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At least 685 records · Page 38

Quantifying the line-of-sight halo contribution to the dark matter convergence power spectrum from strong gravitational lenses

Galaxy-galaxy strong gravitational lenses have become a popular probe of dark matter (DM) by providing a window into structure formation on the smallest scales. In particular, the convergence power spectrum of subhalos within lensing galaxies has been suggested as a promising observable to study DM. However, the distances involved in strong-lensing systems are vast, and we expect the relevant volume to contain line-of-sight (LOS) halos that are not associated with the main lens. We develop a formalism to calculate the effect of LOS halos as an effective convergence power spectrum. Here, the multilens plane equation couples the angular deflections of consecutive lens planes, but by assuming that the perturbations due to the LOS halos are small, we show that they can be projected onto the main-lens plane as effective subhalos. We test our formalism by simulating lensing systems using the full multiplane lens equation and find excellent agreement. We show how the relative contribution of LOS halos and subhalos depends on the source and lens redshift, as well as the assumed halo and subhalo mass functions. For a fiducial system with fraction of DM halo mass in substructure f sub = 0.4% for subhalo masses [10 5 –10 8 ]M ⊙ , the interloper contribution to the power spectrum is at least several times greater than that of subhalos for source redshifts z s ≳ 0.5. Furthermore, it is likely that for the SLACS and BELLS lenses the interloper contribution dominates: f sub ≳ 2% (4%) is needed for subhalos to dominate in SLACS (BELLS), which is higher than current upper bounds on f sub for our mass range. Since the halo mass function is better understood from first principles, the dominance of interlopers in galaxy-galaxy lenses with high-quality imaging can be seen as a significant advantage when translating this observable into a constraint on DM.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Deforestation-induced climate change reduces carbon storage in remaining tropical forests

Abstract Biophysical effects from deforestation have the potential to amplify carbon losses but are often neglected in carbon accounting systems. Here we use both Earth system model simulations and satellite–derived estimates of aboveground biomass to assess losses of vegetation carbon caused by the influence of tropical deforestation on regional climate across different continents. In the Amazon, warming and drying arising from deforestation result in an additional 5.1 ± 3.7% loss of aboveground biomass. Biophysical effects also amplify carbon losses in the Congo (3.8 ± 2.5%) but do not lead to significant additional carbon losses in tropical Asia due to its high levels of annual mean precipitation. These findings indicate that tropical forests may be undervalued in carbon accounting systems that neglect climate feedbacks from surface biophysical changes and that the positive carbon–climate feedback from deforestation-driven climate change is higher than the feedback originating from fossil fuel emissions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Zero-cost corrections to influence functional coefficients from bath response functions

Recent work has shown that it is possible to circumvent the calculation of the spectral density and directly generate the coefficients of the discretized influence functionals using data from classical trajectory simulations. However, the accuracy of this procedure depends on the validity of the high temperature approximation. In this work, an alternative derivation based on the Kubo formalism is provided. This enables the calculation of additional correction terms that increases the range of applicability of the procedure to lower temperatures. Because it is based on the Kubo-transformed correlation function, this approach allows the direct use of correlation functions obtained from methods such as ring-polymer molecular dynamics and centroid molecular dynamics in determining the influence functional coefficients for subsequent system-solvent simulations. The accuracy of the original procedure and the corrected procedure is investigated across a range of parameters. It is interesting that the correction term comes at zero additional cost. Furthermore, it is possible to improve upon the correction using zero-cost physical intuition and heuristics making the method even more accurate.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Assessing and advancing the potential of quantum computing: A NASA case study

Quantum computing is one of the most enticing computational paradigms with the potential to revolutionize diverse areas of future-generation computational systems. While quantum computing hardware has advanced rapidly, from tiny laboratory experiments to quantum chips that can outperform even the largest supercomputers on specialized computational tasks, these noisy-intermediate scale quantum (NISQ) processors are still too small and non-robust to be directly useful for any real-world applications. In this paper, we describe NASA’s work in assessing and advancing the potential of quantum computing. We discuss advances in algorithms, both near- and longer-term, and the results of our explorations on current hardware as well as with simulations, including illustrating the benefits of algorithm-hardware co-design in the NISQ era. This work also includes physics-inspired classical algorithms that can be used at application scale today. We discuss innovative tools supporting the assessment and advancement of quantum computing and describe improved methods for simulating quantum systems of various types on high-performance computing systems that incorporate realistic error models. We provide an overview of recent methods for benchmarking, evaluating, and characterizing quantum hardware for error mitigation, as well as insights into fundamental quantum physics that can be harnessed for computational purposes.

