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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.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Observable CMB B -modes from cosmological phase transitions

A B -mode polarization signal in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) is widely regarded as smoking gun evidence for gravitational waves produced during inflation. Here, we demonstrate that tensor perturbations sourced during noninflationary epochs can yield non-negligible B -mode signals, which can in principle complicate the interpretation of future observational data. As a case study, we consider tensor perturbations sourced in the bubble collision stage of a first-order cosmological phase transition occurring in a secluded dark sector. Although phase transitions arise from causal subhorizon physics, they nevertheless exhibit a white noise power spectrum on superhorizon scales. Power is suppressed on the large scales relevant for CMB B -mode polarization, but it is not necessarily negligible. We show that for appropriately chosen phase transition parameters, the maximal B -mode amplitude can compete with inflationary predictions that can be tested with current and future experiments. These scenarios can be differentiated by performing measurements on multiple angular scales, since the phase transition signal predicts peak power on smaller scales.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1979

An interpretation of the polarization of microwave bursts

High-spatial-resolution (a few seconds of arc) observations of microwave bursts have demonstrated that only the impulsive phase of the burst is polarized; one observes only one polarity in the burst source if it is weak (Alissandrakis and Kundu) and both polarities if it is intense (Enome et al.). These results are interpreted in terms of an asymmetrical bipolar field structure of the loop in which the energetic electrons responsible for the radiation are contained. The role of unequal field strengths at the feet of the loop on the number of electrons trapped and their pitch angle distribution are discussed in a specific model. Computations of the polarized intensity originating from each foot of the loop seem to be consistent with the observations at present available.

Kundu, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Lunar orbiting microwave beam power system

A microwave-beam power system using lunar orbiting solar-powered satellite(s) and surface rectenna(s) is investigated as a possible energy source for the moon's surface. The concept has the potential of achieving reduced system mass by placing the power source in orbit. This can greatly reduce and/or eliminate the 14-d energy storage requirement of a lunar surface solar system. Also, propellants required to de-orbit to the surface are greatly reduced. To determine the practicality of the concept and the most important factors, a zeroth-order feasibility analysis is performed. Three different operation scenarios employing state of the art technology and forecasts for two different sets of advanced technologies are investigated. To reduce the complexity of the problem, satellite(s) are assumed to be in circular equatorial orbits around the moon, supplying continuous power to a single equatorial base through a fixed horizontal rectenna on the surface. State of the art technology yields specific masses greater than 2500 kg/kw, well above projections for surface systems. The specific masses are on the order of 100 kg/kW using advanced technologies, which is within the range of projections for surface nuclear (20 kg/kW) and solar systems (500 kg/kW). Further studies examining optimization of the scenarios, other technologies, such as laser transmitters and nuclear sources, and operational issues, such as logistics, maintenance, and support, are being carried out to support the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) to the moon and Mars.

Fay, Edgar H.↗
NASA NTRS2004

A search for mountain waves in MLS stratospheric limb radiances fron the winter Northern Hemisphere: data analysis and global mountain wave modeling

Despite evidence from ground-based data that flow over mountains is a dominant source of gravity waves (GWs) for the Northern Hemisphere winter middle atmosphere, GW-related signals in global limb radiances from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) have shown little direct evidence of mountain waves.

gravity waves dynamics general circulation global ↗
NASA NTRS2021

Strong detection of the CMB lensing and galaxy weak lensing cross-correlation from ACT-DR4, Planck Legacy, and KiDS-1000

