Asymmetry of antimatter in the proton from SeaQuest and perspective from SpinQuest
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antimatter, qcd, spin physics↗
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Results for “ASYMMETRY”
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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The asymmetry of antimatter in the proton
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Atomic, Nuclear and Particle Physics↗
Dihadron beam spin asymmetries on an unpolarized hydrogen target with CLAS12
The semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering process, where an electron scatters off a proton target at high enough energy that the process can be described by the scattering off a single constituent particle, offers targeted access to the internal structure of the nucleon. The process can be described in two phases by parton distribution functions (PDFs), which describe the likelihood of finding a quark or gluon in a particular state inside of the nucleon and then by fragmentation functions (FFs) which describe the likelihood of forming a particular final state particle.
Hayward, Timothy↗
Measurement of Parity Violating Asymmetry in Elastic Electron Scattering off 48Ca
Atomic nuclei are composed of nucleons governed by the strong nuclear force. Although the proton distributions in nuclei are well measured with electromagnetic probes, the neutron distributions are relatively unconstrained. The nuclear symmetry energy governs the distribution of the excess neutrons in asymmetric nuclei, as well as the dynamics of neutron-rich nuclear matter up to the scale of neutron stars….
Clarke, Cameron↗
Measurement of radiation asymmetries in MAST Upgrade double null divertor plasmas
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Lovell, Jack↗
Meridional Distribution of Aerosol Optical Thickness over the Tropical Atlantic Ocean
Previous studies showed that, over the global ocean, there is hemispheric asymmetry in aerosols and no noticeable asymmetry in cloud fraction (CF). In the current study, we focus on the tropical Atlantic (30 Deg N 30 Deg S) which is characterized by significant amounts of Saharan dust dominating other aerosol species over the North Atlantic. We found that, by contrast to the global ocean, over a limited area such as the tropical Atlantic, strong meridional asymmetry in dust aerosols was accompanied by meridional CF asymmetry. During the 10-year study period (July 2002 June 2012), NASA Aerosol Reanalysis (aka MERRAero) showed that, when the meridional asymmetry in dust aerosol optical thickness (AOT) was the most pronounced (particularly in July), dust AOT averaged separately over the tropical North Atlantic was one order of magnitude higher than dust AOT averaged over the tropical South Atlantic. In the presence of such strong meridional asymmetry in dust AOT in July, CF averaged separately over the tropical North Atlantic exceeded CF averaged over the tropical South Atlantic by 20%. Our study showed significant cloud cover, up to 0.8 - 0.9, in July along the Saharan Air Layer which contributed to above-mentioned meridional CF asymmetry. Both Multi-Angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) measurements and MERRAero data were in agreement on seasonal variations in meridional aerosol asymmetry. Meridional asymmetry in total AOT over the Atlantic was the most pronounced between March and July, when dust presence over the North Atlantic was maximal. In September and October, there was no noticeable meridional asymmetry in total AOT and meridional CF distribution over the tropical Atlantic was almost symmetrical.
Cloud Fraction↗
High precision 5 MeV Mott polarimeter
We report on the design and performance of a Mott polarimeter optimized for a nominal 5-MeV electron beam from the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) injector. The rf time structure of this beam allows the use of time of flight in the scattered electron detection, making it possible to cleanly isolate those detected electrons that originate from the scattering foil, and resulting in measured scattering asymmetries which are exceptionally stable over a broad range of beam conditions, beam currents, and foil thicknesses. In two separate series of measurements from two different photocathode electron sources, we have measured the Mott scattering asymmetries produced by an approximately 86% transversely polarized electron beam incident on ten gold foils with nominal thicknesses between 50 and 1000 nm. The statistical uncertainty of the measured asymmetry from each foil is below 0.25%. Within this statistical precision, the measured asymmetry was unaffected by ±1-mm shifts in the beam position on the target foil, and by beam current changes and dead-time effects over a wide range of beam currents. The overall uncertainty of our beam polarization measurement, arising from the uncertainty in the value of the scattering asymmetry at zero foil thickness as determined from our fits to the measured asymmetries versus scattering foil thicknesses, the estimated systematic effects, and the (dominant) uncertainty from the calculation of the theoretical Sherman function, is 0.61%. A simulation of the polarimeter using geant4 has confirmed that double scattering in the target foil is the sole source of the dependence of the measured asymmetry on foil thickness, and gives a result for the asymmetry versus foil thickness in good agreement with both our measurements and a simple calculation. Future measurements at different beam energies and with target foils of different atomic numbers will seek to bound uncertainties from small effects such as radiative corrections to the calculation of the polarimeter analyzing power. A simultaneous high-precision measurement of the beam polarization with a different polarimeter, AESOP (Accurate Electron Spin Optical Polarimeter), under development at the University of Nebraska, clearly possible at the CEBAF accelerator, will allow a high-precision comparison of our measured asymmetries with theoretical calculations of the Mott analyzing power. Finally, the improved precision of the current Mott polarimeter along with similar improvements to other Jefferson Lab polarimeters warrants another precision comparison of all of these polarimeters when measuring a beam of the same polarization.