Rieffel, Eleanor G.↗

The CLAS12 Trigger System

This article describes the CLAS12 Trigger System. The simulation, hardware, and software design, as well as all validation procedures, are discussed here. The firmware development tools used are discussed as well, including our experience with VIVADO High Level Synthesis.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Preparations for quantum simulations of quantum chromodynamics in 1+1 dimensions. II. Single-baryon β-decay in real time

Here, a framework for quantum simulations of real-time weak decays of hadrons and nuclei in a two-flavor lattice theory in one spatial dimension is presented. A single generation of the Standard Model is found to require 16 qubits per spatial lattice site after mapping to spin operators via the Jordan-Wigner transformation. Both quantum chromodynamics and flavor-changing weak interactions are included in the dynamics, the latter through four-Fermi effective operators. Quantum circuits that implement time evolution in this lattice theory are developed and run on Quantinuum’s H1-1 20-qubit trapped ion system to simulate the β-decay of a single baryon on one lattice site. These simulations include the initial state preparation and are performed for both one and two Trotter time steps. The potential intrinsic error-correction properties of this type of lattice theory are discussed, and the leading lattice Hamiltonian required to simulate 0νββ-decay of nuclei induced by a neutrino Majorana mass term is provided.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Distribution of Infiltration in the 216-U-10, 216-B-3 Pond, and 216-T-4 Pond Systems 1944-1997

A modeling system to simulate fate and transport of contaminant plumes in groundwater beneath the Central Plateau to support the Cumulative Impact Evaluation (CIE) and Composite Analysis (CA) is being developed. The CIE will evaluate the cumulative effect of multiple Central Plateau radiological and chemical sources on groundwater quality. This will enable cleanup decisions to be evaluated in the context of all Central Plateau waste sites and existing groundwater conditions. The purpose of this Environmental Calculation File (ECF) is to partition the infiltration of wastewater and contaminant inventory between the main pond and each expansion lobe of the 216-B-3 Pond system, and to partition the infiltration of wastewater and contaminant inventory between the ditches and ponds of the 216-U-10 Pond and 216-T-4 Pond systems.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Development of a Sizing and Modeling Platform for District Energy Systems with Geothermal Heat Pumps

Existing tools for community or urban scale energy system modeling and simulation are often limited in their capabilities and require expert-level modeling proficiency to develop system models. To fill this gap, this paper proposes an integrated sizing and modeling platform for district energy systems with geothermal heat pumps. The proposed platform takes in geometric and non-geometric user inputs related to the buildings, borefield, and district energy loop. Then, the platform sizes the geothermal heat exchanger, generates a corresponding district energy system model, and runs an annual simulation automatically. We validated the simulation performance of the borefield in our tool against EnergyPlus. A case study is provided in this paper to demonstrate the workflow and simulation result plausibility of the proposed platform.

decarbonization↗

Design and Analysis of an Integral MPPT Control Law for Wave Energy Conversion Systems

In this paper, we propose an integral-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm for point absorber wave energy conversion (WEC) systems. A permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) is coupled to the point absorber and its drive implements the proposed MPPT control. While the rotating frame of reference of the PMSG implements power control, the slower mechanical frequency of the incident waves are processed with an additional transformation that yields another set of dc dynamics. The computed dc power in the new reference frame, which is focused on slow wave dynamics, is input to the MPPT control law that tunes the emulated resistance of the machine drive to extract peak power from the wave absorber device. We derive a stability condition for the proposed controller and validate our control design on a simulated 10kW system.

