Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Elementary Particle Interactions”

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 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Neutrino-nucleus cross section impacts on neutrino oscillation measurements

The challenges in neutrino-nucleus cross section modeling and its impact on neutrino oscillation experiments are widely recognized. However, a comprehensive and theoretically robust estimation of cross section uncertainties has been lacking, and few studies have quantitatively examined their impact on oscillation measurements. In this work, we evaluate the effect of cross section uncertainties on oscillation parameters using setups inspired by NOvA and DUNE. To characterize these uncertainties, we adopt multiple neutrino-nucleus event generators and simulate a realistic experimental procedure that incorporates near-detector data and near-to-far-detector extrapolation. Our results confirm that cross section uncertainties cannot significantly bias oscillation results in current statistics-dominated experiments like NOvA. However, they could lead to substantial bias for future systematics-dominated experiments like DUNE, even when near-detector data are employed to mitigate uncertainties. These findings underscore the need for further studies on the quantitative impacts of cross section modeling, improved strategies to utilize near-detector data and the PRISM concept, and more robust cross section models to optimize the success of future experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2011

BBGKY kinetic approach for an e{sup -}e{sup +}{gamma} plasma created from the vacuum in a strong laser-generated electric field: The one-photon annihilation channel

In the present work a closed system of kinetic equations is obtained from the truncation of the Bogoliubov-Born-Green-Kirkwood-Yvon hierarchy for the description of the vacuum creation of an electron-positron plasma and secondary photons due to a strong laser field. This truncation is performed in the Markovian approximation for the one-photon annihilation channel which is accessible due to the presence of the strong external field. Estimates of the photon production rate are obtained for different domains of laser field parameters (frequency {nu} and field strength E). A huge quantity of optical photons of the quasiclassical laser field is necessary to satisfy the conservation laws of the energy and momentum of the constituents (e{sup -}, e{sup +} and {gamma}) in this channel. Since the number of these optical photons corresponds to the order of perturbation theory, a vanishingly small photon production rate results for the optical region and strongly subcritical fields E<<E{sub c}. In the {gamma}-ray region {nu} < or approx. m the required number of laser photons is small and the production rate of photons from the one-photon annihilation process becomes accessible to observations for subcritical fields E < or approx. E{sub c}. In the infrared region the photon distribution has a 1/k spectrum typical for flicker noise.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Time Resolution Measurements of EJ-232Q With Single- and Dual-Sided Readouts

In view of its importance to applications in high energy physics, nuclear security, and time-of-flight PET, the time resolution of 0.5% benzophenone-quenched EJ-232Q plastic scintillators of various lengths was studied using a fast waveform digitizer and fast PMTs. The scintillator sizes were 5 mm × 5 mm × 10, 25, 50, 75, or 100 mm. First, the timing measurements were performed by using a single PMT reading out one end. The degradation in time resolution with increasing scintillator length was studied. The irradiation geometry was also observed to have a non-negligible impact on the time resolution due to the variation of depth-of-interaction positions, especially for the scintillators with a high aspect ratio. Second, two PMTs were employed for a dual-sided readout. This readout together with the mean time method was demonstrated to be an effective approach to improve the timing performance since the depth-of-interaction-related effect was considerably mitigated. A time resolution of 79 ± 1 ps (full-width at half-maximum) has been achieved for the 5 × 5 × 10 mm 3 scintillator. The 5 × 5 × 100 mm 3 scintillator can still provide a time resolution as good as 172 ± 1 ps. Here, the energy range used for each was between 340 keVee and 450 keVee. In addition, the time information from individual PMTs in a dual-sided readout was able to show a time resolution almost identical to that determined with the mean-time-based technique after correcting for the depth-of-interaction variation for the 100 mm long scintillator.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Exclusive processes of charmonium production and charmonium wave functions

Results obtained by studying the properties of the leading-twist wave functions for the S- and P-wave states of charmonia are presented. Wave-function models that can be used to calculate various processes involving the production of these mesons were constructed on the basis of these investigations. Calculations for some exclusive processes of charmonium production were performed within the models in question.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Search for invisible decays of Higgs bosons in the vector boson fusion and associated ZH production modes

