collective elasticity which controls the characteristic stress relaxation time. Theoretical predictions for the deformation-induced enhancement of mobility, the onset of relaxation acceleration at remarkably low values of stress, strain, or shear rate, apparent power law thinning of the steady-state structural relaxation time and viscosity, a nonvanishing activation barrier in the shear thinning regime, an apparent Herschel–Buckley form of the shear rate dependence of the steady-state shear stress, exponential growth of different measures of a yield or flow stress with packing fraction, and reduced fragility and dynamic heterogeneity under deformation were previously shown to be in good agreement with experiments. The central new question we address here is the defining feature of the transient response—the stress overshoot. In contrast to the steady-state flow regime, understanding the transient response requires an explicit treatment of the coupled nonequilibrium evolution of structure, elastic modulus, and stress relaxation time. We formulate a new quantitative model for this aspect in a physically motivated and computationally tractable manner. Theoretical predictions for the stress overshoot are shown to be in good agreement with experimental observations in the metastable ultradense regime of hard sphere colloidal suspensions as a function of shear rate and packing fraction, and accounting for deformation-assisted activated motion appears to be crucial for both the transient and steady-state responses.

Mechanics↗