Grames, J. M. (ORCID:0000000193908752)↗
Neutron Skin Measurement of 208Pb and 48Ca Using Parity Violating Electron Scattering
Parity-violating electron scattering experiments (PVES) provides a clean probe of neutron densities that is model independent and free from strong interaction uncertainties in interpretation. The PREX-2 and CREX experiments were run in 2019 and 2020 at Jefferson laboratory measured the nucleon skin thickness, the difference between the r.m.s. neutron radius Rn and the r.m.s. proton radius Rp, of 208Pb and 48Ca via parity violating electroweak asymmetry in the elastic scattering of longitudinally polarized electrons. PREX-2 experiment was performed with 950 MeV electrons scattered at a 5¿ angle with Q2 = 0.00616 ± 0.00004 (GeV/c)2, while CREX used 2182 MeV electrons at the same angle with Q2 = 0.0297 ± 0.0002 (GeV/c)2. For PREX-2 the measured asymmetry was AP V = 550 ± 16 (stat.) ± (syst.) ppb, which corresponds to Rskin = 0.278 ± 0.078 (exp.) ± 0.012 (theo.) fm. The CREX asymmetry was AP V = 2668 ± 106 (stat.) ± 40 (syst.) ppb, which corresponds to Rskin = 0.121 ± 0.026 (exp.) ±0.024 (model) fm. One of the crucial systematic uncertainty that PREX-2 and CREX were sensitive to was the non-parity violating asymmetries that resulted from the helicity correlated false asymmetries in the polarized electron beam. There was a lot of work put towards understanding and suppressing the asymmetries arising from these effects. The parity violating asymmetry measurement required a very precise determination of the electron beam polarization. To accurately determine the beam polarization, a Compton polarimeter was used during both PREX-2 and CREX. A careful alignment of the laser to the Fabry-Perot cavity, data analysis and systematic control was employed to get a precise beam polarization result for the experiments. The PREX-2 measurement has broad implications for increasing our knowledge about neutron star structure and the equation of state of nuclear matter. The combined PREX and CREX results will have implications for future energy density functional calculations and the theory of nuclear structure.
Premathilake, Sachinthani↗
View factor estimation of hot spot velocities in inertial confinement fusion implosions at the National Ignition Facility
nertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) suffer from asymmetries in thex-ray drive that degrade capsule performance compared to expectations for a symmetric one-dimensional implosion.Mode 1, or pole-to-pole, drive asymmetry can reduce confinement and implosion efficiency, driving a bulk motion ofthe hot spot that is detectable with neutron diagnostics. Understanding and removing sources of mode 1 asymmetry inICF implosions is important for improving performance, and the three-dimensional nature of the problem makes high-resolution radiation-hydrodynamic modeling extremely computationally expensive. This work describes a reducedorder view factor model that calculates the drive asymmetry induced by beam-to-beam variations in laser delivery andhohlraum diagnostic windows along the equator. Capsule response is estimated by coupling to a Green’s function thatrelates final hot spot velocity to the applied time-varying mode 1 asymmetry. The model makes several predictionsabout the impact of mode 1 drivers such as laser delivery and target misalignment, and achieves good agreementin both magnitude and vector direction for several shots in three families of high-performance platforms. However,notable discrepancies suggest other potential sources of mode 1 asymmetry not captured by the model are also at play
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Three dimensional low-mode areal-density non-uniformities in indirect-drive implosions at the National Ignition Facility
To achieve hotspot ignition, an inertial confinement fusion implosion must achieve high hotspot pressure that is inertially confined by a dense shell of DT fuel. This requires a symmetric implosion having high in-flight shell velocity and high areal density at stagnation. The size of the driver and scale of the capsule required can be minimized by maintaining a high efficiency of energy coupling from the imploding shell to the hotspot. Significant 3D low mode asymmetries, however, are commonly observed in indirect-drive implosions and reduce the coupling of shell kinetic energy to the hotspot. To better quantify the magnitudes and impacts of shell density asymmetries, we have developed new analysis techniques and analytic models [Hurricane et al., Phys. Plasmas 27(6), 062704 (2020)]. To build confidence in the underlying data, we have also developed an analytic neutron transport model to cross-compare two independent measurements of asymmetry, which shows excellent agreement across shots for mode-1 (ℓ = 1). This work also demonstrates that asymmetry can introduce potential sampling bias into down-scattered ratio measurements causing the solid-angle-average and uncertainty-weighted-average down-scattered ratios to differ significantly. Diagnosing asymmetries beyond mode-1 (ℓ > 1) presents significant challenges. Using new diagnostic instruments and analysis techniques, however, evidence of significant Legendre mode P2 (ℓ = 2, m = 0) and additional 3D asymmetries (ℓ > 1, m ≠ 0) are beginning to emerge from the high precision activation diagnostic data (real-time nuclear activation detectors) and down-scattered neutron imaging data.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
