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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
DOE OSTI2023

Search for resonances in events with photon and jet final states in proton-proton collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV

A search for resonances in events with the γ+jet final state has been performed using proton-proton collision data collected at $\sqrt s$ = 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The total data analyzed correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb –1 . Models of excited quarks and quantum black holes are considered. Using a wide-jet reconstruction for the candidate jet, the γ+jet invariant mass spectrum measured in data is examined for the presence of resonances over the standard model continuum background. The background is estimated by fitting this mass distribution with a functional form. The data exhibit no statistically significant deviations from the expected standard model background. Exclusion limits at 95% confidence level on the resonance mass and other parameters are set. Excited light-flavor quarks (excited bottom quarks) are excluded up to a mass of 6.0 (3.8) TeV. Quantum black hole production is excluded for masses up to 7.5 (5.2) TeV in the Arkani-Hamed-Dimopoulos-Dvali (Randall-Sundrum) model. These lower mass bounds are the most stringent to date among those obtained in the γ+jet final state.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The role of Cr concentration and temperature on cavity swelling with co-injected helium in dual-ion irradiated Fe and Fe-Cr alloys

The level of chromium plays an essential role in irradiation tolerance of Fe-Cr ferritic alloys. However, conflicting results have been reported regarding the dependence of cavity swelling under irradiation on Cr level and temperature. Here, we have performed a comprehensive set of simultaneous dual-ion (Ni + He) irradiations to high dose (~30 displacements per atom, dpa) at 400–550 °C on a series of ultra-high purity Fe and Fe-Cr binary alloys (3–14 wt.%Cr). Helium co-implantation rates of 0.1 and 10 appm He/dpa were selected to examine He synergistic effects relevant for fission and fusion reactor conditions, respectively. Cavities were observed in all irradiated samples by transmission electron microscopy. The results show that higher He implantation rate causes a shift in the swelling peak to higher temperatures in both Fe and Fe-Cr alloys. When assuming smaller cavities as biased sinks, the non-monotonic nature of the cavity swelling behavior is related to the ratio of biased to unbiased point defect sink strengths. Cr-enriched precipitates were observed in Fe-14Cr irradiated at 400 °C by atom probe tomography. Our analysis suggests the formation of Cr-enriched precipitates could suppress cavity swelling for Fe-Cr alloys with Cr content above 10 wt%.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Search for a new heavy resonance decaying to a top quark and a neutral scalar boson in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

A first search at the LHC for a new heavy resonance decaying to a top quark and a neutral scalar boson ϕ in the fully hadronic final state is presented, where the ϕ boson is identified by its decay into a bottom quark-antiquark pair. The search is focused on final states in which the decay products of the highly Lorentz boosted top quark and ϕ boson are each reconstructed as a single, large-radius jet with distinct substructure. The analysis is performed using proton-proton collision data at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb −1 , recorded with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2016–2018. The single production of a vector-like top quark, T′, is used as a benchmark model for the signal process. The results of this search are combined with those of a previous CMS search in which semileptonic decays of the top quark were used. No significant excess of data is observed with respect to the background prediction. For the case where the neutral scalar is a standard model Higgs boson and the T′ quark width is 5% of its mass, T′ quark masses between 0.85 and 1.3 TeV are excluded at 95% confidence level and the most stringent limits to date are set for masses above 2 TeV . For other ϕ boson masses, upper limits as low as 0.1 fb are set on the product of the T′ quark production cross section and branching fraction for its decay to a top quark and a ϕ boson.

Boosted↗
DOE OSTI2023

Controlling circuitry underlies the growth optimization of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Microbial growth emerges from coordinated synthesis of various cellular components from limited resources. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, cyclic AMP (cAMP)-mediated signaling is shown to orchestrate cellular metabolism; however, it remains unclear quantitatively how the controlling circuit drives resource partition and subsequently shapes biomass growth. Here we combined experiment with mathematical modeling to dissect the signaling-mediated growth optimization of S. cerevisiae. We showed that, through cAMP-mediated control, the organism achieves maximal or nearly maximal steady-state growth during the utilization of multiple tested substrates as well as under perturbations impairing glucose uptake. However, the optimal cAMP concentration varies across cases, suggesting that different modes of resource allocation are adopted for varied conditions. Under settings with nutrient alterations, S. cerevisiae tunes its cAMP level to dynamically reprogram itself to realize rapid adaptation. Moreover, to achieve growth maximization, cells employ additional regulatory systems such as the GCN2-mediated amino acid control. This study establishes a systematic understanding of global resource allocation in S. cerevisiae, providing insights into quantitative yeast physiology as well as metabolic strain engineering for biotechnological applications.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Threshold Collision-Induced Dissociation of Hydrated Thorium(IV) Trihydroxide Cation: Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Binding Energies for Th(OH) 3 + (H 2 O) n Complexes ( n = 1–4)

