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DOE OSTI2022

Sizes of pure and doped helium droplets from single shot x-ray imaging

Advancements in x-ray free-electron lasers on producing ultrashort, ultrabright, and coherent x-ray pulses enable single-shot imaging of fragile nanostructures, such as superfluid helium droplets. Furthermore, this imaging technique gives unique access to the sizes and shapes of individual droplets. In the past, such droplet characteristics have only been indirectly inferred by ensemble averaging techniques. Here, we report on the size distributions of both pure and doped droplets collected from single-shot x-ray imaging and produced from the free-jet expansion of helium through a 5 μm diameter nozzle at 20 bars and nozzle temperatures ranging from 4.2 to 9 K. This work extends the measurement of large helium nanodroplets containing 10 9 –10 11 atoms, which are shown to follow an exponential size distribution. Additionally, we demonstrate that the size distributions of the doped droplets follow those of the pure droplets at the same stagnation condition but with smaller average sizes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2011

THE GRADIENTS IN THE 47 Tuc RED GIANT BRANCH BUMP AND HORIZONTAL BRANCH ARE CONSISTENT WITH A CENTRALLY CONCENTRATED, HELIUM-ENRICHED SECOND STELLAR GENERATION

We combine ground- and space-based photometry of the Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc to measure four independent lines of evidence for a helium gradient in the cluster, whereby stars in the cluster outskirts would have a lower initial helium abundance than stars in and near the cluster core. For our first and second lines of evidence, we show that the red giant branch bump stars exhibit gradients in their number counts and brightness. With increased separation from the cluster center, they become more numerous relative to the other red giant stars. They also become fainter. For our third and fourth lines of evidence, we show that the horizontal branch of the cluster becomes both fainter and redder for sightlines farther from the cluster center. These four results are respectively detected at the 2.3{sigma}, 3.6{sigma}, 7.7{sigma}, and 4.1{sigma} levels. Each of these independent lines of evidence is found to be significant in the cluster outskirts; closer in, the data are more compatible with uniform mixing. Our radial profile is qualitatively consistent with but quantitatively tighter than previous results based on CN absorption. These observations are qualitatively consistent with a scenario wherein a second generation of stars with enhanced helium formed deep within the gravitational potential of a cluster of previous generation stars having more canonical abundances.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2011

ON THE PERIOD DISTRIBUTION OF CLUSTER RR LYRAE STARS TO CONSTRAIN THEIR HELIUM CONTENT: THE CASE OF {omega} CENTAURI

We present new sets of nonlinear, time-dependent convective hydrodynamical models of RR Lyrae stars assuming two metal (Z = 0.0005, Z = 0.001) and three helium abundances (Y = 0.24, 0.30, 0.38). For each chemical composition, we constructed a grid of fundamental and first overtone models covering a broad range of stellar masses and luminosities. To constrain the impact of the helium content on RR Lyrae properties, we adopted two observables-period distribution and luminosity amplitudes-that are independent of distance and reddening. The current predictions confirm that the helium content has a marginal effect on the pulsation properties. The key parameter causing the difference between canonical and He-enhanced observables is the luminosity. We compared current predictions with the sample of 189 RR Lyrae stars in {omega} Cen and found that the period range of He-enhanced models is systematically longer than observed. These findings apply to metal-poor and metal-intermediate He-enhanced models. To further constrain the impact of He-enhanced structures on the period distribution, we also computed a series of synthetic horizontal branch (HB) models and found that the predicted period distribution, based on a Gaussian sampling in mass, agrees quite well with observations. This applies not only to the minimum fundamentalized period of RR Lyrae stars (0.39 versus 0.34 days) but also to the fraction of Type II Cepheids (2% versus 3%). We also computed a series of synthetic HB models assuming a mixed HB population in which the 80% is made of canonical HB structures, while the 20% is made of He-enhanced (Y = 0.30) HB structures. We found that the fraction of Type II Cepheids predicted by these models is almost a factor of two larger than observed (5% versus 3%). This indicates that the fraction of He-enhanced structures in {omega} Cen cannot be larger than 20%.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

