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At least 613 records · Page 34

Simons Observatory: characterizing the Large Aperture Telescope Receiver with radio holography

Here, we present near-field radio holography measurements of the Simons Observatory Large Aperture Telescope Receiver optics. These measurements demonstrate that radio holography of complex millimeter-wave optical systems comprising cryogenic lenses, filters, and feed horns can provide detailed characterization of wave propagation before deployment. We used the measured amplitude and phase, at 4 K, of the receiver near-field beam pattern to predict two key performance parameters: 1) the amount of scattered light that will spill past the telescope to 300 K and 2) the beam pattern expected from the receiver when fielded on the telescope. These cryogenic measurements informed the removal of a filter, which led to improved optical efficiency and reduced sidelobes at the exit of the receiver. Holography measurements of this system suggest that the spilled power past the telescope mirrors will be less than 1%, and the main beam with its near sidelobes are consistent with the nominal telescope design. This is the first time such parameters have been confirmed in the lab prior to deployment of a new receiver. This approach is broadly applicable to millimeter and submillimeter instruments.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Multiphysics modeling of printed surface acoustic wave thermometers

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) transducers are a class of sensors and actuators that operate on the fundamental principle of piezoelectricity. Aerosol jet printing and other additive manufacturing techniques have resulted in the low-cost fabrication of low-power and small-footprint SAW devices that are suitable for sensing in high-temperature and radioactive environments. In this work, we developed a series of temperature-dependent finite element models for a SAW transducer consisting of printed silver interdigitated transducers (IDTs) deposited onto piezoelectric lithium niobate. Modeling accuracy was evaluated experimentally from room temperature to 200 °C using an aerosol-jet-printed SAW thermometer. A time-domain study enabled visualization of the wave propagation and successfully guided the denoising of the scattering parameter measurement. Additionally, frequency-domain models using traditional modal analysis or the unique port boundary condition feature in COMSOL Multiphysics accurately predicted the temperature-driven natural frequency drift in the SAW thermometer. The finite element models developed in this study serve to facilitate the computer-aided design of future SAW transducers for applications in harsh environments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Integrating Experiments and Well Logs to Predict Caney Shale Static Mechanical Properties During Production with Supervised Machine Learning

Caney shale is one of the emerging oil reservoirs in Oklahoma. Understanding the impact of effective stress on its mechanical properties is critical for predicting hydraulic fracture geometry and overall hydrocarbon production. The objective of our study is to evaluate the impact of effective stress on the dynamic Young’s modulus using ultrasonic velocity measurements for Caney shale samples. A triaxial cell was utilized to measure ultrasonic (P-wave and S-wave) velocities for ten downhole Caney shale samples under various effective stresses to indirectly assess the impact of pore pressure change. The dynamic Young’s moduli estimated from these measurements were integrated with available conventional well logs (excluding sonic logs) and triaxial test results from Benge et al. (2021) to predict the static Young’s modulus using Random Forest (RF) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) models. The results showed that the estimated dynamic Young’s moduli from ultrasonic measurements were higher than the corresponding static Young’s modulus of cores from the same vertical well at similar depths. With increasing effective stress, the dynamic Young’s modulus increased for all samples. The estimated dynamic-to-static correction factor tended to be higher in zones of high neutron porosity (PHIN) and low density compared to other zones. Finally, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) for RF and XGBoost models identified depth, gamma ray (GR), and PHIN as key features for predicting the static Young’s modulus. This study enhances our understanding of the dynamic and static Young’s moduli for the Caney shale interval, as a function of effective stress and conventional well logs. The findings from this study can improve predictions of production throughout the well's lifespan by offering insights into the mechanical property degradation resulting from pore pressure depletion.

Kholy, Sherif M.↗

On the potentially transformative role of auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo in quantum chemistry: A highly accurate method for transition metals and beyond

