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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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At least 649 records · Page 36
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

Heterogenous Combustion of Porous Graphite Particles in Normal and Microgravity

Combustion of solid fuel particles has many important applications, including power generation and space propulsion systems. The current models available for describing the combustion process of these particles, especially porous solid particles, include various simplifying approximations. One of the most limiting approximations is the lumping of the physical properties of the porous fuel with the heterogeneous chemical reaction rate constants. The primary objective of the present work is to develop a rigorous model that could decouple such physical and chemical effects from the global heterogeneous reaction rates. For the purpose of validating this model, experiments with porous graphite particles of varying sizes and porosity are being performed. The details of this experimental and theoretical model development effort are described.

Chelliah, Harsha K.↗
DOE OSTI2021

A blessing in disguise : Characterisations of ProtoDUNE photon showers for neutrino measurements in DUNE

There are few areas of particle physics as open to new discoveries as the neutrino sector. Although these particles are among the most abundant in the universe, their weak coupling to ordinary matter makes them a challenge to study. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an upcoming precision experiment in neutrino physics planned to be built between Illinois and South Dakota in the US. The most powerful neutrino beam in the world will be aimed at the largest liquid argon time projection chamber in the world through 1300 km of solid rock. In order to prototype this detector, a scale model was constructed and operated at CERN in 2018 called ProtoDUNE. This thesis presents three studies performed on this detector. The first concerns the readout of detector data by the FELIX data acquisition system, as well as compression studies performed on the same data. The second study concerns the identification of photons created in neutral pion decay, which form a major background to neutrino-produced electrons. The distinction between electrons and photons is based on the differing energy deposition in the initial part of the particle showers they produce. The third study concerns the energy reconstruction of particle showers in the detector. Although photon showers created from neutral pion decay are a major background to the eventual neutrino signal, they have a known energy profile and can thus be used to calibrate the energy reconstruction of particle showers in general, a vital requirement for DUNE’s physics goals.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Measurement of the Total Hadronic $\pi^-$ on Argon Cross Section in the Kinetic Energy Range from 0.2-1 Giga-Electron Volts in a Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber

The liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) technology offers fine-grained tracking along with excellent calorimetric and particle identification capabilities, making it a powerful tool for experimental neutrino physics. Thus, the LArTPC has become the technology of choice for studying neutrino oscillations over short ( 1000 km) baselines by experiments such as MicroBooNE, SBND, ICARUS, and DUNE. The LArIAT (Liquid Argon in a Test-beam) experiment exposes a LArTPC to a controlled beam of charged particles at the Fermilab Test Beam Facility to perform calibration studies and measurements of charged hadron-argon cross sections, with the goal of helping to reduce systematic uncertainties in LArTPC-based neutrino experiments. This work presents a measurement of the total hadronic π⁻-Ar cross section in the kinetic energy range from 0.2 GeV to 1 GeV, using data from the LArIAT experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2020

First Measurement of Differential Charged Current Quasielastic–like $\nu_\mu$ -Argon Scattering Cross Sections with the MicroBooNE Detector

Current and future generation neutrino oscillation experiments aim towards a high-precision mea- surement of the oscillation parameters and that requires an unprecedented understanding of neutrino-nucleus scattering. Charged-current quasi-elastic (CCQE) scattering is the process in which the neutrino produces a charged lepton and removes a single intact nucleon from the nu- cleus without producing any additional particles. For existing and forthcoming accelerator–based neutrino experiments, CCQE interactions are either the dominant process or part of the signal.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS2003

Combustion Of Porous Graphite Particles In Oxygen Enriched Air

Combustion of solid fuel particles has many important applications, including power generation and space propulsion systems. The current models available for describing the combustion process of these particles, especially porous solid particles, include various simplifying approximations. One of the most limiting approximations is the lumping of the physical properties of the porous fuel with the heterogeneous chemical reaction rate constants [1]. The primary objective of the present work is to develop a rigorous modeling approach that could decouple such physical and chemical effects from the global heterogeneous reaction rates. For the purpose of validating this model, experiments with porous graphite particles of varying sizes and porosity are being performed under normal and micro gravity.

