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DOE OSTI2022

Universal van der Waals Force between Heavy Polarons in Superfluids

Here, we investigate the long-range behavior of the induced Casimir interaction between two spinless heavy impurities, or polarons, in superfluid cold atomic gases. With the help of effective field theory (EFT) of a Galilean invariant superfluid, we show that the induced impurity-impurity potential at long distance universally shows a relativistic van der Waals-like attraction (~1/r 7 ) resulting from the exchange of two superfluid phonons. We also clarify finite temperature effects from the same two-phonon exchange process. The temperature $\mathrm{T}$ introduces the additional length scale c s /$\mathrm{T}$ with the speed of sound c s . Leading corrections at finite temperature scale as $\mathrm{T}$ 6 /r for distances r$\ll$c s /$\mathrm{T}$ smaller than the thermal length. For larger distances the potential shows a nonrelativistic van der Waals behavior (~$\mathrm{T}$/r 6 ) instead of the relativistic one. Our EFT formulation applies not only to weakly coupled Bose or Fermi superfluids but also to those composed of strongly correlated unitary fermions with a weakly coupled impurity. The sound velocity controls the magnitude of the van der Waals potential, which we evaluate for the fermionic superfluid in the BCS-BEC crossover.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

NASA NTRS1971

A measurement of the general relativistic time delay with data from Mariners 6 and 7

The technique for obtaining range measurements is discussed. It involves measuring elapsed time between the transmission of an encoded signal from the ground station and its return from the spacecraft. The theoretical background for the Mariner Mars 1969 relativity test is presented, including computation of orbits and time transformation. Interplanetary and coronal plasma effects on range and Doppler observations at S-band are also considered. The general relativistic propagation delay was measured and a value of 0.997 for the relativity parameter Gamma star was obtained.

Anderson, J. D.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Traces of nonequilibrium effects, initial condition, bulk dynamics, and elementary collisions in the charm observables

Heavy quarks produced in relativistic heavy-ion collisions are known to be sensitive probes of the hot and dense QCD matter they traverse. In this paper we study how their dynamics is affected by the nature of the bulk evolution of the QCD matter, the initial condition of the system, and the treatment of elementary interactions between heavy quarks and the surrounding medium. For the same initial condition and the same quark-gluon plasma (QGP) expansion scenario we discuss the consequences of the assumption of a local equilibrium by comparing the consequences for the nuclear modification factor $R_{AA}$ and the elliptic flows of charm quarks, scrutinizing the different components of the final distribution of charm quarks. For this purpose we employ the parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) model, which is an off-shell microscopic transport approach, as well as the linearized-Boltzmann (LB) scheme obtained by coarse graining the PHSD bulk and assuming local equilibrium for the interactions of the charm quarks with the bulk. The $R_{AA}$ of charm quarks stemming from the later LB approach is also compared to a genuine fluid dynamics evolution initiated by the coarse grained PHSD, which allows us to further assess the consequences of reducing the full $\textit{n}$-body dynamics. We then proceed to a systematic comparison of PHSD (in its LB approximation) with MC@HQ, another transport model for heavy flavors which also relies on the LB approach. In particular, we investigate the consequences for the nuclear modification factor of charm quarks if we vary separately the initial heavy quark distribution function in matter, the expansion dynamics of the QGP, and the elementary interactions of heavy quarks of these models. We find that the results for both models vary significantly depending on the details of the calculation. However, both models achieve very similar predictions for key heavy quark observables for certain combinations of initial condition, bulk evolution, and interactions. In this work, we conclude that this ambiguity limits our ability to determine the different properties of the system based on the current set of observables.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS2005