SPECTRA OF COSMIC-RAY PROTONS AND HELIUM PRODUCED IN SUPERNOVA REMNANTS

Data obtained in the Advanced Thin Ionization Calorimeter (ATIC-2), Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass (CREAM), and Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics (PAMELA) experiments suggest that the elemental interstellar spectra of cosmic rays below the knee at a few times 10{sup 6} GeV are not simple power laws, but that they experience hardening at a magnetic rigidity of about 240 GV. Another essential feature is the difference between proton and helium energy spectra, such that the He/p ratio increases by more than 50% in the energy range from 10{sup 2} to 10{sup 4} GV. We consider the concavity of the particle spectrum resulting from the nonlinear nature of diffusive shock acceleration in supernova remnants (SNRs) as a possible reason for the observed spectrum hardening. The increase of the helium-to-proton ratio with energy can be interpreted as a consequence of cosmic-ray acceleration by forward and reverse shocks in SNRs. The contribution of particles accelerated by reverse shocks makes the concavity of the produced overall cosmic-ray spectrum more pronounced. The spectra of protons and helium nuclei accelerated in SNRs and released into the interstellar medium are calculated. The derived steady-state interstellar spectra are in reasonably good agreement with observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2013

MASS/RADIUS CONSTRAINTS ON THE QUIESCENT NEUTRON STAR IN M13 USING HYDROGEN AND HELIUM ATMOSPHERES

The mass and radius of the neutron star (NS) in low-mass X-ray binaries can be obtained by fitting the X-ray spectrum of the NS in quiescence, and the mass and radius constrains the properties of dense matter in NS cores. A critical ingredient for spectral fits is the composition of the NS atmosphere: hydrogen atmospheres are assumed in most prior work, but helium atmospheres are possible if the donor star is a helium white dwarf. Here we perform spectral fits to XMM-Newton, Chandra, and ROSAT data of a quiescent NS in the globular cluster M13. This NS has the smallest inferred radius from previous spectral fitting. Assuming an atmosphere composed of hydrogen, we find a significantly larger radius, more consistent with those from other quiescent NSs. With a helium atmosphere (an equally acceptable fit), we find even larger values for the radius.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2015

PLASMA INSTABILITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF CURRENT HELIUM SEDIMENTATION MODELS: DYNAMICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR THE ICM IN GALAXY CLUSTERS

Understanding whether Helium can sediment to the core of galaxy clusters is important for a number of problems in cosmology and astrophysics. All current models addressing this question are one-dimensional and do not account for the fact that magnetic fields can effectively channel ions and electrons, leading to anisotropic transport of momentum, heat, and particle diffusion in the weakly collisional intracluster medium (ICM). This anisotropy can lead to a wide variety of instabilities, which could be relevant for understanding the dynamics of heterogeneous media. In this paper, we consider the radial temperature and composition profiles as obtained from a state-of-the-art Helium sedimentation model and analyze its stability properties. We find that the associated radial profiles are unstable to different kinds of instabilities depending on the magnetic field orientation at all radii. The fastest growing modes are usually related to generalizations of the magnetothermal instability (MTI) and the heat-flux-driven buoyancy instability which operate in heterogeneous media. We find that the effect of sedimentation is to increase (decrease) the predicted growth rates in the inner (outer) cluster region. The unstable modes grow quickly compared to the sedimentation timescale. This suggests that the composition gradients as inferred from sedimentation models, which do not fully account for the anisotropic character of the weakly collisional environment, might not be very robust. Our results emphasize the subtleties involved in understanding the gas dynamics of the ICM and argue for the need of a comprehensive approach to address the issue of Helium sedimentation beyond current models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