Threshold collision-induced dissociation of Th(OH) 3 + (H 2 O) n Complexes ( n = 1–4) with xenon was performed using a guided ion beam tandem mass spectrometer. The primary dissociation pathway for all complexes is a loss of a single water molecule followed by the sequential loss of additional water molecules at higher collision energies. Here, the data were analyzed using a statistical model after accounting for lifetime effects and reactant internal and kinetic energy distributions to obtain 0 K bond dissociation energies (BDEs). These were also converted using rigid rotor/harmonic oscillator approximations to yield thermodynamic values at room temperature. The 0 K BDEs of H 2 O ligands to Th(OH) 3 + (IV) are experimentally determined for the first time as 106 ± 6, 89 ± 6, 76 ± 4, and 51 ± 4 kJ/mol for the first, second, third, and fourth water ligand added. These values agree reasonably well with values calculated at the B3LYP, B3PW91, and PBE0 levels of theory with aug-cc-pVQZ basis sets, whereas B3LYP-GD3BJ, MP2, and CCSD(T) single point energies with (without) counterpoise corrections systematically overestimate the bond energies by about 15 (20), 19 (25), and (18) kJ/mol, respectively.

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

Throughput Optimization of Molybdenum Carbide Nanoparticle Catalysts in a Continuous Flow Reactor Using Design of Experiments

Transition metal carbides (TMCs) have attracted significant attention because of their applications toward a wide range of catalytic transformations. However, the practicality of their synthesis is still limited because of the harsh conditions in which most TMCs are prepared. Recently, a solution-phase synthesis of phase-pure a-MoC1-x nanoparticles was presented. While this synthetic route yielded nanoparticles with exceptional catalytic performance, the reaction parameter space was not explored, and catalyst throughput was not optimized for scale-up. Continuous flow platforms coupled with statistical design of experiments (DoE) can provide a powerful method for understanding the reaction parameter space for optimizations. Here, we demonstrate the use of statistical DoE in tandem with response surface methodology for a parametric screening analysis to optimize the throughput of a MoC1-x nanoparticle synthesis utilizing a millifluidic flow reactor. A full factorial design was implemented to evaluate four input variables (reaction temperature, flow rate, solvent fraction of oleylamine, and precursor concentration) that carry statistically significant effects on three responses (throughput, residence time, and isolated yield). A Doehlert matrix was implemented to investigate each significant variable at a higher number of levels to optimize throughput. Our results give a nonintuitive set of experimental conditions that resulted in an optimized throughput of 2.2 g h-1. This translates to a 50-fold increase in throughput compared to the previously reported batch method. The catalytic performance of the MoC1-x nanoparticles produced under optimized throughput was demonstrated in the CO2 hydrogenation reaction. This DoE screening analysis and throughput optimization of MoC1-x synthesis open the door to an increased feasibility for scale-up.

design of experiments↗
DOE OSTI2023

Potential Non-Linearities in the High Latitude Circulation and Ozone Response to Stratospheric Aerosol Injection

The impacts of Stratospheric Aerosol Injection (SAI) on the atmosphere and surface climate depend on when and where the sulfate aerosol precursors are injected, as well as on how much surface cooling is to be achieved. We use a set of CESM2(WACCM6) SAI simulations achieving three different levels of global mean surface cooling and demonstrate that unlike some direct surface climate impacts driven by the reflection of solar radiation by sulfate aerosols, the SAI-induced changes in the high latitude circulation and ozone are more complex and could be non-linear. This manifests in our simulations by disproportionally larger Antarctic springtime ozone loss, significantly larger intra-ensemble spread of the Arctic stratospheric jet and ozone responses, and non-linear impacts on the extratropical modes of surface climate variability under the strongest-cooling SAI scenario compared to the weakest one. These potential non-linearities may add to uncertainties in projections of regional surface impacts under SAI.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Measurements of the quantum geometric tensor in solids