Approximate solutions to the ab initio electronic structure problem have been a focus of theoretical and computational chemistry research for much of the past century, with the goal of predicting relevant energy differences to within “chemical accuracy” (1 kcal/mol). For small organic molecules, or in general, for weakly correlated main group chemistry, a hierarchy of single-reference wave function methods has been rigorously established, spanning perturbation theory and the coupled cluster (CC) formalism. For these systems, CC with singles, doubles, and perturbative triples is known to achieve chemical accuracy, albeit at O(N7) computational cost. In addition, a hierarchy of density functional approximations of increasing formal sophistication, known as Jacob’s ladder, has been shown to systematically reduce average errors over large datasets representing weakly correlated chemistry. However, the accuracy of such computational models is less clear in the increasingly important frontiers of chemical space including transition metals and f-block compounds, in which strong correlation can play an important role in reactivity. A stochastic method, phaseless auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (ph-AFQMC), has been shown to be capable of producing chemically accurate predictions even for challenging molecular systems beyond the main group, with relatively low O(N3 − N4) cost and near-perfect parallel efficiency. Herein, we present our perspectives on the past, present, and future of the ph-AFQMC method. We focus on its potential in transition metal quantum chemistry to be a highly accurate, systematically improvable method that can reliably probe strongly correlated systems in biology and chemical catalysis and provide reference thermochemical values (for future development of density functionals or interatomic potentials) when experiments are either noisy or absent. Finally, we discuss the present limitations of the method and where we expect near-term development to be most fruitful.

Chemistry↗

Unitarity bounds on effective field theories at the LHC

Effective Field Theory (EFT) extensions of the Standard Model are tools to compute observables (e.g. cross sections with partonic center-of-mass energy √s^) as a systematically improvable expansion suppressed by a new physics scale M. If one is interested in EFT predictions in the parameter space where M < √s^, concerns of self-consistency emerge, which can manifest as a violation of perturbative partial-wave unitarity. However, when we search for the effects of an EFT at a hadron collider with center-of-mass energy √s using an inclusive strategy, we typically do not have access to the event-by-event value of √s^. This motivates the need for a formalism that incorporates parton distribution functions into the perturbative partial-wave unitarity analysis. Developing such a framework and initiating an exploration of its implications is the goal of this work. Our approach opens up a potentially valid region of the EFT parameter space where M << √s. We provide evidence that there exist valid EFTs in this parameter space. The perturbative unitarity bounds are sensitive to the details of a given search, an effect we investigate by varying kinematic cuts.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Classical Preoptimization Approach for ADAPT-VQE: Maximizing the Potential of High-Performance Computing Resources to Improve Quantum Simulation of Chemical Applications

The ADAPT-VQE algorithm is a promising method for generating a compact ansatz based on derivatives of the underlying cost function, and it yields accurate predictions of electronic energies for molecules. In this work, we report the implementation and performance of ADAPT-VQE with our recently developed sparse wave function circuit solver (SWCS) in terms of accuracy and efficiency for molecular systems with up to 52 spin orbitals. The SWCS can be tuned to balance computational cost and accuracy, which extends the application of ADAPT-VQE for molecular electronic structure calculations to larger basis sets and a larger number of qubits. Using this tunable feature of the SWCS, we propose an alternative optimization procedure for ADAPT-VQE to reduce the computational cost of the optimization. Furthermore, by preoptimizing a quantum simulation with a parametrized ansatz generated with ADAPT-VQE/SWCS, we aim to utilize the power of classical high-performance computing in order to minimize the work required on noisy intermediate-scale quantum hardware, which offers a promising path toward demonstrating quantum advantage for chemical applications.

ADAPT-VQE↗

Ocean internal tides suppress tropical cyclones in the South China Sea

Abstract Tropical Cyclones (TCs) are devastating natural disasters. Analyzing four decades of global TC data, here we find that among all global TC-active basins, the South China Sea (SCS) stands out as particularly difficult ocean for TCs to intensify, despite favorable atmosphere and ocean conditions. Over the SCS, TC intensification rate and its probability for a rapid intensification (intensification by ≥ 15.4 m s −1 day −1 ) are only 1/2 and 1/3, respectively, of those for the rest of the world ocean. Originating from complex interplays between astronomic tides and the SCS topography, gigantic ocean internal tides interact with TC-generated oceanic near-inertial waves and induce a strong ocean cooling effect, suppressing the TC intensification. Inclusion of this interaction between internal tides and TC in operational weather prediction systems is expected to improve forecast of TC intensity in the SCS and in other regions where strong internal tides are present.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Low-energy electronic interactions in ferrimagnetic Sr 2 CrReO 6 thin films