A search for invisible decays of Higgs bosons is performed using the vector boson fusion and associated ZH production modes. In the ZH mode, the Z boson is required to decay to a pair of charged leptons or a b b-bar quark pair. The searches use the 8 TeV pp collision dataset collected by the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of up to 19.7 inverse femtobarns. Certain channels include data from 7 TeV collisions corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.9 inverse femtobarns. The searches are sensitive to non-standard-model invisible decays of the recently observed Higgs boson, as well as additional Higgs bosons with similar production modes and large invisible branching fractions. In all channels, the observed data are consistent with the expected standard model backgrounds. Limits are set on the production cross section times invisible branching fraction, as a function of the Higgs boson mass, for the vector boson fusion and ZH production modes. By combining all channels, and assuming standard model Higgs boson cross sections and acceptances, the observed (expected) upper limit on the invisible branching fraction at m[H] = 125 GeV is found to be 0.58 (0.44) at 95% confidence level. We interpret this limit in terms of a Higgs-portal model of dark matter interactions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Antineutrino Neutral Current Interactions in MiniBooNE

This dissertation reports the antineutrino-nucleus neutral current elastic scattering cross section on CH 2 measured by the MiniBooNE experiment located in Batavia, IL. The data set consists of 60,605 events passing the selection cuts corresponding to 10.1×10 20 POT, which represents the world’s largest sample of antineutrino neutral current elastic scattering events. The final sample is more than one order of magnitude lager that the previous antineutrino NCE scattering cross section measurement reported by the BNL E734 experiment. The measurement presented in this dissertation also spans a wider range in Q 2 , including the low-Q 2 regime where the cross section rollover is clearly visible. A X 2 -based minimization was performed to determine the best value of the axial mass, M A and the Pauli blocking scaling function, that matches the antineutrino NCE scattering data. However, the best fit values of M A =1.29 GeV and K=1.026 still give a relatively poor X 2 , which suggests that the underlying nuclear model (based largely on the relativistic Fermi gas model) may not be an accurate representation for this particular interaction. Additionally, we present a measurement of the antineutrino/neutrino-nucleus NCE scattering cross section ratio. The neutrino mode NCE sample used in this study, corresponding to 6.4 × 10 20 POT, is also the world’s largest sample (also by an order of magnitude). We have demonstrated that the ratio measurement is robust, as most of the correlated errors cancel, as expected. Furthermore, this ratio also proves to be rather insensitive to variations in the axial mass and the Pauli blocking parameter. This is the first time that this ratio has been experimentally reported. We believe this measurement will aid the theoretical physics community to test various model predictions of neutrino-nucleon/nucleus interactions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Exploiting the flexibility and the polarization of ferroelectric perovskite surfaces to achieve efficient photochemistry and enantiospecificity

This research project explored the catalytic properties of complex surfaces of functional materials. The PI used first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations to explore a tightly integrated set of properties. The physical properties of complex functional materials that influence surface chemistry were explored, including bulk and surface electric dipoles, and surface conductivity. The energetic, compositional, electronic, and chemical properties of the surfaces of these materials were explored in detail, and connections between material properties and chemical reactivity were established. This project led to 28 publications, including Nat. Comm., JACS, 3 PRL, 7 PRB, 2 ACS Nano, 2 Nano Lett., 4 JPCL, 2 JCP, Chem. Mater., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Phys. Rev. Appl., and a U.S. Patent on surface catalysts. The key accomplishments in this project involved work in six coordinated areas: pioneering ways to control bulk dipoles in order to dynamically affect catalysis, exploring novel ways of bringing charge to the surface for redox catalysis, nonstoichiometric surfaces offering new sites for heterogeneous catalysis, illustrating how surface catalysis responds to applied pressure, catalytic growth of carbon-based materials, and new computational methods allowing more accurate exploration of molecule-surface interactions

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