Understanding the geometric properties of quantum states and their implications in fundamental physical phenomena is a core aspect of contemporary physics. The quantum geometric tensor (QGT) is a central physical object in this regard, encoding complete information about the geometry of the quantum state. The imaginary part of the QGT is the well-known Berry curvature, which plays an integral role in the topological magnetoelectric and optoelectronic phenomena. The real part of the QGT is the quantum metric, whose importance has come to prominence recently, giving rise to a new set of quantum geometric phenomena such as anomalous Landau levels, flat band superfluidity, excitonic Lamb shifts and nonlinear Hall effect. Despite the central importance of the QGT, its experimental measurements have been restricted only to artificial two-level systems. Here, in this work, we develop a framework to measure the QGT in crystalline solids using polarization-, spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Using this framework, we demonstrate the effective reconstruction of the QGT in the kagome metal CoSn, which hosts topological flat bands. Establishing this momentum- and energy-resolved spectroscopic probe of the QGT is poised to significantly advance our understanding of quantum geometric responses in a wide range of crystalline systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Systematic study of short- and long-range correlations in RE 3 TaO 7 weberite-type compounds by neutron total scattering and X-ray diffraction

The atomic structures of the lanthanide tantalates, Ln 3 TaO 7 , series (Ln = Pr, Tb, Dy, Ho, Tm, Yb) were systematically investigated using total scattering techniques. High-energy X-ray and neutron diffraction analysis revealed that the long-range structures can be grouped into three distinct families: (1) ordered Cmcm (Ln = Pr), (2) ordered Ccmm (Ln = Tb, Dy, Ho), and (3) disordered, defect-fluorite Fm$\bar{3}$m (Ln = Ho, Tm, Yb). These findings help to clarify the symmetry discrepancy for the already reported long-range structures in the literature. The short-range analysis of neutron total scattering data via pair distribution functions reveals a high degree of structural heterogeneity across length scales for all compounds, with distinct local atomic arrangements that are not fully captured by the average, long-range structure. The short-range structures at the level of coordination polyhedra are better captured by a set of alternative non-centrosymmetric structural models: (1) C2cm, (2) C222 1 , and (3) C2mm. This establishes a short-range multiferroic character for weberite-type tantalates because ferroelectric interactions compete with magnetic correlations. These ferroelectric interactions are particularly pronounced for the disordered compounds Tm 3 TaO 7 and Yb 3 TaO 7 . In conclusion, the structural differences among the three families are the result of changes in TaO 6 polyhedral tilt (transition between families 1 and 2) and dipolar interactions of off-centered Ta cations (transition between families 2 and 3).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Hot-spot mix in large-scale HDC implosions at NIF

Mix of high-Z material from the capsule into the fuel can severely degrade the performance of inertial fusion implosions. On the Hybrid B campaign, testing the largest high-density-carbon capsules yet fielded at the National Ignition Facility, several shots show signatures of high levels of hot-spot mix. We attribute a ~40% yield degradation on these shots to the hot-spot mix, comparable to the level of degradation from large $P_2$ asymmetries observed on some shots. Additionally, a range of instability growth factors and diamond crystallinity were tested and they do not determine the level of mix for these implosions, which is instead set by the capsule quality.

Fusion experiments↗
DOE OSTI2021

Modeling and simulation of transitional Rayleigh–Taylor flow with partially averaged Navier–Stokes equations

In this work, the partially averaged Navier–Stokes (PANS) equations are used to predict the variable-density Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) flow at Atwood number 0.5 and maximum Reynolds number 500. This is a prototypical problem of material mixing, featuring laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow, instabilities and coherent structures, density fluctuations, and production of turbulence kinetic energy by both shear and buoyancy mechanisms. These features pose numerous challenges to modeling and simulation, making the RT flow ideal to develop the validation space of the recently proposed PANS Besnard–Harlow–Rauenzahn-linear eddy viscosity model closure. The numerical simulations are conducted at different levels of physical resolution and test three approaches to set the parameters $f_\phi$ defining the range of physically resolved scales. The computations demonstrate the efficiency (accuracy vs cost) of the PANS model predicting the spatiotemporal development of the RT flow. Results comparable to large-eddy simulations and direct numerical simulations are obtained at significantly lower physical resolution without the limitations of the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations in these transitional flows. The data also illustrate the importance of appropriate selection of the physical resolution and the resolved fraction of each dependent quantity $\phi$ of the turbulent closure, $f_\phi$. These two aspects determine the ability of the model to resolve the flow phenomena not amenable to modeling by the closure and, as such, the computations’ fidelity.