Delisle, Andrew J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Electron-beam energy reconstruction for neutrino oscillation measurements

Neutrinos exist in one of three types or ‘flavours’—electron, muon and tau neutrinos—and oscillate from one flavour to another when propagating through space. This phenomena is one of the few that cannot be described using the standard model of particle physics (reviewed in ref. 1), and so its experimental study can provide new insight into the nature of our Universe (reviewed in ref. 2). Neutrinos oscillate as a function of their propagation distance (L) divided by their energy (E). Therefore, experiments extract oscillation parameters by measuring their energy distribution at different locations. As accelerator-based oscillation experiments cannot directly measure E, the interpretation of these experiments relies heavily on phenomenological models of neutrino–nucleus interactions to infer E. Here we exploit the similarity of electron–nucleus and neutrino–nucleus interactions, and use electron scattering data with known beam energies to test energy reconstruction methods and interaction models. We find that even in simple interactions where no pions are detected, only a small fraction of events reconstruct to the correct incident energy. More importantly, widely used interaction models reproduce the reconstructed energy distribution only qualitatively and the quality of the reproduction varies strongly with beam energy. This shows both the need and the pathway to improve current models to meet the requirements of next-generation, high-precision experiments such as Hyper-Kamiokande (Japan) and DUNE (USA).

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Probing the shear-induced microstructure of a smectite clay aqueous suspensions using rheo-USANS and rheo-SIPLI measurements

Hypothesis: The static microstructure of aqueous sodium-montmorillonite (Na-Mt) suspensions at low ionic strengths (where Particle Size/Debye Length ≈1) exhibits both the particle–particle ordering as well as aggregation with repulsive ordered domains having characteristic optical birefringence and attractive aggregated entities larger than 20 µm resulting in ever-increasing yield stresses also known as physical aging-rejuvenation behavior. We hypothesize that the attractive particle–particle aggregation is the underlying cause behind the physical aging-rejuvenation behavior observed in Na-Mt suspensions with no contribution from structural dynamics driven by repulsive particle–particle ordering or jamming. Experiments: We investigate the shear-induced microstructure of aqueous Na-Mt suspensions in the sol and gel state using rheo-ultra-small angle neutron scattering (rheo-USANS) experiments at shear rates of 1, 50, 500, and 2000 s −1 . We also perform rheo-shear-induced polarization light imaging (rheo-SIPLI) experiments to relate ordering with shearing and aging. Findings: Shearing the suspensions at low to moderate shear rates induces particle–particle aggregation and shearing at high shear rates induces the breakage of particle–particle aggregation in the sol and gel states, suggesting the microstructural aggregation in the sol and gel state is shear sensitive and a full rejuvenation or breakage of particle–particle aggregation is only achieved at a minimum critical shear rate. The rheo-SIPLI experiments reveal that the sol and gel state exhibited strong Maltese cross patterns at a shear rate of 1000 s −1 , indicating particle–particle ordering. Post shearing, the gel exhibited temporal evolution of storage modulus without any noticeable influence on the appearance of the Maltese cross pattern indicating physical aging and particle ordering are distinct length scale phenomena in Na-Mt suspensions and the physical aging-rejuvenation behaviour is a feature of particle–particle aggregation as opposed to ordering.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Axion-like particle searches at DarkQuest

Axion-like particles (ALPs) interacting with the Standard Model can be abundantly produced in proton beam fixed-target experiments. Looking for their displaced decays is therefore an effective search strategy for ALPs with a mass in the MeV to GeV range. Focusing on the benchmark models where the ALP interacts dominantly with photons or gluons, we show that the proposed DarkQuest experiment at Fermilab will be able to test parameter space which has been previously inaccessible. We pay particular attention to the self-consistency of gluon-coupled ALP production and decay calculations, which has been recently shown to be a problem in many existing predictions. We also apply these results to explore existing constraints in the ALP parameter space.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Neutron’s dark secret