3D simulations of inertial confinement fusion implosions part 2: systematic flow anomalies and impact of low modes on performances in OMEGA experiments
We present the first 3D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of directly driven inertial confinement fusion implosions with an inline package for polarized crossed-beam energy transfer, which were used to assess the impact of the current distributed polarization rotators (DPRs) on OMEGA as well as other known sources of asymmetry. Applied to OMEGA implosions, the simulations predict bang times with no need for ad hoc multipliers, as well as yields—if you separately account for the impacts of imprint and fuel age. The magnitude of the flow is well reproduced when the low mode sources are large, whereas the modeling of the stalk is thought to be required to match the flow magnitude in the remaining cases. For the cases explored in more detail, polarized cross-beam energy transfer (CBET)—the only known systematic drive asymmetry, brought the results closest to the measured flow vectors. The remaining discrepancies are shown to be stemming from the limited knowledge of the laser pointing modes. For typical current levels of beam mispointing, power imbalance, target offset, and asymmetry caused by polarized CBET, low modes degrade the yield by more than 40%. The current strategy of attempting to compensate the mode-1 asymmetry with a preimposed target offset recovers only about one-third of the losses caused by the low modes due to the dynamic nature of the multiple asymmetries and the presence of low modes other than l = 1. Furthermore, addressing the root causes of the drive asymmetries is apt to be more beneficial. To that end, one possible solution to the specific issue of polarized CBET (10 µm DPRs) is shown to work well.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Water-tunnel study of transition flow around circular cylinders
The recently reported phenomenon of asymmetric flow separation from a circular cylinder in the critical Reynolds number regime has been confirmed in a water-tunnel experiment. For the first time, an attempt was made to visualize the wake of the cylinder during the transition from subcritical to critical flow and to correlate the visualizations with lift and drag measurements. The occurrence of a dominant asymmetric-flow state was quite repeatable, both when increasing and decreasing the Reynolds number, resulting in a mean lift coefficient of C sub L approx 1.2 and a shift in the angle of the wake by about 12 deg. A distinctive step change in the drag and shedding frequency was also found to occur. A hysteresis was confirmed to exist in this region as the Reynolds number was cycled over the transition range. Both boundaries of the asymmetry appear to be supercritical bifurcations in the flow. The asymmetry was normally steady in the mean; however, there were instances when the direction of the asymmetry reversed and remained so for the duration of the Reynolds number sweep through this transition region. A second asymmetry was observed at a higher Reynolds number; however, the mean lift coefficient was much lower, and the direction of the asymmetry was not observed to reverse. Introducing a small local disturbance into the boundary layer was found to prevent the critical asymmetry from developing along the entire span of the cylinder.
Almosnino, D.↗
Reynolds number effects on supersonic asymmetrical flows over a cone at high angle of attack
The supersonic viscous flow over a 5-degree half-angle cone at an angle of attack of four times the cone half-angle is studied computationally using both the conical and the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical solutions were obtained with an implicit, upwind-biased algorithm. Asymmetrical flowfields of the absolute-instability type are found using the conical-flow equations which agree with published results. However, the absolute instabilities of the originally symmetric flow found with the conical equations do not occur in the three-dimensional simulations, although spurious asymmetric three-dimensional flows for symmetric bodies arise if the grid resolution is insufficient in the nose region. The asymmetric flows computed with the three-dimensional equations are convective instabilities and are possible if the local Reynolds number exceeds a critical value and a fixed geometric asymmetry is imposed. A continuous range of asymmetries can be developed, depending on the size of the disturbance and the Reynolds number. As the Reynolds number is increased, the asymmetries demonstrate a bistable behavior at levels of side force consistent with those predicted using the conical equations. Below a certain critical Reynolds number, any flow asymmetries arising from a geometrical asymmetry are damped with increasing distance downstream from the geometrical asymmetry.