A Hadronic Synchrotron Mirror Model for the "Orphan" Tev Flare in 1ES 1959+650

Very high energy gamma-ray flares of TeV blazars are generally accompanied by simultaneous flaring activity in X-rays. The recent observations by the Whipple collaboration of an "orphan" TeV flare of 1 ES 1959+650 (without a simultaneous X-ray flare) are very difficult to reconcile with the standard leptonic synchrotron self-Compton model, which is routinely very successfully employed to explain the spectral energy distribution and spectral variability of TeV blazars. In this paper an alternative scenario is suggested in which the orphan TeV flare may originate from relativistic protons, interacting with an external photon field supplied by electron synchrotron radiation reflected off a dilute reflector. While the external photons will be virtually "invisible" to the comoving ultrarelativistic electrons in the jet because of Klein-Nishina effects, their Doppler-boosted energy is high enough to excite a Delta-resonance from relativistic protons with Lorentz factors of gamma(sub p) approx. 10(exp 3)-10(exp 4). This model is capable of explaining the orphan TeV flare of 1ES 1959+650 with plausible parameters, thus constraining the number and characteristic energy of relativistic protons in the jet of this blazar.

Bottcher, Markus↗

NASA NTRS1997

Calculation of Heavy Ion Inactivation and Mutation Rates in Radial Dose Model of Track Structure

In the track structure model, the inactivation cross section is found by summing an inactivation probability over all impact parameters from the ion to the sensitive sites within the cell nucleus. The inactivation probability is evaluated by using the dose response of the system to gamma rays and the radial dose of the ions and may be equal to unity at small impact parameters. We apply the track structure model to recent data with heavy ion beams irradiating biological samples of E. Coli, B. Subtilis spores, and Chinese hamster (V79) cells. Heavy ions have observed cross sections for inactivation that approach and sometimes exceed the geometric size of the cell nucleus. We show how the effects of inactivation may be taken into account in the evaluation of the mutation cross sections in the track structure model through correlation of sites for gene mutation and cell inactivation. The model is fit to available data for HPRT (hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase) mutations in V79 cells, and good agreement is found. Calculations show the high probability for mutation by relativistic ions due to the radial extension of ions track from delta rays. The effects of inactivation on mutation rates make it very unlikely that a single parameter such as LET (linear energy transfer) can be used to specify radiation quality for heavy ion bombardment.

Cucinotta, Francis A.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Radiation force on a relativistic plasma and the Eddington limit

Calculations of the radiation force due to Thomson scattering on a relativistic plasma are presented and discussed in relation to certain astronomical objects which operate within a few orders of magnitude of their Eddington luminosity. The radiation force on a hot isotropic plasma is shown to exceed that on a cold plasma by a factor depending on the electron Lorentz factor, which can be substantial in a relativistic plasma. In such a plasma, radiative bulk acceleration is found to occur through the anisotropic loss of internal energy during the Thomson scattering, resulting in an effect termed a Compton rocket. The Compton rocket is shown to be a relevant acceleration mechanism in situations where a relativistic electron plasma lies in the vicinity of a luminous source operating near the classical Eddington limit, including compact galactic X-ray sources and objects associated with active galactic nuclei (quasars, blazars, and Seyfert nuclei).

Odell, S. L.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Effect of causality constraints on Bayesian analyses of heavy-ion collisions

There have long been questions about the limits to the validity of relativistic fluid dynamics and whether it is being used outside its regime of validity in modern simulations of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. An important new tool for answering this question is a causality analysis in the nonlinear regime—if the solutions of the evolution equations do not respect relativistic causality, then they are not a faithful representation of the underlying relativistic theory (in this case, quantum chromodynamics). Using this nonlinear criterion, it has recently been shown that hydrodynamics is indeed being used outside its regime of validity in simulations, at least sometimes. Here we explore the phenomenological implications, particularly the quantitative effects of demanding limits on acausality in modern Bayesian parameter estimation. We find that, while typically only a small fraction of the system's energy is initially in an acausal regime, placing strict limits on the allowed energy fraction significantly changes the preferred properties of the initial condition, which in turn alters the extracted medium properties such as bulk viscosity, where large values are no longer favored. Furthermore, these findings highlight the importance of developing better theoretical descriptions of the early-time, out-of-equilibrium dynamics of relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

Bayesian methods↗

DOE OSTI2021

General Relativistic Neutrino-driven Turbulence in One-dimensional Core-collapse Supernovae