wave energy, maximum power point tracking (MPPT), ↗

Automatic Generation of Chemical Mechanisms for Electrochemical Systems: Solid Electrolyte Interphase Formation in Lithium Batteries

Electrolytes in many lithium ion batteries decompose at the low potentials near the anode. The decomposition products form a layer termed the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). The composition and growth of the SEI layer significantly affect both the capacity fade and safety of lithium ion batteries. However, SEI formation and growth kinetics are not well understood. In this work, we present an extension of the Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG) software to automatically generate mechanisms for SEI formation. We extend RMG’s solvation correction framework to account for kinetic solvent effects and demonstrate the accuracy of our technique. We calculate thermochemical parameters for 252 species and rate coefficients for 69 reactions, most with associated solvation corrections. This and additional quantum chemistry data are used to extend RMG’s thermodynamic group additivity and solute parameter estimation schemes to handle lithiated species and add 14 new reaction families to RMG. RMG is additionally extended to simulate electrocatalytic systems. Lastly, we demonstrate RMG on the decomposition of acetonitrile and ethylene carbonate near a battery anode. Furthermore, while this framework does not yet resolve individual ions, as appropriate thermochemistry estimators are not available, and thus, cannot yet resolve more complex electrochemical pathways, RMG is able to generate reasonable pathways for SEI formation that match literature pathways and products. In particular, RMG identifies a new important reaction pathway that is not present in literature.

Chemical reactions↗

Hydrodynamic Interactions in Topologically Linked Ring Polymers.

Despite decades of interdisciplinary research on topologically linked ring polymers, their dynamics remain largely unstudied. These systems represent a major scientific challenge as they are often subject to both topological and hydrodynamic interactions (HI), which render dynamical solutions either mathematically intractable or computationally prohibitive. Here we circumvent these limitations by preaveraging the HI of linked rings. We show that the symmetry of ring polymers leads to a hydrodynamic decoupling of ring dynamics. This decoupling is valid even for nonideal polymers and nonequilibrium conditions. Physically, our findings suggest that the effects of topology and HI are nearly independent and do not act cooperatively to influence polymer dynamics. We use this result to develop highly efficient Brownian dynamics algorithms that offer enormous performance improvements over conventional methods and apply these algorithms to simulate catenated ring polymers at equilibrium, confirming the independence of topological effects and HI. The methods developed here can be used to study and simulate large systems of linked rings with HI, including kinetoplast DNA, Olympic gels, and poly[n]catenanes.

Rauscher, Phillip M.↗

Hidden Rotation Symmetry of the Jordan–Wigner Transformation and Its Application to Measurement in Quantum Computation

Using a global rotation by 𝜃 about the z-axis in the spin sector of the Jordan–Wigner transformation rotates Pauli matrices 𝑋̂ and 𝑌̂ in the 𝑥−𝑦 -plane, while it adds a global complex phase to fermionic quantum states that have a fixed number of particles. With the right choice of angles, this relates expectation values of Pauli strings containing products of 𝑋̂ and 𝑌̂ to different products, which can be employed to reduce the number of measurements needed when simulating fermionic systems on a quantum computer. Here, we derive this symmetry and show how it can be applied to systems in Physics and Chemistry that involve Hamiltonians with only single-particle (hopping) and two-particle (interaction) terms. We also discuss the consequences of this for finding efficient measurement circuits in variational ground state preparation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Data-Driven Simulation-Based Planning for Electric Airport Shuttle Systems: A Real-World Case Study