The existing discrepancy between neutron lifetime measurements in bottle and beam experiments has been interpreted as a sign of the neutron decaying to dark particles. We summarize the current status of this proposal, including a discussion of particle physics models involving such a portal between the Standard Model and a baryonic dark sector. We also review further theoretical developments around this idea and elaborate on the prospects for verifying the neutron dark decay hypothesis in current and upcoming experiments.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Results on low-mass weakly interacting massive particles from a 11 kg-day target exposure of DAMIC at SNOLAB

We present constraints on the existence of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) from a 11 kg-day target exposure of the DAMIC experiment at the SNOLAB underground laboratory. The observed energy spectrum and spatial distribution of ionization events with electron-equivalent energies $>$200 eV$_{\rm ee}$ in the DAMIC CCDs are consistent with backgrounds from natural radioactivity. An excess of ionization events is observed above the analysis threshold of 50 eV$_{\rm ee}$. While the origin of this low-energy excess requires further investigation, our data exclude spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross sections $\sigma_{\chi-n}$ as low as $3\times 10^{-41}$ cm$^2$ for WIMPs with masses $m_{\chi}$ from 7 to 10 GeV$c^{-2}$ . These results are the strongest constraints from a silicon target on the existence of WIMPs with $m_{\chi}$$<$9 GeV$c^{-2}$ and are directly relevant to any dark matter interpretation of the excess of nuclear-recoil events observed by the CDMS silicon experiment in 2013.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS2004

Stereo Imaging Velocimetry Technique Using Standard Off-the-Shelf CCD Cameras

Stereo imaging velocimetry is a fluid physics technique for measuring three-dimensional (3D) velocities at a plurality of points. This technique provides full-field 3D analysis of any optically clear fluid or gas experiment seeded with tracer particles. Unlike current 3D particle imaging velocimetry systems that rely primarily on laser-based systems, stereo imaging velocimetry uses standard off-the-shelf charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras to provide accurate and reproducible 3D velocity profiles for experiments that require 3D analysis. Using two cameras aligned orthogonally, we present a closed mathematical solution resulting in an accurate 3D approximation of the observation volume. The stereo imaging velocimetry technique is divided into four phases: 3D camera calibration, particle overlap decomposition, particle tracking, and stereo matching. Each phase is explained in detail. In addition to being utilized for space shuttle experiments, stereo imaging velocimetry has been applied to the fields of fluid physics, bioscience, and colloidal microscopy.

McDowell, Mark↗
DOE OSTI2021

Observation of a $ {\varLambda}_b^0 $ - $ {\overline{\varLambda}}_b^0 $ production asymmetry in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 7 and 8 TeV

This article presents differential measurements of the asymmetry between $ {\varLambda}_b^0 $ - $ {\overline{\varLambda}}_b^0 $ baryon production rates in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 and 8 TeV collected with the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb -1 . The ${\varLambda}_b^0 $ baryons are reconstructed through the inclusive semileptonic decay ${\varLambda}_b^0 $ → Λ+c μ - $\overline{ν}$ μX. The production asymmetry is measured both in intervals of rapidity in the range 2.15 < y < 4.10 and transverse momentum in 2 < p T < 27 GeV/c. The results are found to be incompatible with symmetric production with a significance of 5.8 standard deviations for both $\sqrt{s}$ = 7 and 8 TeV data, assuming no CP violation in the decay. There is evidence for a trend as a function of rapidity with a significance of 4 standard deviations. Comparisons to predictions from hadronisation models in PYTHIA and heavy-quark recombination are provided. This result constitutes the first observation of a particle-antiparticle asymmetry in b-hadron production at LHC energies.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Test of lepton universality with $ {\Lambda}_b^0\to {pK}^{-}{\mathrm{\ell}}^{+}{\mathrm{\ell}}^{-}$ decays