Abstract Convection and turbulence in core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are inherently three-dimensional (3D) in nature. However, 3D simulations of CCSNe are computationally demanding. Thus, it is valuable to modify simulations in spherical symmetry to incorporate 3D effects using some parametric model. In this paper, we report on the formulation and implementation of general relativistic neutrino-driven turbulent convection in the spherically symmetric core-collapse supernova code GR1D . This is based upon the recently proposed method of Simulated Turbulence in Reduced Dimensionality (STIR) in Newtonian simulations from Couch et al. (2020). When the parameters of this model are calibrated to 3D simulations, we find that our general relativistic formulation of STIR requires larger turbulent eddies to achieve a shock evolution similar to the original STIR model. We also find that general relativity may alter the correspondence between progenitor mass and successful versus failed explosions.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

NASA NTRS1992

Magnetized stimulated scattering in pulsar winds

The effects of stimulated scattering on a collimated high brightness temperature beam of photons traversing a relativistically streaming magnetized plasma are studied. Under the assumption that the center of the photon beam is parallel to the bulk motion, we calculate the scattering rate as a function of the angular spread of the beam and the Lorentz factor gamma. Magnetization changes the photon recoil, without which stimulated scattering has no effect. It also introduces a strong dependence on frequency and polarization: if the photon frequency matches the electron cyclotron frequency, the scattering rate of photons polarized perpendicular to the magnetic field can be substantially enhanced relative to Thomson, and if the photon frequency is much less than the cyclotron frequency, the scattering is suppressed. Applying these calculations to pulsars, we find that stimulated scattering of the radio beam in the magnetized wind believed to exist outside the light cylinder can substantially alter the spectrum and polarization state of the radio signal. We suggest that the scattering rate is so high in some pulsars that the ability of the radio signal to penetrate the pulsar magnetosphere requires modification of either the conventional model of the magnetosphere or assumptions about the effects of stimulated scattering upon a beam.

Sincell, Mark W.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Kinetic Simulations of the Kruskal–Schwarzschild Instability in Accelerating Striped Outflows: Dynamics and Energy Dissipation

Astrophysical relativistic outflows are launched as Poynting-flux dominated, yet the mechanism governing efficient magnetic dissipation, which powers the observed emission, is still poorly understood. We study magnetic energy dissipation in relativistic "striped" jets, which host current sheets separating magnetically dominated regions with opposite field polarity. The effective gravity force g in the rest frame of accelerating jets drives the Kruskal–Schwarzschild instability (KSI), a magnetic analog of the Rayleigh–Taylor instability. By means of 2D and 3D particle-in-cell simulations, we study the linear and nonlinear evolution of the KSI. The linear stage is well described by linear stability analysis. The nonlinear stages of the KSI generate thin (skin-depth-thick) current layers, with length comparable to the dominant KSI wavelength. There, the relativistic drift-kink mode and the tearing mode drive efficient magnetic dissipation. The dissipation rate can be cast as an increase in the effective width Δ eff of the dissipative region, which follows dΔ eff /dt ≃ 0.05 $\sqrt{Δ_{eff} g}$. Our results have important implications for the location of the dissipation region in gamma-ray burst and active galactic nuclei jets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2020