Thomas, J. L.↗
Simulations of the seasonal polar caps on Mars
One of the most puzzling mysteries about the planet Mars is the hemispherical asymmetry in the polar caps. Every spring the seasonal polar cap of CO2 recedes until the end of summer, when only a small part, the residual polar cap, remains. During the year that Viking observed Mars, the residual polar cap was composed of water ice in the Northern Hemisphere (Kieffer et al., Science, 194, 1341, 1976), but was primarily carbon dioxide ice in the Southern Hemisphere (Kieffer, J. Geophys. Res., 84, 8263, 1979). Scientists have sought to explain this asymmetry by modeling observations of the latitudinal recession of the polar cap and seasonal variations in atmospheric pressure (since the seasonal polar caps are primarily frozen atmosphere, they are directly related to changes in atmospheric mass). These models reproduce most aspects of the observed annual variation in atmospheric pressure fairly accurately. Furthermore, the predicted latitudinal recession of the northern polar cap in the spring agrees well with observations, including the fact that CO2 ice is predicted to completely sublime away. However, these models all predict that the carbon dioxide ice will also sublime away during the summer in the Southern Hemisphere, unlike what is observed. It is shown here how the radiative effects of ozone, clouds, and airborne dust, light penetration into and through the polar cap, and the dependence of albedo on solar zenith angle affect CO2 ice formation and sublimation, and how they help explain the hemispherical asymmetry in the residual polar caps. These effects have not been studied with prior polar cap models. The combination of the effects of solar zenith angle on albedo and the radiative effects of clouds and dust act to extend the lifetime of CO2 ice on the south pole relatively more than on the north pole, possibly explaining the hemispherical asymmetry in the residual polar caps without the need of a hemispherical asymmetry in polar cap albedo. This does not imply that a hemispherical asymmetry in polar cap albedo does not exist, but that one is not necessary. Observations of the regression of the polar caps and the annual cycle in atmospheric pressure are reproduced fairly well by the model, as shown in the figures, although further improvement is needed. When CO2 ice is retained at the south pole, the model predictions of the annual cycle in atmospheric pressure have a phase shift relative to the data, no matter what model input parameters are used. We are investigating other processes not included in prior polar cap models.
Lindner, Bernhard Lee↗
Radial evolution of the solar wind turbulence with application to charged particle transport
The proposed research efforts funded by the Pioneer-Venus Guest Investigator Grant to the Bartol Research Institute center on a study of the radial and temporal variation of the large-scale interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and include a study of the radial variation of the observed north-south asymmetry of the IMF spiral based on the previous results of Bieber (1988). The preliminary results of Bieber demonstrated that at Earth orbit there exists an asymmetry between the yearly average winding angles of toward and away sector fields that can be as large as 10 degrees. The Bieber (1988) analysis employed the NSSDC omnitape data set of 1 AU measurements. When the observed asymmetry is related to the state of the solar magnetic dipole, it is possible to conclude that the IMF north of the heliospheric current sheet is more tightly wound than the IMF spiral south of the current sheet. The average difference in the winding angle as measured over a 21 year period spanning 1965 through 1985 was 3.1 degrees + 1.1 degrees. The Bieber analysis was able to rule-out several possible sources for the observed behavior including a possible asymmetry in the solar wind speed or the observed hemispherical dependence of solar rotation. The object of this research was to extend this previous result to include observations within the inner and outer heliosphere, to examine the radial dependence of the reported asymmetry, and to better resolve the possible source of the observations. The Pioneer-Venus Orbiter has proven to be the perfect monitor for the inner heliospheric observations. It has provided 9 years of continuous observations at a fixed heliocentric distance (except for those periods when the spacecraft was within the region of space where the magnetic field is influenced by the presence of the planet). Comparisons between the 1 AU observations recorded on the NSSDC omnitape and the 0.7 AU observations of the Pioneer-Venus Orbiter have greatly improved our understanding of the IMF winding angle asymmetry. Further comparison with outer heliospheric measurements have proven interesting, although less conclusive.