Navier Stokes equations↗
DOE OSTI2022

Transferability of data-driven, many-body models for CO 2 simulations in the vapor and liquid phases

Here, extending on the previous work by Riera et al. [J. Chem. Theory Comput. 16, 2246–2257 (2020)], we introduce a second generation family of data-driven many-body MB-nrg models for CO 2 and systematically assess how the strength and anisotropy of the CO 2 –CO 2 interactions affect the models’ ability to predict vapor, liquid, and vapor–liquid equilibrium properties. Building upon the many-body expansion formalism, we construct a series of MB-nrg models by fitting one-body and two-body reference energies calculated at the coupled cluster level of theory for large monomer and dimer training sets. Advancing from the first generation models, we employ the charge model 5 scheme to determine the atomic charges and systematically scale the two-body energies to obtain more accurate descriptions of vapor, liquid, and vapor–liquid equilibrium properties. Challenges in model construction arise due to the anisotropic nature and small magnitude of the interaction energies in CO 2 , calling for the necessity of highly accurate descriptions of the multidimensional energy landscape of liquid CO 2 . These findings emphasize the key role played by the training set quality in the development of transferable, data-driven models, which, accurately representing high-dimensional many-body effects, can enable predictive computer simulations of molecular fluids across the entire phase diagram.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

The large scale polarization explorer (LSPE) for CMB measurements: performance forecast

The measurement of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is one of the current frontiers in cosmology. In particular, the detection of the divergence-free component of the polarization field, the B-mode component, reveals the presence of gravitational waves in the early Universe. The detection of such component is at the moment the most promising technique to probe the inflationary theory describing the very early evolution of the Universe. The measurement of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is one of the current frontiers in cosmology. In particular, the detection of the primordial divergence-free component of the polarization field, the B-mode, could reveal the presence of gravitational waves in the early Universe. The detection of such a component is at the moment the most promising technique to probe the inflationary theory describing the very early evolution of the Universe. We present the updated performance forecast of the Large Scale Polarization Explorer (LSPE), a program dedicated to the measurement of the CMB polarization. LSPE is composed of two instruments: LSPE-Strip, a radiometer-based telescope on the ground in Tenerife-Teide observatory, and LSPE-SWIPE (Short-Wavelength Instrument for the Polarization Explorer) a bolometer-based instrument designed to fly on a winter arctic stratospheric long-duration balloon. The program is among the few dedicated to observation of the Northern Hemisphere, while most of the international effort is focused into ground-based observation in the Southern Hemisphere. Measurements are currently scheduled in Winter 2022/23 for LSPE-SWIPE, with a flight duration up to 15 days, and in Summer 2022 with two years observations for LSPE-Strip. In this work, we describe the main features of the two instruments, identifying the most critical aspects of the design, in terms of impact on the performance forecast. We estimate the expected sensitivity of each instrument and propagate their combined observing power to the sensitivity to cosmological parameters, including the effect of scanning strategy, component separation, residual foregrounds and partial sky coverage. We also set requirements on the control of the most critical systematic effects and describe techniques to mitigate their impact. LSPE will reach a sensitivity in tensor-to-scalar ratio of σr < 0.01, set an upper limit r < 0.015 at 95% confidence level, and improve constraints on other cosmological parameters.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Co-designing Spectral Transformation Oracles with Hybrid Oscillator-Qubit Quantum Processors: From Algorithms to Compilation

We co-design a family of quantum eigenvalue transformation oracles that can be efficiently implemented on hybrid discrete- or continuous-variable (qubit or qumode) hardware. To illustrate the oracle’s representation-theoretic power and near-term experimental accessibility, we encode a Gaussian imaginary time-evolution spectral filter. As a result, we define a continuous linear combination of unitaries block encoding. Due to the ancillary qumode’s infinite-dimensional nature, continuous-variable qumodes constitute a powerful compilation tool for encoding continuous spectral functions without discretization errors while minimizing resource requirements. We then focus on the ubiquitous task of preparing eigenstates in quantum spin models. For completeness, we provide an end-to-end compilation which expresses high-level oracles in terms of an experimentally realizable instruction set architecture in both 1D and 2D. Finally, we examine the leading-order effects of physical errors and highlight open research directions. Our algorithms scale linearly with the spatial extent of the target system and are applicable to both near-term and large-scale quantum processors.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Examination of decay heat measurements and their relevance for understanding the origin of the reactor antineutrino anomaly

