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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 73 records · Page 4

Developing novel techniques for readout, calibration and event selection in the NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment

The NOvA long-baseline neutrino experiment uses a fine-grained, low-Z, fully active detector that offers unprecedented electron neutrino identification capabilities for a detector of its scale. In this award’s proposal, the PI outlined the development and implementation of novel techniques for channel readout, detector calibration, and event reconstruction that make full use of the strengths of the NOvA detector technology. In particular, this included designing custom event reconstruction algorithms that utilize the rich information available in the substructure of hadronic and electromagnetic showers. Exploiting this information provides not only substantial improvement in background rejection for the electron neutrino search but also better shower energy resolution (improving the precision on measured oscillation parameters) and a high-energy electromagnetic calibration source (through neutral pion events). The PI further proposed developing and deploying a new electronics readout scheme compatible with the existing hardware that can reduce near detector event pile-up and can offer powerful timing information to the reconstruction, allowing for cosmic ray muon tagging via track direction determination, among other things. In conjunction with the above, the PI proposed leading the calibration of the NOvA detectors, including characterizing individual electronics channels, correcting for spatial variations across the detector, and establishing absolute event energy scales. All three of these lines of effort have been successfully completed, feeding directly into the NOvA’s recent exciting neutrino oscillation results. The techniques developed under this award are detailed in this final technical report.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Exceptional coupling in photonic anisotropic metamaterials for extremely low waveguide crosstalk

Electromagnetic coupling is ubiquitous in photonic systems and transfers optical signals from one device to the other, creating crosstalk between devices. While this allows the functionality of some photonic components such as couplers, it limits the integration density of photonic chips, and many approaches have been proposed to reduce the crosstalk. However, due to the wave nature of light, complete elimination of crosstalk between closely spaced, identical waveguides is believed to be impossible and has not been observed experimentally. Here we show an exceptional coupling that can completely suppresses the crosstalk utilizing highly anisotropic photonic metamaterials. The anisotropic dielectric perturbations in the metamaterial mutually cancel the couplings from different field components, resulting in an infinitely long coupling length. We demonstrate the extreme suppression of crosstalk via exceptional coupling on a silicon-on-insulator platform, which is compatible with a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor process. The idea of exceptional coupling with anisotropic metamaterials can be applied to many other electromagnetic devices, and it could drastically increase the integration density of photonic chips.

Mia, Md Borhan (ORCID:0000000320851331)↗

Broadband enhancement of local density of states using silicon-compatible hyperbolic metamaterials

Light emitting silicon quantum dots by colloidal synthesis were uniformly spin-coated into a 20 nm-thick film and deposited atop a hyperbolic metamaterial of alternating TiN and SiO{sub 2} sub-wavelength layers. Using steady-state and time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy as a function of the emission wavelength in partnership with rigorous electromagnetic modeling of dipolar emission, we demonstrate enhanced Local Density of States and coupling to high-k modes in a broad spectral range. These findings provide an alternative approach for the engineering of novel Si-compatible broadband sources that leverage the control of radiative transitions in hyperbolic metamaterials and the flexibility of the widespread Si platform.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

ParaEMT (NLR's (formerly known as NREL's) EMT Simulator: An Open Source, and HPC-Compatible Large-Scale Power System Electro-Magnetic Transient (EMT) Simulator) [SWR-22-16]

This open-source tool aims to provide a powerful and flexible platform for simulating electromagnetic transients (EMT) of large-scale inverter-based resource (IBR)-dominated power systems. The purpose of making it open source is to foster a community of EMT simulation and assist in exploring new EMT algorithms and applying advanced computational techniques to EMT simulation.

Tan, Jin↗

Hubble imaging of the ionizing radiation from a star-forming galaxy at Z = 3.2 with f{sub esc}>50%