We measured the cross-correlation between galaxy weak lensing data from the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS-1000, DR4) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing data from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT, DR4) and the Planck Legacy survey. We used two samples of source galaxies, selected with photometric redshifts, (0.1 < z(B) < 1.2) and (1.2 < z(B) < 2), which produce a combined detection significance of the CMB lensing and weak galaxy lensing cross-spectrum of 7.7σ. With the lower redshift galaxy sample, for which the cross-correlation was detected at a significance of 5.3σ, we present joint cosmological constraints on the matter density parameter, Ω(m), and the matter fluctuation amplitude parameter, σ(8), marginalising over three nuisance parameters that model our uncertainty in the redshift and shear calibration as well as the intrinsic alignment of galaxies. We find our measurement to be consistent with the best-fitting flat ΛCDM cosmological models from both Planck and KiDS-1000. We demonstrate the capacity of CMB weak lensing cross-correlations to set constraints on either the redshift or shear calibration by analysing a previously unused high-redshift KiDS galaxy sample (1.2 < z(B) < 2), with the cross-correlation detected at a significance of 7σ. This analysis provides an independent assessment for the accuracy of redshift measurements in a regime that is challenging to calibrate directly owing to known incompleteness in spectroscopic surveys.

Naomi Clare Robertson↗
DOE OSTI2024

Decoherence Noise on the Superconducting Qubits Training Program

Quantum computing is a growing field with promising applications in a variety of fields such as healthcare, energy consumption, and cryptography. Quantum computing leverages the principles of quantum mechanics - superposition and entanglement. Yet, in the Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) Era - quantum systems face the major challenge of decoherence due to noise. This era is characterized by low amounts of qubits and high gate error. Decoherence leads to the loss of the quantum information stored in the qubit. Noise occurs with any quantum system that is exposed to the environment. It should also be noted that quantum information can be stored in the cavity - Fermilab specializes in coupling transmons to ultrahigh-Q SRF cavities. The Superconducting Qubits Training Program (SQTP) provides a visualization for beginners in quantum computing. The open quantum system simulated is a superconducting qubit (two-level atom) coupled to a microwave cavity whose excitations are photons. The Rotating Wave Approximation of the Jaynes-Cumming Hamiltonian is used. SQTP utilizes open-source Python-based libraries scQubits, NumPy, and QuTiP alongside the Master Lindblad equation. In this project, we study the different decay behaviors of qubits and cavities with collapse operators.

Lopez, Sara↗
NASA NTRS2003

Noncoherent Tracking of a Source of a Data-Modulated Signal

A proposed tracking receiver system containing three suitably positioned antenna elements and special signal-processing equipment would determine the direction of incidence of a microwave signal containing spread-spectrum digital data modulation. If the system were to contain two sets of antenna elements separated by a known baseline, it could determine the location of the transmitter as the intersection of the lines of incidence on the two antennas. Such systems could be used for diverse purposes in outer space and on Earth, including tracking astronauts and small robotic spacecraft working outside a spacecraft or space station, and locating cellular telephones from which distress calls have been made. The principle of operation does not require the transmission of a special identifying or distress signal by the cellular telephone or other transmitter to be tracked; instead, the system could utilize the data signal routinely sent by the transmitter, provided that the signal had the characteristics needed for processing.

Arndt, G. Dickey↗
NASA NTRS1966

Radio Astronomy

Radio astronomical studies in OH interferometry, discrete radio sources, and spectrum measurements of Venus and Jupiter

SPECTRAL EMISSION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Hardware-Efficient Microwave-Activated Tunable Coupling between Superconducting Qubits

Generating high-fidelity, tunable entanglement between qubits is crucial for realizing gate-based quantum computation. In superconducting circuits, tunable interactions are often implemented using flux-tunable qubits or coupling elements, adding control complexity and noise sources. Here, we realize a tunable $ZZ$ interaction between two transmon qubits with fixed frequencies and fixed coupling, induced by driving both transmons off-resonantly. We show tunable coupling over one order of magnitude larger than the static coupling, and change the sign of the interaction, enabling cancellation of the idle coupling. Further, this interaction is amenable to large quantum processors: the drive frequency can be flexibly chosen to avoid spurious transitions, and because both transmons are driven, it is resilient to microwave crosstalk. We apply this interaction to implement a controlled phase (CZ) gate with a gate fidelity of $99.43(1)\%$ as measured by cycle benchmarking, and we observe the fidelity is limited by incoherent errors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2026

Enhancing Coherence Limits in Superconducting Quantum Systems for Computing and Sensing