The ratio of branching fractions of the decays \( {\Lambda}_b^0 \) → pK - e + e - and \( {\Lambda}_b^0 \) → pK - μ + μ - , \( {R}_{pK}^{-1} \) , is measured for the first time using proton-proton collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4 . 7 fb - 1 recorded with the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV. In the dilepton mass-squared range 0 . 1 < q 2 < 6 . 0 GeV 2 /c 4 and the pK - mass range m ( pK - ) < 2600 MeV /c 2 , the ratio of branching fractions is measured to be \( {R}_{pK}^{-1}={1.17}_{-0.16}^{+0.18}\pm 0.07 \) , where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. This is the first test of lepton universality with b baryons and the first observation of the decay \( {\Lambda}_b^0 \) → pK - e + e - .

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Scaling the training of particle classification on simulated MicroBooNE events to multiple GPUs

Measurements in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detectors, such as the MicroBooNE detector at Fermilab, feature large, high fidelity event images. Deep learning techniques have been extremely successful in classification tasks of photographs, but their application to LArTPC event images is challenging, due to the large size of the events. Events in these detectors are typically two orders of magnitude larger than images found in classical challenges, like recognition of handwritten digits contained in the MNIST database or object recognition in the ImageNet database. Ideally, training would occur on many instances of the entire event data, instead of many instances of cropped regions of interest from the event data. However, such efforts lead to extremely long training cycles, which slow down the exploration of new network architectures and hyperparameter scans to improve the classification performance. We present studies of scaling a LArTPC classification problem on multiple architectures, spanning multiple nodes. The studies are carried out on simulated events in the MicroBooNE detector. We emphasize that it is beyond the scope of this study to optimize networks or extract the physics from any results here. Institutional computing at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the SummitDev machine at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Leadership Computing Facility have been used. To our knowledge, this is the first use of state-of-the-art Convolutional Neural Networks for particle physics and their attendant compute techniques onto the DOE Leadership Class Facilities. We expect benefits to accrue particularly to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) LArTPC program, the flagship US High Energy Physics (HEP) program for the coming decades.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Test of light-lepton universality in τ decays with the Belle II experiment

We present a measurement of the ratio R µ = $\mathcal{B}$($τ^- → µ^-\overline{ν}_µν_τ$)/$\mathcal{B}(τ^- → e^-\overline{ν}_eν_τ$) of branching fractions B of the τ lepton decaying to muons or electrons using data collected with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB e + e - collider. The sample has an integrated luminosity of 362 ± 2 fb -1 at a centre-of-mass energy of 10.58 GeV. Using an optimised event selection, a binned maximum likelihood ft is performed using the momentum spectra of the electron and muon candidates. The result, R µ = 0.9675 ± 0.0007 ± 0.0036, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic, is the most precise to date. It provides a stringent test of the light-lepton universality, translating to a ratio of the couplings of the muon and electron to the W boson in τ decays of 0.9974 ± 0.0019, in agreement with the standard model expectation of unity.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of properties of B$^0_\mathrm{s}\to\mu^+\mu^-$ decays and search for B$^0\to\mu^+\mu^-$ with the CMS experiment