Smith, Charles W.↗
Radiative Properties of Cirrus Clouds in the Infrared (8-13 microns) Spectral Region
Atmospheric radiation in the infrared (IR) 8-13 microns spectral region contains a wealth of information that is very useful for the retrieval of ice cloud properties from aircraft or space-borne measurements. To provide the scattering and absorption properties of nonspherical ice crystals that are fundamental to the IR retrieval implementation, we use the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method to solve for the extinction efficiency, single-scattering albedo, and the asymmetry parameter of the phase function for ice crystals smaller than 40 microns. For particles larger than this size, the improved geometric optics method (IGOM) can be employed to calculate the asymmetry parameter with an acceptable accuracy, provided that we properly account for the inhomogeneity of the refracted wave due to strong absorption inside the ice particle. A combination of the results computed from the two methods provides the asymmetry parameter for the entire practical range of particle sizes between 1 micron and 10000 microns over wavelengths ranging from 8 microns to 13 microns. For the extinction and absorption efficiency calculations, several methods including the IGOM, Mie solution for equivalent spheres (MSFES), and the anomalous diffraction theory (ADT) can lead to a substantial discontinuity in comparison with the FDTD solutions for particle sizes on the order of 40 microns. To overcome this difficulty, we have developed a novel approach called the stretched scattering potential method (SSPM). For the IR 8-13 microns spectral region, we show that SSPM is a more accurate approximation than ADT, MSFES, and IGOM. The SSPM solution can be further refined numerically. Through a combination of the FDTD and SSPM, we have computed the extinction and absorption efficiency for hexagonal ice crystals with sizes ranging from 1 to 10000 microns at 12 wavelengths between 8 and 13 microns Calculations of the cirrus bulk scattering and absorption properties are performed for 30 size distributions obtained from various field campaigns for midlatitude and tropical cirrus cloud systems. Parameterization of these bulk scattering properties is carried out by using second-order polynomial functions for the extinction efficiency and the single-scattering albedo and the power law expression for the asymmetry parameter. We note that the volume-normalized extinction coefficient can be separated into two parts: one is inversely proportional to effective size and is independent of wavelength, and the other is the wavelength-dependent effective extinction efficiency. Unlike conventional parameterization efforts, the present parameterization scheme is more accurate because only the latter part of the volume-normalized extinction coefficient is approximated in terms of an analytical expression. After averaging over size distribution, the single-scattering albedo is shown to decrease with an increase in effective size for wavelengths shorter than 10.0 microns whereas the opposite behavior is observed for longer wavelengths. The variation of the asymmetry parameter as a function of effective size is substantial when the effective size is smaller than 50 microns. For effective sizes larger than 100 microns, the asymmetry parameter approaches its asymptotic value. The results derived in this study can be useful to remote sensing applications involving IR window bands under cirrus cloud conditions.
Yang, Ping↗
Accuracy of saccades to remembered targets as a function of body orientation in space
A vertical asymmetry in memory-guided saccadic eye movements has been previously demonstrated in humans and in rhesus monkeys. In the upright orientation, saccades generally land several degrees above the target. The origin of this asymmetry has remained unknown. In this study, we investigated whether the asymmetry in memory saccades is dependent on body orientation in space. Thus animals performed memory saccades in four different body orientations: upright, left-side-down (LSD), right-side-down (RSD), and supine. Data in all three rhesus monkeys confirm previous observations regarding a significant upward vertical asymmetry. Saccade errors made from LSD and RSD postures were partitioned into components made along the axis of gravity and along the vertical body axis. Up/down asymmetry persisted only in body coordinates but not in gravity coordinates. However, this asymmetry was generally reduced in tilted positions. Therefore the upward bias seen in memory saccades is egocentric although orientation in space might play a modulatory role.
NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
Lepto-axiogenesis
We propose a baryogenenesis mechanism that uses a rotating condensate of a Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry breaking field and the dimension-five operator that gives Majorana neutrino masses. The rotation induces charge asymmetries for the Higgs boson and for lepton chirality through sphaleron processes and Yukawa interactions. The dimension-five interaction transfers these asymmetries to the lepton asymmetry, which in turn is transferred into the baryon asymmetry through the electroweak sphaleron process. QCD axion dark matter can be simultaneously produced by dynamics of the same PQ field via kinetic misalignment or parametric resonance, favoring an axion decay constant ƒ a ≲ 10 10 GeV, or by conventional misalignment and contributions from strings and domain walls with ƒ a ~ 10 11 GeV. The size of the baryon asymmetry is tied to the mass of the PQ field. In simple supersymmetric theories, it is independent of UV parameters and predicts the supersymmtry breaking mass scale to be $ \mathcal{O} $(10 - 10 4 ) TeV, depending on the masses of the neutrinos and whether the condensate is thermalized during a radiation or matter dominated era. The high supersymmetry breaking mass scale may be free from cosmological and flavor/CP problems. We also construct a theory where TeV scale supersymmetry is possible. Parametric resonance may give warm axions, and the radial component of the PQ field may give signals in rare kaon decays from mixing with the Higgs and in dark radiation.
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