Star-forming galaxies are considered to be the leading candidate sources dominating cosmic reionization at z>7: the search for analogs at moderate redshift showing Lyman continuum (LyC) leakage is currently an active line of research. We have observed a star-forming galaxy at z = 3.2 with Hubble/WFC3 in the F336W filter, corresponding to the 730–890 Å rest-frame, and detected LyC emission. This galaxy is very compact and also has a large Oxygen ratio [O III]λ5007/[O II]λ3727 (≳10). No nuclear activity is revealed from optical/near-infrared spectroscopy and deep multi-band photometry (including the 6 Ms X-ray Chandra observations). The measured escape fraction of ionizing radiation spans the range 50%–100%, depending on the intergalactic medium (IGM) attenuation. The LyC emission is measured at m{sub F336W}=27.57±0.11 (with signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) = 10) and is spatially unresolved, with an effective radius of R{sub e}<200 pc. Predictions from photoionization and radiative transfer models are in line with the properties reported here, indicating that stellar winds and supernova explosions in a nucleated star-forming region can blow cavities generating density-bounded conditions compatible to optically thin media. Irrespective of the nature of the ionizing radiation, spectral signatures of these sources over the entire electromagnetic spectrum are of central importance for their identification during the epoch of reionization when the LyC is unobservable. Intriguingly, the Spitzer/IRAC photometric signature of intense rest-frame optical emissions ([O iii]λλ4959,5007 + Hβ) recently observed at z≃7.5--8.5 is similar to what is observed in this galaxy. Only the James Webb Space Telescope will measure optical line ratios at z>7, allowing a direct comparison with the lower-redshift LyC emitters, such as that reported here.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Gravitating lepton bag model

The Kerr–Newman (KN) black hole (BH) solution exhibits the external gravitational and electromagnetic field corresponding to that of the Dirac electron. For the large spin/mass ratio, a ≫ m, the BH loses horizons and acquires a naked singular ring creating two-sheeted topology. This space is regularized by the Higgs mechanism of symmetry breaking, leading to an extended particle that has a regular spinning core compatible with the external KN solution. We show that this core has much in common with the known MIT and SLAC bag models, but has the important advantage of being in accordance with the external gravitational and electromagnetic fields of the KN solution. A peculiar two-sheeted structure of Kerr’s gravity provides a framework for the implementation of the Higgs mechanism of symmetry breaking in configuration space in accordance with the concept of the electroweak sector of the Standard Model. Similar to other bag models, the KN bag is flexible and pliant to deformations. For parameters of a spinning electron, the bag takes the shape of a thin rotating disk of the Compton radius, with a ring–string structure and a quark-like singular pole formed at the sharp edge of this disk, indicating that the considered lepton bag forms a single bag–string–quark system.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Weyl relativity: a novel approach to Weyl's ideas

In this paper we revisit the motivation and construction of a unified theory of gravity and electromagnetism, following Weyl's insights regarding the appealing potential connection between the gauge invariance of electromagnetism and the conformal invariance of the gravitational field. We highlight that changing the local symmetry group of spacetime permits to construct a theory in which these two symmetries are combined into a putative gauge symmetry but with second-order field equations and non-trivial mass scales, unlike the original higher-order construction by Weyl. We prove that the gravitational field equations are equivalent to the (trace-free) Einstein field equations, ensuring their compatibility with known tests of general relativity. As a corollary, the effective cosmological constant is rendered radiatively stable due to Weyl invariance. A novel phenomenological consequence characteristic of this construction, potentially relevant for cosmological observations, is the existence of an energy scale below which effects associated with the non-integrability of spacetime distances, and an effective mass for the electromagnetic field, appear simultaneously (as dual manifestations of the use of Weyl connections). We explain how former criticisms against Weyl's ideas lose most of their power in its present reincarnation, which we refer to as Weyl relativity, as it represents a Weyl-invariant, unified description of both the Einstein and Maxwell field equations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

The LLNL Program in Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Astrophysics (NSNA) (FY19 Annual Report)

Our major efforts in FY18-19 were devoted to carrying out the second GRETINA/CHICO2 campaign at ANL and the JANUS campaign at MSU/NSCL. Among a total of 13 fielded experiments, three were for Ph.D. thesis projects; two students at MSU and one at UNC at Chapel Hill. Two experiments in the JANUS campaign were led by LLNL; namely, the study of nuclear structure in 72 Se and 76 Se using the sub-barrier Coulomb excitation method. The data analysis was completed for both selenium isotopes and the results were published. The 72 Se results have been submitted to DOE/SC/NP as a science highlight and the article won a prestigious LLNL S&T Excellence in Publication Award in FY19. For experiments fielded in FY17 at TRIUMF/ISAC2 using TIGRESS/Bambino, the data analysis was completed recently and the 21 Mg results were published in FY19. For the results on the mirror nuclei 23 Mg and 23 Na, the manuscript was written and is in circulation among the coauthors. We intend to submit it for publication later this calendar year. These efforts address the isospin symmetry in the sd shell nuclei in terms of the electromagnetic properties measured with the sub-barrier Coulomb excitation method. The proposal to upgrade CHICO2 to CHICOX by resizing the detector chamber to be compatible to GRETA was approved in FY17 with a budget spread over three fiscal years starting FY18. The preliminary design was completed but cannot be finalized until the design for the GRETA holding frame is completed by the LBNL GRETA team in FY19. The fabrication will proceed once the physical compatibility of CHICOX to GRETA holding frame is confirmed. The narrative below focuses on the research efforts for which LLNL led or played a key role. This report includes two sections: 1) Evolution of shell structure and collectivity in neutron-rich nuclei, and 2) Investigating nucleosynthesis and the Standard Model with β decay.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Design of a Novel Variable Geometry Divertor for Tokamaks