This talk will highlight recent efforts at the SQMS Center to develop qudit-based quantum computing architectures using superconducting three-dimensional (3D) cavities, as well as the use of these ultra-coherent cavities for quantum sensing. I will present systematic studies of materials and devices aimed at identifying and mitigating the dominant sources of decoherence—including two-level systems (TLS), quasiparticles, and other noise mechanisms—in both transmons and 3D cavities. These investigations include microwave loss characterization of niobium, tantalum, aluminum, their native oxides, and substrate materials such as silicon and sapphire. By combining measurements on qubits and cavities, we disentangle subsystem-specific loss mechanisms and establish a hierarchy of mitigation strategies, leading to transmon coherence times exceeding one millisecond. I will also discuss studies of quasiparticle dynamics, including quasiparticle bursts observed in qubits operated both above ground and at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory, and the observation that applied magnetic fields can suppress temporal T₁ fluctuations. Building on these advances, we demonstrate a record-coherence two-cell cavity-qudit system with coherence times exceeding 20 milliseconds. Leveraging tunable sideband interactions together with error-resilient protocols, including measurement-based error correction and post-selection, we achieve high-fidelity quantum state control, including the preparation of Fock states up to N=20 with fidelities above 95% and the generation of high-fidelity two-mode entangled states. Finally, I will discuss how these ultra-coherent quantum systems are enabling emerging quantum sensing applications, including searches for dark matter and gravitational waves.

Roy, Tanay [Fermilab] (ORCID:000000019442862X)↗
NASA NTRS1975

Observations of nine supernova remnants at 10.6 GHz

Intensity contour and polarization observation maps of nine supernova remnants at a microwave frequency are presented and discussed. The data provided are the highest-frequency (10.6 GHz) measurements to date for several of these sources and should therefore be useful in determining their spectra. Polarization ranges from 2 or 3% to as high as 40-50%. Integrated fluxes for the sources vary from about 3 to more than 25.

Becker, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Multispectral remote observations of hydrologic features on the North Slope of Alaska

Visible and near-infrared Landsat satellite imagery and active and passive aircraft microwave data are used to analyze some hydrologic features in Arctic Alaska. Lake studies using passive microwave imagery reveal that an increase in the microwave brightness temperature correlates with an increase in ice thickness. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery allows determination of lakes that are frozen to the bottom under certain conditions. Landsat imagery of lakes can be used to study summer ice cover dissipation, an indicator of lake depth. River channel morphometry and morphology studies are accomplished using SAR data with good (25 m) resolution. Landsat imagery is shown to be useful for analyzing interannual variations in the extent of river icings (aufeis). Snow depth variations are shown to be potentially discernable using passive microwave data. Finally, the present and potential applications of these remote sensing studies are discussed; these data are useful for locating potable water sources, planning construction in good locations, and for analyzing interannual climate fluctuations.

Hall, D. K.↗
NASA NTRS1982

A large scale height galactic component of the diffuse 2-60 keV background

The diffuse 2-60 keV X-ray background has a galactic component clearly detectable by its strong variation with both galactic latitude and longitude. This galactic component is typically 10 percent of the extragalactic background toward the galactic center, half that strong toward the anticenter, and extrapolated to a few percent of the extragalactic background toward the galactic poles. It is acceptably modeled by a finite radius emission disk with a scale height of several kiloparsecs. The averaged galactic spectrum is best fitted by a thermal spectrum of kT about 9 keV, a spectrum much softer than the about 40 keV spectrum of the extragalactic component. The most likely source of this emission is low luminosity stars with large scale heights such as subdwarfs. Inverse Compton emission from GeV electrons on the microwave background contributes only a fraction of the galactic component unless the local cosmic ray electron spectrum and intensity are atypical.