NEUTRAL INTERSTELLAR HELIUM PARAMETERS BASED ON IBEX-Lo OBSERVATIONS AND TEST PARTICLE CALCULATIONS

Because of its high ionization potential and weak interaction with hydrogen, neutral interstellar helium (NISHe) is almost unaffected at the heliospheric interface with the interstellar medium and freely enters the solar system. This second most abundant species provides some of the best information on the characteristics of the interstellar gas in the local interstellar cloud. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) is the second mission to directly detect NISHe. We present a comparison between recent IBEX NISHe observations and simulations carried out using a well-tested quantitative simulation code. Simulation and observation results compare well for times when measured fluxes are dominated by NISHe (and contributions from other species are small). Differences between simulations and observations indicate a previously undetected secondary population of neutral helium, likely produced by interaction of interstellar helium with plasma in the outer heliosheath. Interstellar neutral parameters are statistically different from previous in situ results obtained mostly from the GAS/Ulysses experiment, but they do agree with the local interstellar flow vector obtained from studies of interstellar absorption: the newly established flow direction is ecliptic longitude 79.{sup 0}2, latitude -5.{sup 0}1, the velocity is {approx}22.8 km s{sup -1}, and the temperature is 6200 K. These new results imply a markedly lower absolute velocity of the gas and thus significantly lower dynamic pressure on the boundaries of the heliosphere and different orientation of the Hydrogen Deflection Plane compared to prior results from Ulysses. A different orientation of this plane also suggests a new geometry of the interstellar magnetic field, and the lower dynamic pressure calls for a compensation by other components of the pressure balance, most likely a higher density of interstellar plasma and strength of interstellar magnetic field.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2012

An MCMC determination of the primordial helium abundance

Spectroscopic observations of the chemical abundances in metal-poor H II regions provide an independent method for estimating the primordial helium abundance. H II regions are described by several physical parameters such as electron density, electron temperature, and reddening, in addition to y, the ratio of helium to hydrogen. It had been customary to estimate or determine self-consistently these parameters to calculate y. Frequentist analyses of the parameter space have been shown to be successful in these parameter determinations, and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques have proven to be very efficient in sampling this parameter space. Nevertheless, accurate determination of the primordial helium abundance from observations of H II regions is constrained by both systematic and statistical uncertainties. In an attempt to better reduce the latter, and continue to better characterize the former, we apply MCMC methods to the large dataset recently compiled by Izotov, Thuan, and Stasińska (2007). To improve the reliability of the determination, a high quality dataset is needed. In pursuit of this, a variety of cuts are explored. The efficacy of the He I λ4026 emission line as a constraint on the solutions is first examined, revealing the introduction of systematic bias through its absence. As a clear measure of the quality of the physical solution, a χ{sup 2} analysis proves instrumental in the selection of data compatible with the theoretical model. Nearly two-thirds of the observations fall outside a standard 95% confidence level cut, which highlights the care necessary in selecting systems and warrants further investigation into potential deficiencies of the model or data. In addition, the method also allows us to exclude systems for which parameter estimations are statistical outliers. As a result, the final selected dataset gains in reliability and exhibits improved consistency. Regression to zero metallicity yields Y{sub p} = 0.2534 ± 0.0083, in broad agreement with the WMAP result. The inclusion of more observations shows promise for further reducing the uncertainty, but more high quality spectra are required.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2016

First axion bounds from a pulsating helium-rich white dwarf star

The Peccei-Quinn mechanism proposed to solve the CP problem of Quantum Chromodynamics has as consequence the existence of axions, hypothetical weakly interacting particles whose mass is constrained to be on the sub-eV range. If these particles exist and interact with electrons, they would be emitted from the dense interior of white dwarfs, becoming an important energy sink for the star. Due to their well known physics, white dwarfs are good laboratories to study the properties of fundamental particles such as the axions. We study the general effect of axion emission on the evolution of helium-rich white dwarfs and on their pulsational properties. To this aim, we calculate evolutionary helium-rich white dwarf models with axion emission, and assess the pulsational properties of this models. Our results indicate that the rates of change of pulsation periods are significantly affected by the existence of axions. We are able for the first time to independently constrain the mass of the axion from the study of pulsating helium-rich white dwarfs. To do this, we use an estimation of the rate of change of period of the pulsating white dwarf PG 1351+489 corresponding to the dominant pulsation period. From an asteroseismological model of PG 1351+489 we obtain g {sub ae} < 3.3 × 10{sup -13} for the axion-electron coupling constant, or m {sub a} cos{sup 2}β ∼< 11.5 meV for the axion mass. This constraint is relaxed to g {sub ae} < 5.5 × 10{sup -13} ( m {sub a} cos{sup 2}β ∼< 19.5 meV), when no detailed asteroseismological model is adopted for the comparison with observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Impact of Soret effect on hydrogen and helium retention in PFC tungsten under ELM-like conditions