The divertor is a key component of fusion reactors, allowing exhaust of gas, impurities, and helium ash to preserve plasma purity. The divertor geometry strongly affects plasma performance, and it is designed to be compatible with different plasma shapes in present-day fusion experiments. Here, we present a novel concept for a variable geometry divertor, in which the divertor baffle tiles are reorientable by external actuation. Implementation of this concept in a medium-sized research tokamak would uniquely provide the flexibility to tailor divertor geometry to the plasma configuration and also enable study of the effect of divertor closure on plasma performance. To ensure compatibility with typical tokamak operations, the adjustable divertor must withstand the effects of significant mechanical and thermal stresses such as MW/m 2 -scale heat fluxes and large electromagnetic fields, e.g., disruption forces. The technological solutions for actuation mechanisms, cooling system, gas baffling and plasma-facing components are assessed. A functional reduced-scale model with movable outer divertor target baffle tiles is developed and the actuation mechanism is tested.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Interactions of particles with “continuous spin” fields

Powerful general arguments allow only a few families of long-range interactions, exemplified by gauge field theories of electromagnetism and gravity. However, all of these arguments presuppose that massless fields have zero spin scale (Casimir invariant) and hence exactly boost invariant helicity. This misses the most general behavior compatible with Lorentz symmetry. We present a Lagrangian formalism describing interactions of matter particles with bosonic “continuous spin” fields with arbitrary spin scale ρ. Remarkably, physical observables are well approximated by familiar theories at frequencies larger than ρ, with calculable deviations at low frequencies and long distances. For example, we predict specific ρ-dependent modifications to the Lorentz force law and the Larmor formula, which lay the foundation for experimental tests of the photon’s spin scale. We also reproduce known soft radiation emission amplitudes for nonzero ρ. The particles’ effective matter currents are not fully localized to their worldlines when ρ ≠ 0, which motivates investigation of manifestly local completions of our theory. Our results also motivate the development of continuous spin analogues of gravity and non-Abelian gauge theories. Given the correspondence with familiar gauge theory in the small ρ limit, we conjecture that continuous spin particles may in fact mediate known long-range forces, with testable consequences.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Trapping light in air with membrane metasurfaces for vibrational strong coupling

Optical metasurfaces can manipulate electromagnetic waves in unprecedented ways at ultra-thin engineered interfaces. Specifically, in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) region, metasurfaces have enabled numerous biochemical sensing, spectroscopy, and vibrational strong coupling (VSC) applications via enhanced light-matter interactions in resonant cavities. However, mid-IR metasurfaces are usually fabricated on solid supporting substrates, which degrade resonance quality factors (Q) and hinder efficient sample access to the near-field electromagnetic hotspots. Besides, typical IR-transparent substrate materials with low refractive indices, such as CaF 2 , NaCl, KBr, and ZnSe, are usually either water-soluble, expensive, or not compatible with low-cost mass manufacturing processes. Here, we present novel free-standing Si-membrane mid-IR metasurfaces with strong light-trapping capabilities in accessible air voids. We employ the Brillouin zone folding technique to excite tunable, high-Q quasi-bound states in the continuum (qBIC) resonances with our highest measured Q-factor of 722. Leveraging the strong field localizations in accessible air cavities, we demonstrate VSC with multiple quantities of PMMA molecules and the qBIC modes at various detuning frequencies. Our new approach of fabricating mid-IR metasurfaces into semiconductor membranes enables scalable manufacturing of mid-IR photonic devices and provides exciting opportunities for quantum-coherent light-matter interactions, biochemical sensing, and polaritonic chemistry. The authors introduce a mid-IR metasurface fabricated by decorating a free-standing Si-membrane with air holes. The enhanced light-matter interactions in such air cavities enable vibrational strong coupling and advanced biochemical sensing.

infrared spectroscopy↗

A 1D Model of Radial Ion Motion Interrupted by Ion–Neutral Interactionsin a Cometary Coma