Iwan, D.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Photochemistry of acetylene at 1849 A

It is pointed out that the photochemistry of acetylene in the 1500-2000 A region at low pressure, particularly the quantum yield of C2H production and the reactions of C2H with H2 and hydrocarbons, is important in understanding the photochemistry of Jovian and Titan atmospheres. The present investigation was initiated to obtain information on these issues. The 1849 A light source used in the study was a sealed quartz tube containing a drop of Hg and 2 torr of Ar excited by a microwave generator. The lamp was attached to a Pyrex reaction cell. The amount of diacetylene produced was measured on the basis of absorption near 1650 A. Reaction mixtures of acetylene with N2, He, C2H6, or C3H8 were prepared. Attention is given to the absorption cross section, the photolysis of acetylene, and the photolysis of acetylene in the presence of other gases. It is found that the photochemical process of acetylene at 1849 A may represent that of acetylene in the Titan atmosphere.

Okabe, H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

A large scale height galactic component of the diffuse 2-60 keV background

The diffuse 2-60 keV X-ray background has a galactic component clearly detectable by its strong variation with both galactic latitude and longitude. This galactic component is typically 10 percent of the extragalactic background toward the galactic center, half that strong toward the anticenter, and extrapolated to a few percent of the extragalactic background toward the galactic poles. It is acceptably modeled by a finite radius emission disk with a scale height of several kiloparsecs. The averaged galactic spectrum is best fitted by a thermal spectrum of kT about 9 keV, a spectrum much softer than the about 40 keV spectrum of the extragalactic component. The most likely source of this emission is low luminosity stars with large scale heights such as subdwarfs. Inverse Compton emission from GeV electrons on the microwave background contributes only a fraction of the galactic component unless the local cosmic ray electron spectrum and intensity are atypical.

Iwan, D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Power for the moon: Is microwave power beaming an option?

Microwave power beaming options for powering lunar bases are presented in viewgraph form. Information is given on power dependent system masses, a solar source beam power system, a nuclear source beam power system, a three satellite beam power system, antenna configurations, and antenna design.

Cull, Ronald C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Analysis of small-scale microwave background radiation anisotropy in the presence of foreground contamination

Many of the current round of experiments searching for anisotropies in the microwave background radiation (MBR) are confronting the problem of how to disentangle the cosmic signal from contamination due to Galactic and intergalactic foreground sources. Here we show how commonly used likelihood function techniques can be generalized to account for foreground. Specifically we set some restrictions on the spectrum of foreground contamination but allow the amplitude to vary arbitrarily. The likelihood function thus generalized gives reasonable limits on the MBR anisotropy which, in some cases, are not much less restrictive than what one would get from more detailed modeling of the foreground. Furthermore, the likelihood function is exactly the same as one would obtain by simply projecting out foreground contamination and looking at the reduced data set. We apply this generalized analysis to the recent medium-angle data sets of ACME-HEMT (Gaier et al. 1992; Schuster et al. 1993) and MAX (Meinhold et al. 1993; Gunderson et al. 1993). The resulting analysis constrains the one free parameter in the standard cold dark matter theory to be Q(sub rms-ps) = 18(sub -5 sup +8) microKelvin. This best fit value, although in striking agreement with the normalization from Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE), is not a very good fit, with an overall chi-squared/degrees of freedom = 208/168. We also argue against three commonly used methods of dealing with foreground: (1) ignoring it completely; (2) subtracting off a best-fit foreground and treating the residuals as if uncontaminated; and (3) culling data which appears to be contaminated by foreground.

Dodelson, Scott↗
NASA NTRS1991

The large-scale surface brightness distribution of the x ray background

The x-ray background (XRB) and the microwave background are the dominant isotropic radiation fields available for measurement. There was extensive work on trying to determine the physical origin of the background. That is, whether it is due to a superposition of numerous faint well-known sources, such as active galaxies, an early unidentified population of AGN at high redshift, a new population of objects, or to truly diffuse processes or to a superposition of these. However, while of great intrinsic interest, these studies were not aimed at using the XRB to provide the cosmological information that was gleaned from the microwave background. An alternate approach is presented, which uses the available information on the large, greater than 5 deg, scale distribution of the sky flux to see if the XRB can provide such constraints.

Mushotzky, Richard↗