We reveal in this study the fundamental low-energy landscape in the ferrimagnetic Sr 2 CrReO 6 double perovskite and describe the underlying mechanisms responsible for the three low-energy excitations below 1.4 eV. Here, based on resonant inelastic x-ray scattering and magnetic dynamics calculations, and experiments collected from both Sr 2 CrReO 6 powders and epitaxially strained thin films, we reveal a strong competition between spin-orbit coupling, Hund’s coupling, and the strain-induced tetragonal crystal field. Here, we also demonstrate that a spin-flip process is at the origin of the lowest excitation at 200 meV, and we bring insights into the predicted presence of orbital ordering in this material. We study the nature of the magnons through a combination of ab initio and spin-wave theory calculations, and show that two nondegenerate magnon bands exist and are dominated either by rhenium or chromium spins. The rhenium band is found to be flat at about 200 meV (±25 meV) through X-L-W-U high-symmetry points and is dispersive toward Γ.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Resonant shattering flares as asteroseismic tests of chiral effective field theory

Chiral effective field theory (𝜒⁢EFT) has proved to be a powerful microscopic framework for predicting the properties of neutron-rich nuclear matter with quantified theoretical uncertainties up to about twice the nuclear saturation density. Tests of 𝜒⁢EFT predictions are typically performed at low densities using nuclear experiments, with neutron star (NS) constraints only being considered at high densities. In this work, we discuss how asteroseismic quasinormal modes within NSs could be used to constrain specific matter properties at particular densities not just the integrated quantities to which bulk NS observables are sensitive. We focus on the crust-core interface mode, showing that measuring this mode's frequency would provide a meaningful test of 𝜒⁢EFT at densities around half the saturation density. Conversely, we use nuclear matter properties predicted by 𝜒⁢EFT to estimate that this mode's frequency is around 185 ± 50Hz. Asteroseismic observables such as resonant phase shifts in gravitational-wave signals and multimessenger resonant shattering flare timings, therefore, have the potential to provide useful tests of 𝜒⁢EFT.

effective field theory↗

Reversal of Simple Hydrogenic Isotope Scaling Laws in Tokamak Edge Turbulence

The role of nonadiabatic electrons in regulating the hydrogenic isotope-mass scaling of gyrokinetic turbulence in tokamak fusion plasmas is assessed in the transition from ion-dominated core transport regimes to electron-dominated edge transport regimes. We propose a new isotope-mass scaling law that describes the electron-to-ion mass-ratio dependence of turbulent ion and electron energy fluxes. Here, the massratio dependence arises from the nonadiabatic response associated with fast electron parallel motion and plays a key role in altering—and in the case of the DIII-D edge, favorably reversing—the naive gyro-Bohm scaling behavior. In the reversed regime hydrogen energy fluxes are larger than deuterium fluxes, which is the opposite of the naive prediction.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Beirut Explosion Yield and Mushroom Cloud Height - Effects of the Source Environment

I use crater dimensions to estimate the yield of the August 4th, 2020 Beirut explosion to be equivalent to approximately 1.4 kilotons of TNT with a lower bound of about 0.7 kilotons. Based on the amount of ammonium nitrate reported to have been stored at the Beirut harbor, I assume an upper bound for the yield of 2.75 kilotons. However, it is highly likely that the yield was less than 2.75 kilotons, since reported values for TNT equivalence of ammonium nitrate are typically much less than one hundred percent. The crater-size based yield estimates are based on crater radius estimates from satellite imagery and empirical curves and data for scaled crater radius from past chemical and nuclear explosions. I present evidence that suggests that the relatively large crater radius is due to a high degree of coupling of shock wave energy to the surrounding medium and a reduction of the effective stress because of a high level of saturation of the geologic media beneath the explosion. I provide yield estimates based on seismic body-wave magnitude and crater depth as corroborating evidence. I compare preliminary estimates for the maximum debris cloud height, based on cell phone videos/images, with predicted maximum heights for this yield range from empirical formulas and numerical cloud-rise models. Based on a preliminary analysis of cell phone footage, the observed maximum cloud height appears to be approximately 1600 m. This is much lower than that predicted using standard empirical formulas and buoyant cloud rise models. I present results from a modified buoyant cloud rise model that more accurately predicts the maximum cloud height by allowing for the inclusion of a fixed amount of air and/or water into the fireball at the start of cloud rise. The amount of mass that needs to be added at the start, to reproduce the observed maximum cloud height, is relatively small compared to the total mass entrained during cloud rise. A much greater amount of dry air or debris is required, relative to water, for an equivalent reduction in maximum cloud height. The ammonium nitrate is one possible source for water in the fireball since it was being stored in a very humid environment and ammonium nitrate is known to be hygroscopic. The ground beneath the explosion, especially if it were saturated, and the nearby harbor could also have been sources for water or debris in the fireball.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Improved Time-Stepping Methods in Global to Regional Ocean Modeling (Annual Status Report 2020)