Because ion–neutral reaction cross sections are energy dependent, the distance from a cometary nucleus within which ions remain collisionally coupled to the neutrals is dictated not only by the comet’s activity level but also by the electromagnetic fields in the coma. Here we present a 1D model simulating the outward radial motion of water group ions with radial acceleration by an ambipolar electric field interrupted primarily by charge transfer processes with H{sub 2}O. We also discuss the impact of plasma waves. For a given electric field profile, the model calculates key parameters, including the total ion density, n {sub I}, the H{sub 3}O{sup +}/H{sub 2}O{sup +} number density and flux ratios, R {sub dens} and R {sub flux}, and the mean ion drift speed, 〈u{sub I}〉, as a function of cometocentric distance. We focus primarily on a coma roughly resembling that of the ESA Rosetta mission target comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko near its perihelion in 2015 August. In the presence of a weak ambipolar electric field in the radial direction the model results suggest that the neutral coma is not sufficiently dense to keep the mean ion flow speed close to that of the neutrals by the spacecraft location (∼200 km from the nucleus). In addition, for electric field profiles giving n {sub I} and 〈u{sub I}〉 within limits constrained by measurements, the R {sub dens} values are significantly higher than values typically observed. However, when including the ion motion in large-amplitude plasma waves in the model, results more compatible with observations are obtained. We suggest that the variable and often low H{sub 3}O{sup +}/H{sub 2}O{sup +} number density ratios observed may reflect nonradial ion trajectories strongly influenced by electromagnetic forces and/or plasma instabilities, with energization of the ion population by plasma waves.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Optical leakage mitigation in ortho-mode transducer detectors for microwave applications

Ortho-mode transducers (OMT) are a commonly used method of coupling opti-cal signals between waveguides and on-chip circuitry and detectors. While the ideal OMT-waveguide coupling requires minimal disturbance to the waveguide, when used for mm-wave applications the waveguide is often slide though and the OMT probes inserted on a thin support membrane. This interface is a potential source of signal leakage and can lead to signal loss and experimental systematics (e.g. in CMB polarization experiments where lost signal can result in temperature to polarization leakage). Here we report on the development of new OMT- waveguide coupling structures with the goal of reducing leakage at the horn-to-detector-wafer interface. The pixel to pixel optical leakage due to the gap be-tween the coupling waveguide and the backshort is reduced by means of a protrusion that passes through the OMT membrane and connects the waveguide sections on each side of the wafer. High frequency electromagnetic simulations indicate that these protrusions can reduce optical leakage in the gap by ~80% percent, with a ~60% filling factor, respect to an ordinary OMT coupling without protrusion, using designs that are compatible with current fabrication processes. We describe the design of the new coupling structure including the impact of varying two key parameters: wafer to optical coupling gap and protrusion fill factor. Prototype devices have been designed that will characterize the performance of the new design using a relative measurement with varying filling factors. We describe the simulation setup and results, and present a chip layout and sample box designed to perform an initial measurement.

Detectors↗

Shock wave polarizations and optical metrics in the Born and the Born–Infeld electrodynamics

We analyze the behavior of shock waves in nonlinear theories of electrodynamics. For this, by use of generalized Hadamard step functions of increasing order, the electromagnetic potential is developed in a series expansion near the shock wave front. This brings about a corresponding expansion of the respective electromagnetic field equations which allows for deriving relations that determine the jump coefficients in the expansion series of the potential. We compute the components of a suitable gauge-normalized version of the jump coefficients given for a prescribed tetrad compatible with the shock front foliation. The solution of the first-order jump relations shows that, in contrast to linear Maxwell’s electrodynamics, in general the propagation of shock waves in nonlinear theories is governed by optical metrics and polarization conditions describing the propagation of two differently polarized waves (leading to a possible appearance of birefringence). In detail, shock waves are analyzed in the Born and Born–Infeld theories verifying that the Born–Infeld model exhibits no birefringence and the Born model does. The obtained results are compared to those ones found in literature. New results for the polarization of the two different waves are derived for Born-type electrodynamics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Scalable Preconditioners for Structure Preserving Discretizations of Maxwell Equations in First Order Form