Measurements of the decay energy released as a function of time following the thermal neutron induced fission of 235 U and 239,241 Pu were performed in the 1970s at Oak Ridge National Laboratory with the purpose of quantifying possible loss of coolant accident scenarios. The derivative of this decay energy with respect to time, known in technical parlance as decay heat, is mainly composed of two terms, that of the electrons produced together with antineutrinos in the $β$-minus decay of the neutron-rich fission products, and that of the $γ$ rays produced in the subsequent decay of excited nuclear levels. In this work we study if this extensive set of decay energy measurements can be used to assess the reactor antineutrino anomaly, that is, the approximately 5% deficit of electron antineutrinos produced by nuclear reactors, first deduced by Mention and collaborators in 2011, and observed by the major reactor antineutrino experiments since. Furthermore, with the assistance of nuclear databases, we are able to obtain the ratio of electron spectra under equilibrium conditions for 235 U to 239 Pu, in better agreement with the lower trend recently reported by Kopeikin and collaborators, as well as those for 235 U to 241 Pu and 241 Pu to 239 Pu, which do not agree well with those measured at the Institut Laue-Langevin in the 1980s. We conclude that a new experimental campaign is needed to measure the electron spectra utilizing a high resolution and signal-to-noise-ratio electron spectrometer and a highly precise fission normalization procedure.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Observation of J / ψ decays to e + e − e + e − and e + e − μ + μ −

Using a data sample of 4.481 × 10 8 ψ ( 3686 ) events collected with the BESIII detector, we report the first observation of the four-lepton-decays J / ψ → e + e − e + e − and J / ψ → e + e − μ + μ − utilizing the process ψ ( 3686 ) → π + π − J / ψ . The branching fractions are determined to be [ 5.48 ± 0.31 ( stat ) ± 0.45 ( syst ) ] × 10 − 5 and [ 3.53 ± 0.22 ( stat ) ± 0.13 ( syst ) ] × 10 − 5 , respectively. The results are consistent with theoretical predictions. No significant signal is observed for J / ψ → μ + μ − μ + μ − , and an upper limit on the branching fraction is set at 1.6 × 10 − 6 at the 90% confidence level. A C P asymmetry observable is constructed for the first two channels, which is measured to be ( − 0.012 ± 0.054 ± 0.010 ) and ( 0.062 ± 0.059 ± 0.006 ) , respectively. No evidence for C P violation is observed in this process. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Study of the f 0 ( 980 ) and f 0 ( 500 ) Scalar Mesons through the Decay D s + → π + π − e + ν e

Using e + e − collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 7.33 fb − 1 recorded by the BESIII detector at center-of-mass energies between 4.128 and 4.226 GeV, we present an analysis of the decay D s + → π + π − e + ν e , where the D s + is produced via the process e + e − → D s * ± D s ∓ . We observe the f 0 ( 980 ) in the π + π − system and the branching fraction of the decay D s + → f 0 ( 980 ) e + ν e with f 0 ( 980 ) → π + π − measured to be ( 1.72 ± 0.1 3 stat ± 0.1 0 syst ) × 10 − 3 , where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The dynamics of the D s + → f 0 ( 980 ) e + ν e decay are studied with the simple pole parametrization of the hadronic form factor and the Flatté formula describing the f 0 ( 980 ) in the differential decay rate, and the product of the form factor f + f 0 ( 0 ) and the c → s Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element | V c s | is determined for the first time to be f + f 0 ( 0 ) | V c s | = 0.504 ± 0.01 7 stat ± 0.03 5 syst . Furthermore, the decay D s + → f 0 ( 500 ) e + ν e is searched for the first time but no signal is found. The upper limit on the branching fraction of D s + → f 0 ( 500 ) e + ν e , f 0 ( 500 ) → π + π − decay is set to be 3.3 × 10 − 4 at 90% confidence level. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Ablikim, M.↗