SYMBA: An end-to-end VLBI synthetic data generation pipeline

Realistic synthetic observations of theoretical source models are essential for our understanding of real observational data. In using synthetic data, one can verify the extent to which source parameters can be recovered and evaluate how various data corruption effects can be calibrated. These studies are the most important when proposing observations of new sources, in the characterization of the capabilities of new or upgraded instruments, and when verifying model-based theoretical predictions in a direct comparison with observational data. We present the SYnthetic Measurement creator for long Baseline Arrays (SYMBA), a novel synthetic data generation pipeline for Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations. SYMBA takes into account several realistic atmospheric, instrumental, and calibration effects. Here, we used SYMBA to create synthetic observations for the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), a millimetre VLBI array, which has recently captured the first image of a black hole shadow. After testing SYMBA with simple source and corruption models, we study the importance of including all corruption and calibration effects, compared to the addition of thermal noise only. Using synthetic data based on two example general relativistic magnetohydrodynamics (GRMHD) model images of M 87, we performed case studies to assess the image quality that can be obtained with the current and future EHT array for different weather conditions. Our synthetic observations show that the effects of atmospheric and instrumental corruptions on the measured visibilities are significant. Despite these effects, we demonstrate how the overall structure of our GRMHD source models can be recovered robustly with the EHT2017 array after performing calibration steps, which include fringe fitting, a priori amplitude and network calibration, and self-calibration. With the planned addition of new stations to the EHT array in the coming years, images could be reconstructed with higher angular resolution and dynamic range. In our case study, these improvements allowed for a distinction between a thermal and a non-thermal GRMHD model based on salient features in reconstructed images.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Search for the chiral magnetic effect in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 27 GeV with the STAR forward event plane detectors

A decisive experimental test of the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) is considered one of the major scientific goals at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) towards understanding the nontrivial topological fluctuations of the Quantum Chromodynamics vacuum. In heavy-ion collisions, the CME is expected to result in a charge separation phenomenon across the reaction plane, whose strength could be strongly energy dependent. The previous CME searches have been focused on top RHIC energy collisions. In this Letter, we present a low energy search for the CME in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 27 GeV. We measure elliptic flow scaled charge-dependent correlators relative to the event planes that are defined at both mid-rapidity |η| < 1.0 and at forward rapidity 2.1 < |η| < 5.1. We compare the results based on the directed flow plane ( $Ψ$ 1 ) at forward rapidity and the elliptic flow plane ( $Ψ$ 2 ) at both central and forward rapidity. The CME scenario is expected to result in a larger correlation relative to $Ψ$ 1 than to $Ψ$ 2 , while a flow driven background scenario would lead to a consistent result for both event planes. In 10-50% centrality, results using three different event planes are found to be consistent within experimental uncertainties, suggesting a flow driven background scenario dominating the measurement. We obtain an upper limit on the deviation from a flow driven background scenario at the 95% confidence level. This work opens up a possible road map towards future CME search with the high statistics data from the RHIC Beam Energy Scan Phase-II.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Integrating out beyond tree level and relativistic superfluids

We revisit certain subtleties of renormalization that arise when one derives a low-energy effective action by integrating out the heavy fields of a more complete theory. Usually these subtleties are circumvented by matching some physical observables, such as scattering amplitudes, but a more involved procedure is required if one is interested in deriving the effective theory to all orders in the light fields (but still to fixed order in the derivative expansion). As a concrete example, we study the U(1) Goldstone low-energy effective theory that describes the spontaneously broken phase of a $\phi$ 4 theory for a complex scalar. Working to lowest order in the derivative expansion, but to all orders in the Goldstones, we integrate out the radial mode at one loop and express the low-energy effective action in terms of the renormalized couplings of the UV completion. This yields the one-loop equation of state for the superfluid phase of (complex) $\phi$ 4 . We perform the same analysis for a renormalizable scalar SO(N) theory at finite chemical potential, integrating out the gapped Goldstones as well, and confirm that the effective theory for the gapless Goldstone exhibits no obvious sign of the original SO(N) symmetry.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

NASA NTRS1974

Atomic frequency standard relativistic Doppler shift experiment

An experiment has been performed to measure possible space anisotropy as it would effect the frequency of a cesium atomic beam standard clock in a laboratory on earth due to motion relative to external coordinate frames. The cesium frequency was measured as a function of orientation with respect to an atomic hydrogen maser standard. Over a period of 34 days 101 measurements were made. The results are consistent with a conclusion that no general orientation dependance attributable to spacial anisotropy was observed. It is shown that both the airplane clock results, and the null results for the atomic beam clock, are consistent with Einstein general or special relativity, or with the Lorentz transformations alone.