Here, we report multiple physical time-scales can arise in electromagnetic simulations when dissipative effects are introduced through boundary conditions, when currents follow external time-scales, and when material parameters vary spatially. In such scenarios, the time-scales of interest may be much slower than the fastest time-scales supported by the Maxwell equations, therefore making implicit time integration an efficient approach. The use of implicit temporal discretizations results in linear systems in which fast time-scales, which severely constrain the stability of an explicit method, can manifest as so-called stiff modes. This study proposes a new block preconditioner for structure preserving (also termed physics compatible) discretizations of the Maxwell equations in first order form. The intent of the preconditioner is to enable the efficient solution of multiple-time-scale Maxwell type systems. An additional benefit of the developed preconditioner is that it requires only a traditional multigrid method for its subsolves and compares well against alternative approaches that rely on specialized edge-based multigrid routines that may not be readily available. Lastly, results demonstrate parallel scalability at large electromagnetic wave CFL numbers on a variety of test problems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

VERITAS and Multiwavelength Observations of the Blazar B3 2247+381 in Response to an IceCube Neutrino Alert

While the sources of the diffuse astrophysical neutrino flux detected by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory are still largely unknown, one of the promising methods to improve our understanding of them is investigating the potential temporal and spatial correlations between neutrino alerts and the electromagnetic radiation from blazars. We report on the multiwavelength target-of-opportunity observations of the blazar B3 2247+381, taken in response to an IceCube multiplet alert for a cluster of muon neutrino events compatible with the source location between 2022 May 20 and 2022 November 10. B3 2247+381 was not detected with VERITAS during this time period. The source was found to be in a low-flux state in the optical, ultraviolet, and gamma-ray bands for the time interval corresponding to the neutrino event, but was detected in the hard X-ray band with NuSTAR during this period. We find the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution is described well using a simple one-zone leptonic synchrotron self-Compton radiation model. Moreover, assuming the neutrinos originate from hadronic processes within the jet, the neutrino flux would be accompanied by a photon flux from the cascade emission, and the integrated photon flux required in such a case would significantly exceed the total multiwavelength fluxes and the VERITAS upper limits presented here. The lack of flaring activity observed with VERITAS, combined with the low multiwavelength flux levels, as well as the significance of the neutrino excess being at a 3σ level (uncorrected for trials), makes B3 2247+381 an unlikely source of the IceCube multiplet. We conclude that the neutrino excess is likely a background fluctuation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Threatening Magnetic and Plasma Environment of the TRAPPIST-1 Planets

Recently, four additional Earth-mass planets were discovered orbiting the nearby ultracool M8 dwarf, TRAPPIST-1, making a remarkable total of seven planets with equilibrium temperatures compatible with the presence of liquid water on their surface. Temperate terrestrial planets around an M-dwarf orbit close to their parent star, rendering their atmospheres vulnerable to erosion by the stellar wind and energetic electromagnetic and particle radiation. Here, we use state-of-the-art 3D magnetohydrodynamic models to simulate the wind around TRAPPIST-1 and study the conditions at each planetary orbit. All planets experience a stellar wind pressure between 10{sup 3} and 10{sup 5} times the solar wind pressure on Earth. All orbits pass through wind pressure changes of an order of magnitude and most planets spend a large fraction of their orbital period in the sub-Alfvénic regime. For plausible planetary magnetic field strengths, all magnetospheres are greatly compressed and undergo much more dynamic change than that of the Earth. The planetary magnetic fields connect with the stellar radial field over much of the planetary surface, allowing the direct flow of stellar wind particles onto the planetary atmosphere. These conditions could result in strong atmospheric stripping and evaporation and should be taken into account for any realistic assessment of the evolution and habitability of the TRAPPIST-1 planets.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Electromagnetic Extended Finite Elements for High-Fidelity Multimaterial Problems LDRD Final Report

Surface effects are critical to the accurate simulation of electromagnetics (EM) as current tends to concentrate near material surfaces. Sandia EM applications, which include exploding bridge wires for detonator design, electromagnetic launch of flyer plates for material testing and gun design, lightning blast-through for weapon safety, electromagnetic armor, and magnetic flux compression generators, all require accurate resolution of surface effects. These applications operate in a large deformation regime, where body-fitted meshes are impractical and multimaterial elements are the only feasible option. State-of-the-art methods use various mixture models to approximate the multi-physics of these elements. The empirical nature of these models can significantly compromise the accuracy of the simulation in this very important surface region. We propose to substantially improve the predictive capability of electromagnetic simulations by removing the need for empirical mixture models at material surfaces. We do this by developing an eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) and an associated Conformal Decomposition Finite Element Method (CDFEM) which satisfy the physically required compatibility conditions at material interfaces. We demonstrate the effectiveness of these methods for diffusion and diffusion-like problems on node, edge and face elements in 2D and 3D. We also present preliminary work on h -hierarchical elements and remap algorithms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