Results are reported for the $ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0 $→ μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$ branching fraction and effective lifetime and from a search for the decay B$^{0}$→ μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$. The analysis uses a data sample of proton-proton collisions accumulated by the CMS experiment in 2011, 2012, and 2016, with center-of-mass energies (integrated luminosities) of 7 TeV (5 fb$^{−1}$), 8 TeV (20 fb$^{−1}$), and 13 TeV (36 fb$^{−1}$). The branching fractions are determined by measuring event yields relative to B$^{+}$→ J/ψK$^{+}$ decays (with J/ψ → μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$), which results in the reduction of many of the systematic uncertainties. The decay $ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0 $→ μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$ is observed with a significance of 5.6 standard deviations. The branching fraction is measured to be $ \mathrm{\mathcal{B}}\left({\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0\to {\upmu}^{+}{\upmu}^{-}\right)=\left[2.9\pm 0.7\left(\exp \right)\pm 0.2\left(\mathrm{frag}\right)\right]\times {10}^{-9} $, where the first uncertainty combines the experimental statistical and systematic contributions, and the second is due to the uncertainty in the ratio of the $ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0 $ and the B$^{+}$ fragmentation functions. No significant excess is observed for the decay B$^{0}$→ μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$, and an upper limit of ℬ(B$^{0}$ → μ$^{+}$μ$^{−}$) < 3.6 × 10$^{−10}$ is obtained at 95% confidence level. The $ {\mathrm{B}}_{\mathrm{s}}^0 $→ μ+μ− effective lifetime is measured to be $ {\tau}_{\upmu^{+}{\upmu}^{-}}={1.70}_{-0.44}^{+0.61} $ ps. These results are consistent with standard model predictions.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Demonstration of <2 ns timing resolution for neutrino interaction in the MicroBooNE detector

The MicroBooNE detector, located in the Booster Neutrino Beamline (BNB) at Fermilab, collected data from 2015 to 2021. MicroBooNE’s Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber is accompanied by a Photon Detection System consisting of 32 PMTs used to measure the argon scintillation light and determine the timing of the neutrino interactions. This work employs improved analysis techniques combining light signals and reconstructed tracks achieving neutrino interaction timing resolution <2 ns. The result obtained allows MicroBooNE to access the 2 ns neutrino pulse structure of the BNB for the first time. The timing resolution achieved enables significant enhancement of cosmic background rejection for all neutrino analyses. Furthermore, the ns timing resolution opens the door for searching new long-lived-particles (e.g. Heavy Neutral Leptons, Higgs Portal Scalars) in MicroBooNE, as well in future large LArTPC experiments, namely SBN and DUNE.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Implications of Aerosol Physicochemical Properties Including Ice Nucleation at ARM Mega Sites for Improved Understanding of Microphysical Atmospheric Cloud Processes (Final Technical Report)

Continuous, long-term measurements of atmospheric ice-nucleating particles (INPs) that influence clouds and precipitation were conducted to investigate the abundance and variability of ground-level INPs across the world. Three field campaigns were organized by the DOE Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) program, including Examining INP from Southern Great Plains (ExINP-SGP, 2019), Examining INP from Eastern North Atlantic (ExINP-ENA, 2020 – 2021), and Examining INP from North Slope of Alaska (ExINP-NSA, 2021 – 2024). Additional small-scale supporting field experiments were performed in 2019 and 2021 to collect airborne particulate matter at SGP for complementary laboratory characterization of the particles’ physical and chemical properties [Aerosol-Ice Formation Closure Pilot Study (AEROICESTUDY), 2019; ExINP-SGP II, 2021]. In these studies, the PI’s team measured INP concentration with both real-time and laboratory measurements in a wide range of freezing temperatures ($T$ from 0 °C to about –30 °C). This project elucidated spatial variability and seasonality in the abundance of immersion mode active INPs across three ARM sites using a single instrument, a Portable Ice Nucleation Experiment (PINE) chamber version 03 (PINE-03 hereafter). Collocated aerosol and meteorological data were analyzed to assess the correlation between ambient INP abundance, air mass origin region, and meteorological variability. Our findings suggest very high freezing efficiency of INPs at the NSA site across the measured temperatures (ice nucleation active surface site density, $n_s(T)$, $\approx 2 \times 10^{8} - 10^{10}$ m -2 for from –16 to –31 °C), which is a factor of 10 – 1000 times greater efficiency as compared to that found in the previous mid-latitude INP measurements in autumn using the same instrument; surprisingly high INP abundance ($\ge 1 \text{ L}^{-1}$ at –25 °C) for the examined temperatures throughout the year that PINE-03 did not measure at other sites; and high INP concentration in spring, possibly related to arctic haze episodes.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