Abstract In our previous work, we have demonstrated using nonequilibrium molecular-dynamics simulations that the fluxes of helium and self-interstitial atoms in the presence of a thermal gradient in tungsten are directed opposite to the heat flux, indicating that species transport is governed by a Soret effect, namely, thermal-gradient-driven diffusion, characterized by a negative heat of transport that drives species transport uphill, i.e. from the cooler to the hot regions of the tungsten sample. In this work, the findings of our thermal and species transport analysis have been implemented in our cluster-dynamics code, Xolotl, which has been used to compute temperature and species profiles over spatiotemporal scales representative of plasma-facing component (PFC) tungsten under typical reactor operating conditions, including extreme heat loads at the plasma-facing surface characteristic of plasma instabilities that induce edge localized modes (ELMs). We demonstrate that the steady-state species profiles, when properly accounting for the Soret effect, vary significantly from those where temperature-gradient-driven transport is not accounted for and discuss the implications of such a Soret effect on the response to plasma exposure of plasma-facing tungsten. Although our cluster-dynamics simulations do not yet include self-clustering of helium or hydrogen blister formation, our simulation results show that the Soret effect substantially reduces helium and hydrogenic species retention inside PFC tungsten.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

Effect of mass flow rate on gas propagation after vacuum break in a liquid helium cooled tube

Vacuum break in particle accelerators is a major concern due to risks associated with personnel and extensive equipment damage. Continuing research in our lab focuses on the sudden loss of vacuum in the liquid helium cooled beam-line tubes of superconducting particle accelerators. In our previous research, we studied nitrogen gas propagation in a uniform tube system immersed in both normal helium (He I) and superfluid helium (He II). It was observed that He II has a stronger effect in slowing down the gas propagation compared to He I, but this effect was largely due to the variation of the point where condensation and deposition of the nitrogen gas on the tube inner wall. Here, we discuss our modifications to the tube system that now allow us to accurately control the starting location of gas condensation in both the He I and He II experiments. Systematic studies of gas propagation were conducted using this new tube system by varying the nitrogen mass flow rate at the tube inlet.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Laser-assisted-autoionization dynamics of helium resonances with single attosecond pulses

The strong coupling between two autoionizing states in helium is studied theoretically with the pump-probe scheme. An isolated 100-as XUV pulse is used to excite helium near the 2s2p({sup 1} P) resonance state in the presence of an intense infrared (IR) laser. The laser field introduces strong coupling between 2s2p({sup 1} P) and 2p{sup 2}({sup 1} S) states. The IR also can ionize helium from both autoionizing states. By changing the time delay between the XUV and the IR pulses, we investigated the photoelectron spectra near the two resonances. The results are used to explain the recent experiment by Gilbertson et al.[Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 263003 (2010)]. Using the same isolated attosecond pulse and a 540-nm laser, we also investigate the strong coupling between 2s2p({sup 1} P) and 2s{sup 2}({sup 1} S) by examining how the photoelectron spectra are modified versus the time delay and the possibility of observing Autler-Townes doublet in such experiments.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2011

Convergent close-coupling calculations of helium single ionization by antiproton impact