Peters, H. E.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Chiral limit of 2d QCD revisited with lightcone conformal truncation

We study the chiral limit of 2d QCD with a single quark flavor at finite Nc using LCT. By modifying the LCT basis according to the quark mass in a manner motivated by ’t Hooft’s analysis, we are able to restore convergence for quark masses much smaller than the QCD strong coupling scale. For such small quark masses, the IR of the theory is expected to be well described by the Sine-Gordon model. We verify that LCT numerics are able to capture in detail the spectrum and correlation functions of the Sine-Gordon model. This opens up the possibility for studying deformations of various integrable CFTs using LCT by considering the chiral limit of QCD like theories.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Reduced-Cost Four-Component Relativistic Double Ionization Potential Equation-of-Motion Coupled-Cluster Approaches with 4-Hole–2-Particle Excitations and Three-Body Clusters

The double ionization potential (DIP) equation-ofmotion (EOM) coupled-cluster (CC) method with 4-hole−2- particle (4h-2p) excitations on top of the CC with singles, doubles, and triples calculation, abbreviated as DIP-EOMCCSDT(4h-2p), along with its perturbative DIP-EOMCCSD(T)(a)(4h-2p) approximation, are extended to a relativistic four-component (4c) framework. In addition, we introduce and test a new computationally practical DIP-EOMCC approach, which we call DIPEOMCCSD( T)(ã)(4h-2p), that approximates the treatment of 4h- 2p correlations within the DIP-EOMCCSD(T)(a)(4h-2p) method and reduces the $\mathcal{N}$ 8 scaling characterizing DIP-EOMCCSDT(4h- 2p) and DIP-EOMCCSD(T)(a)(4h-2p) to $\mathcal{N}$ 7 with the system size $\mathcal{N}$. Further improvements in computational efficiency are obtained using the frozen natural spinor (FNS) approximation to reduce the numbers of unoccupied spinors entering the correlated steps of the DIP-EOMCC calculations according to a well-defined occupation-number-based threshold. The resulting 4c-FNS-DIPEOMCC approaches are used to compute DIPs for the series of inert gas atoms from argon to radon as well as the vertical DIPs in Cl 2 , Br 2 , HBr, and HI, which have been experimentally examined in the past. We demonstrate that, when using complete basis set extrapolations and FNS truncation threshold of 10 −4.5 , the 4c-FNS-DIP-EOMCCSD(T)(ã)(4h-2p) calculations are capable of predicting DIPs in agreement with experimental data, improving upon their nonrelativistic and spin-free scalar-relativistic counterparts, particularly when examining DIPs characterized by stronger spin−orbit coupling effects.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2023

Proton acceleration in an overdense hydrogen plasma by intense CO 2 laser pulses with nonlinear propagation effects in the underdense pre-plasma

We report on proton acceleration from intense CO 2 laser-irradiated hydrogen plasmas at near-critical densities, with the density gradient steepened by Nd:YAG laser ablation-driven hydrodynamic shocks. While the experimental results, such as the quasi-monoenergetic proton spectra and their scaling with respect to the laser energy, are generally in agreement with the simulations, certain laser shots produced significantly higher proton energies than anticipated during the experiment. The increased proton energy may be linked to nonlinear propagation effects in the steepened plasma density ramp before the critical surface, including relativistic self-focusing and, for the case of temporally-structured laser pulses observed in the experiment, focusing of the trailing pulse through the plasma channel formed by the leading pulse 25 ps ahead. The occurrence of channel focusing in the underdense hydrogen plasma is supported by a subsequent pump-probe experiment with a dark-field imaging technique, where the formation of ion channels was observed after the passage of an intense CO 2 laser pulse

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2022

Low energy effective theory for axion strings

We consider aspects of the low energy (classical) effective field theory description of global cosmic strings. In the non-relativistic limit, we study the extent to which these are described by the combination of the Nambu-Gotto and Kalb-Ramond actions. While in a formal sense this is the case for infinitely long strings, for more realistic situations, the collective coordinates of the system do not provide a complete description for more than brief intervals; as time evolves it becomes necessary to include low momentum goldstone excitations as well.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