Time stepping algorithms are an important part of ocean models, and strongly influence both the accuracy of solution and performance. There have been a number of projects investigating various improvements for ocean time-stepping schemes in the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Ocean (MPAS-Ocean), a component of the DOE Energy Exascale Earth System Model. Ocean dynamics include fast surface gravity waves, which are two-dimensional, and slower internal waves, which are three-dimensional, so ocean models use a split time-stepping scheme that separates these barotropic and baroclinic modes for efficiency. MPAS-Ocean runs on variable-resolution horizontal meshes, and must scale to tens of thousands of cores and millions of horizontal gridcells. Ocean models require time stepping algorithms that are customized to these needs, and which are tuned for performance on various resolutions and architectures.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Improved Time-Stepping Methods in Global to Regional Ocean Modeling (Annual Status Report)

Time stepping algorithms are an important part of ocean models, and strongly influence both the accuracy of solution and performance. There have been a number of projects investigating various improvements for ocean time-stepping schemes in the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Ocean (MPAS-Ocean), a component of the DOE Energy Exascale Earth System Model. Ocean dynamics include fast surface gravity waves, which are two-dimensional, and slower internal waves, which are three-dimensional, so ocean models use a split time-stepping scheme that separates these barotropic and baroclinic modes for efficiency. MPAS-Ocean runs on variable-resolution horizontal meshes, and must scale to tens of thousands of cores and millions of horizontal gridcells. Ocean models require time stepping algorithms that are customized to these needs, and which are tuned for performance on various resolutions and architectures.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Particle Theory and Cosmology

This project covered theoretical studies in particle physics, particle astrophysics and cosmology, aiming to bridge theoretical models with observable phenomena. The central focus was on exploring innovative mechanisms that could simultaneously address several outstanding puzzles in these areas, including the nature of dark matter, the muon g-2 anomaly, the existence of topologically stable monopoles, the generation of observable gravitational waves from early universe phenomena and high energy cosmic rays. One of the major achievements of this project was the development of models that predict new physics accessible through current and forthcoming experimental setups, both in particle colliders and astrophysical observations. These models have been instrumental in proposing verifiable predictions concerning supersymmetric extensions, the dynamics of cosmic strings and monopoles, and the intricate processes underpinning baryogenesis and reheating post-inflation. In tackling the dark matter conundrum, the project proposed several candidates within extended frameworks, such as light Z' models, pseudo-Goldstone dark matter, and scenarios integrating dark matter with inflationary cosmology. Each model outlined pathways for detection through direct, indirect, and collider search strategies, marking significant strides in the hunt for dark matter. Another cornerstone of the project was the in-depth analysis of inflationary models compliant with the Trans-Planckian Censorship Conjecture, highlighting the compatibility of axion dark matter within such frameworks. This not only provided a coherent picture of early universe cosmology but also delineated clear experimental signatures. The exploration of grand unified theories yielded insights into the potential discovery of monopoles and novel particle configurations at energy scales accessible to current and future colliders. This endeavor expanded the predictive power of these theories, particularly in the context of proton decay and the properties of Higgs-portal dark matter. Throughout the project, significant emphasis was placed on ensuring the theoretical developments were grounded in experimental testability. This led to a series of publications across prestigious journals, each contributing to the vibrant discourse at the intersection of particle physics and cosmology. In summary, this project has elucidated pathways beyond the Standard Model that are ripe for exploration through both ongoing and upcoming experimental efforts. The comprehensive approach adopted herein not only enhances our understanding of the fundamental forces and constituents of the universe but also propels the field towards new frontiers in high-energy physics and cosmology.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Dependence of Solar Wind Proton Temperature on the Polarization Properties of Alfvénic Fluctuations at Ion-kinetic Scales