We apply the fully quantum-mechanical convergent close-coupling method to the calculation of antiproton scattering on the ground state of helium. The helium target is treated as a three-body Coulomb system using frozen-core and multiconfiguration approximations. The electron-electron correlation of the target is fully treated in both cases. Though both calculations yield generally good agreement with experiment for the total ionization cross sections, the multiconfiguration results are substantially higher at the lower energies than the frozen-core ones. Calculated longitudinal ejected electron and recoil-ion momentum distributions for the single ionization of helium are in good agreement with the experiment.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Multi-crystal native-SAD phasing at 5 keV with a helium environment

De novo structure determination from single-wavelength anomalous diffraction using native sulfur or phosphorus in biomolecules (native-SAD) is an appealing method to mitigate the labor-intensive production of heavy-atom derivatives and selenomethionyl substitutions. The native-SAD method is particularly attractive for membrane proteins, which are difficult to produce and often recalcitrant to grow into decent-sized crystals. Native-SAD uses lower-energy X-rays to enhance anomalous signals from sulfur or phosphorus. However, at lower energies, the scattering and absorption of air contribute to the background noise, reduce the signals and are thus adverse to native-SAD phasing. We have previously demonstrated native-SAD phasing at an energy of 5 keV in air at the NSLS-II FMX beamline. Here, the use of a helium path developed to reduce both the noise from background scattering and the air absorption of the diffracted X-ray beam are described. The helium path was used for collection of anomalous diffraction data at 5 keV for two proteins: thaumatin and the membrane protein TehA. Although anomalous signals from each individual crystal are very weak, robust anomalous signals are obtained from data assembled from micrometre-sized crystals. The thaumatin structure was determined from 15 microcrystals and the TehA structure from 18 microcrystals. These results demonstrate the usefulness of a helium environment in support of native-SAD phasing at 5 keV.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Study of the amorphization of surface silicon layers implanted by low-energy helium ions

The structural changes in surface layers of Si(001) substrates subjected to plasma-immersion implantation by (2–5)-keV helium ions to a dose of D = 6 × 10{sup 15}–5 × 10{sup 17} cm{sup –2} have been studied by highresolution X-ray diffraction, Rutherford backscattering, and spectral ellipsometry. It is found that the joint application of these methods makes it possible to determine the density depth distribution ρ(z) in an implanted layer, its phase state, and elemental composition. Treatment of silicon substrates in helium plasma to doses of 6 × 10{sup 16} cm{sup –2} leads to the formation of a 20- to 30-nm-thick amorphized surface layer with a density close to the silicon density. An increase in the helium dose causes the formation of an internal porous layer.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2012

Measurement of quasi-isentropic compressibility of helium and deuterium at pressures of 1500-2000 GPa

The quasi-isentropic compressibility of helium and deuterium plasmas at pressures of up to 1500-2000 GPa has been measured using devices with spherical geometry and an X-ray diagnostic complex comprising three betatrons and a multichannel imaging system with electro-optic gamma detectors. A deuterium density of 4.5 g/cm{sup 3} and a helium density of 3.8 g/cm{sup 3} have been obtained at pressures of 2210 and 1580 GPa, respectively. The internal energy of a deuterium plasma at the indicated pressure is about 1 MJ/cm{sup 3}, which is about 100 times greater than the specific energy of condensed chemical explosives. Analysis of the obtained data shows that the degree of helium ionization under the achieved plasma compression parameters is about 0.9.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

Generation of Lithium Clusters in Helium Plasma Flow

The formation of lithium clusters in a helium flow is considered within the method considering the widths of energy levels. It is shown that lithium atoms in a plasma flow of inert helium form a cluster consisting of lithium only. In addition to lithium clusters with interatomic distances corresponding to interatomic distances of the equilibrium state, long-lived excitations of clusters with interatomic distances of 13 Bohr radii are observed. However, if excitations are removed, such systems transfer into the ground state or decay. In addition, it is observed that Li–He systems are long-lived under conditions of external excitations but quickly lose helium when these excitations are removed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2025

Helium Bubble Physics Experiments

There are two remarkable observations about helium bubbles in plutonium: Their size does not increase much as plutonium ages, and helium-containing aged plutonium swells on heating. We propose to study these phenomena in helium-implanted aluminum.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