Many airports are adopting battery electric buses in their shuttle fleets due to concerns over air quality and regulations. This study proposes a simulation-based optimization modeling framework to help airport shuttle operators effectively deploy electric buses. We evaluated a planned airport electric shuttle system with an event-driven simulator. Empirical data collected from existing systems were used to drive the simulations. We then proposed a simulation-based optimization model to determine the battery capacity, charging power, and number of chargers so that predefined objective(s) (e.g., minimizing total capital cost, minimizing emissions) are optimized. Compared to existing studies, the primary contribution of the proposed method is that it can model the real-world stochastic nature of operations in an electric bus system with much higher fidelity. To demonstrate the proposed modeling framework, we study a real-world shuttle system at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and present extensive numerical studies. When considering partial fleet electrification, the model can provide a set of Pareto optimal solutions. When considering full fleet electrification, the optimal solution requires a 50-kWh battery capacity and four 210-kW chargers, resulting in a total capital cost of $26,744,000. The results demonstrate that the proposed modeling framework can effectively optimize the planning of electric airport shuttle systems with partial or full fleet electrification.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,ENERGY PLANNING, POLIC↗

Phase evolution in two-phase alloys during severe plastic deformation

Herein, phase evolution in FCC metals with strongly interacting alloy components during severe plastic deformation is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. Specifically, we study the alloy microstructure in steady state, nucleation and growth of precipitates in supersaturated alloys, and the decomposition of precipitates in undersaturated alloys. The results are compared to a modified effective temperature model, providing a physical understanding for the atomic processes underlying the model and a perspective on its strengths and weaknesses. Key observations in this work are nucleation and growth of precipitates during SPD at a temperature of 100 K; Gibbs-Thomson-like behavior relating solubility to precipitate size under steady-state shearing; a direct relationship between the effective temperature and the shear modulus; and the importance of cluster agglomeration during precipitate growth. The study also reveals that the mechanisms of forced chemical mixing depends on precipitate size, adding complications for effective temperature models describing inhomogeneous systems. The simulations are shown to provide good semiquantitative agreement with experimental findings reported in the literature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Influence of disorder on antidot vortex Majorana states in three-dimensional topological insulators

Topological insulator/superconductor two-dimensional heterostructures are promising candidates for realizing topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. In these systems, a vortex pinned by a prefabricated antidot in the superconductor can host Majorana zero-energy modes (MZMs), which are exotic quasiparticles that may enable quantum information processing. However, a major challenge is to design devices that can manipulate the information encoded in these MZMs. One of the key factors is to create small and clean antidots, so the MZMs, localized in the vortex core, have a large gap to other excitations. If the antidot is too large or too disordered, the level spacing for the subgap vortex states may become smaller than temperature. In this paper, we numerically investigate the effects of disorder, chemical potential, and antidot size on the subgap vortex spectrum, using a two-dimensional effective model of the topological insulator surface. Our model allows us to simulate large system sizes with vortices up to 1.8 µ⁢m in diameter (with a 6 nm lattice constant). We also compare our disorder model with the transport data from existing experiments. As a result, we find that the spectral gap can exhibit a nonmonotonic behavior as a function of disorder strength, and that it can be tuned by applying a gate voltage.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Faster recovery of North Atlantic tropical cyclone-induced cold wakes in recent decades

Intense winds associated with tropical cyclones (TCs) generate surface ocean cooling in their wakes, which can persist for several weeks in their aftermath. While multi-decadal observations of the sea surface have shown a substantial warming of the ocean, long-term changes in cold wake recovery time remain largely unknown. Here we find a trend toward faster recovery of TC cold wakes in the Atlantic main development region (MDR) since 2001. This is due primarily to a decrease in the strength of the North Atlantic trade winds, which reduces evaporative cooling of the ocean. The faster damping of TC cold wakes has led to a significant increase in the intensification of subsequent TCs that encounter lingering wakes from prior TCs, with a magnitude that is about 9% of that from long-term warming of the ocean. Finally, earth system model simulations indicate that the observed decrease in the cold wake recovery time will likely continue into the future.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Insights From the Software Design of a Multiphysics Multicomponent Scientific Code

Using simulations for scientific discovery requires that the software used in the simulations undergoes a rigorous design and development process similar to that of the lab instruments in the experimental sciences. To devise a good design methodology, it is critical to understand the requirements, constraints, and challenges. Furthermore, this article describes insights from the long-term stewardship of a multiphysics multicomponent software, FLASH, that was designed more than 20 years ago for astrophysics, now serves multiple communities, and has been successful in adapting to the changing world of high-performance computing.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