In this work, we use fluctuating magnetic helicity to investigate the polarization properties of Alfvénic fluctuations at ion-kinetic scales in the solar wind as a function of β p , the ratio of proton thermal pressure to magnetic pressure, and θ vB , the angle between the proton flow and local mean magnetic field, B 0 . Using almost 15 yr of Wind observations, we separate the contributions to helicity from fluctuations with wavevectors, k, quasi-parallel and oblique to B 0 , finding that the helicity of Alfvénic fluctuations is consistent with predictions from linear Vlasov theory. This result suggests that the nonlinear turbulent fluctuations at these scales share at least some polarization properties with Alfvén waves. Furthermore, we also investigate the dependence of proton temperature in the β p –θ vB plane to probe for possible signatures of turbulent dissipation, finding that it correlates with θ vB . The proton temperature parallel to B 0 is higher in the parameter space where we measure the helicity of right-handed Alfvénic fluctuations, and the temperature perpendicular to B 0 is higher where we measure left-handed fluctuations. This finding is inconsistent with the general assumption that by sampling different θ vB in the solar wind we can analyze the dependence of the turbulence distribution on θ kB , the angle between k and B 0 . After ruling out both instrumental and expansion effects, we conclude that our results provide new evidence for the importance of local kinetic processes that depend on θ vB in determining proton temperature in the solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Gravitational-wave-to-matter coupling of superfluid Fermi gases near unitarity

It is well known that gravitational waves distort equilibrium matter globally, making them amenable to detection with laser interferometers. Less well known is the fact that gravitational waves create local nonequilibrium stresses inside matter, which could conceivably lead to alternative detection methods. The gravitational wave-to-matter coupling κ is a transport coefficient depending on the material and is poorly known for most substances. Here, in the present work, we calculate κ for a superfluid Fermi gas near unitarity using large-N techniques, finding κ= $\frac{n}{12m}$, with n the number density and m the mass of the fermion, matching the result for free Dirac fermions at zero temperature. Our prediction is amenable to nonperturbative theoretical as well as experimental tests.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A Review of Modeling Approaches for Understanding and Monitoring the Environmental Effects of Marine Renewable Energy

Understanding the environmental effects of marine energy (ME) devices is fundamental for their sustainable development and efficient regulation. However, measuring effects is difficult given the limited number of operational devices currently deployed. Numerical modeling is a powerful tool for estimating environmental effects and quantifying risks. It is most effective when informed by empirical data and coordinated with the development and implementation of monitoring protocols. We reviewed modeling techniques and information needs for six environmental stressor–receptor interactions related to ME: changes in oceanographic systems, underwater noise, electromagnetic fields (EMFs), changes in habitat, collision risk, and displacement of marine animals. This review considers the effects of tidal, wave, and ocean current energy converters. We summarized the availability and maturity of models for each stressor–receptor interaction and provide examples involving ME devices when available and analogous examples otherwise. Models for oceanographic systems and underwater noise were widely available and sometimes applied to ME, but need validation in real-world settings. Many methods are available for modeling habitat change and displacement of marine animals, but few examples related to ME exist. Models of collision risk and species response to EMFs are still in stages of theory development and need more observational data, particularly about species behavior near devices, to be effective. We conclude by synthesizing model status, commonalities between models, and overlapping monitoring needs that can be exploited to develop a coordinated and efficient set of protocols for predicting and monitoring the environmental effects of ME.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Close-Out Project Description for Koepke's Dept of Energy grant DE-SC0021405

Objectives: To establish, for lab & space conditions, EM-IEDDI’s (electromagnetic shear-driven instability's) dispersion relation, unstable range, instability threshold, and mode characteristics, we need LAPD’s Alfven-wave-favorable electromagnetic-style conditions, including higher "beta" (0.001 < beta ≤ 0.3) and low-collisionality. Also, we attempted to intentionally launch or spontaneously destabilize compressional and shear Alfven waves in the strong, localized, perpendicular-velocity-shear region at the interface between coaxial plasmas (one plasma cylinder inside an outer, otherwise hollow, tube, each having a different, controllable, value of plasma electrostatic potential, i.e., “space” potential (not to be confused with the temperature-dependent “floating” potential of an object immersed in the plasma). Nonlinear wave-wave interactions between same-family (EM-IEDD or Alfven) and cross-family (EM-IEDD-with-Alfven) fluctuations were targeted for documentation over a range of spectral overlap. Although laboratory experiments were conducted, the following theoretical work was left unfinished: Analytical non-modal prediction Computational non-modal prediction Check to see if Mikhailenko’s theory formulation leads to his published graphs

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