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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Sonic horizons and causality in phase transition dynamics

A system gradually driven through a symmetry-breaking phase transition is subject to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism (KZM). As a consequence of the critical slowing down, its state cannot follow local equilibrium, and its evolution becomes nonadiabatic near the critical point. In the simplest approximation, that stage can be regarded as an “impulse” where the state of the system remains unchanged. It leads to the correct KZM scaling laws. However, such a “freeze-out” might suggest that the coherence length of the nascent order parameter remains unchanged as the critical region is traversed. By contrast, the original causality-based discussion emphasized the role of the sonic horizon: Domains of the broken symmetry phase can expand with a velocity limited by the speed of the relevant sound. This effect was demonstrated in the quantum Ising chain where the dynamical exponent z = 1 and quasiparticles excited by the transition have a fixed speed of sound. To elucidate the role of the sonic horizon, in this paper we study two systems with z > 1 where the speed of sound is no longer fixed, and the fastest excited quasiparticles set the size of the sonic horizon. Their effective speed decays with increasing transition time. In the extreme case, the dynamical exponent z can diverge such as in the Griffiths region of the random Ising chain where the localization of excited quasiparticles freezes the growth of the correlation range when the critical region is traversed. Of particular interest is an example with z < 1 , the long-range extended Ising chain, where there is no upper limit to the velocity of excited quasiparticles with small momenta. Initially, the power-law tail of the correlation function grows adiabatically, but in the nonadiabatic stage it lags behind the adiabatic evolution.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Natural off-stoichiometry causes carrier doping in half-Heusler filled tetrahedral structures

The half-Heusler filled tetrahedral structures (FTSs) are zinc-blende-like compounds, where an additional atom is filling its previously empty interstitial site. The FTSs having 18 valence electrons per formula unit are an emerging family of functional materials, whose intrinsic doping trends underlying a wide range of electronic functionalities are yet to be understood. Interestingly, even pristine compounds without any attempt at impurity/chemical doping exhibit intriguing trends in the free carriers they exhibit. Applying the first principles theory of doping to a few prototype compounds in the A IV B X C IV and A IV B IX C V groups, we describe the key ingredients controlling the materials’ propensity for both intrinsic and extrinsic doping: (a) The spontaneous deviations from 1:1:1 stoichiometry reflect predictable thermodynamic stability of specific competing phases. (b) Bulk ABC compounds containing 3d elements in the B position (ZrNiSn and ZrCoSb) are predicted to be naturally 3 d rich. The B = 3d interstitials are the prevailing shallow donors, whereas the potential acceptors (e.g., Zr vacancy and Sn-on-Zr antisite) are ineffective electron killers, resulting in an overall uncompensated n-type character, even without any chemical doping. In these materials, the band edges are “natural impurity bands” due to non-Daltonian off-stoichiometry, such as B interstitials, not intrinsic bulk controlled states as in a perfect crystal. (c) Bulk ABC compounds containing 5d elements in the B position (ZrPtSn, ZrIrSb, and TaIrGe) are predicted to be naturally C rich and A poor. This promotes the hole-producing C-on- A antisite defects rather than B-interstitial donors. The resultant p-type character (without chemical doping) therein is “latent” for C = Sn and Sb; however, as the C-on-A hole-producing acceptors are rather deep and p typeness is manifest only at high temperature or via impurity doping. In contrast, in TaIrGe (B = Ir, 5d), the prevailing hole-producing Ge-on-Ta antisite (C-on- A) is shallow, making it a real p-type compound. This general physical picture establishes the basic trends of carriers in this group of materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Quantum Rolling Friction

An atom moving in a vacuum at constant velocity and parallel to a surface experiences a frictional force induced by the dissipative interaction with the quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field. We show that the combination of nonequilibrium dynamics, the anomalous Doppler effect, and spin-momentum locking of light mediates an intriguing interplay between the atom’s translational and rotational motion. In turn, this deeply affects the drag force in a way that is reminiscent of classical rolling friction. Our fully non-Markovian and nonequilibrium description reveals counterintuitive features characterizing the atom’s velocity-dependent rotational dynamics. Finally, these results prompt interesting directions for tuning the interaction and for investigating nonequilibrium dynamics as well as the properties of confined light.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Many-Body Level Statistics of Single-Particle Quantum Chaos

We consider a noninteracting many-fermion system populating levels of a unitary random matrix ensemble (equivalent to the q = 2 complex Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model)—a generic model of single-particle quantum chaos. We study the corresponding many-particle level statistics by calculating the spectral form factor analytically using algebraic methods of random matrix theory, and match it with an exact numerical simulation. Despite the integrability of the theory, the many-body spectral rigidity is found to have a surprisingly rich landscape. In particular, we find a residual repulsion of distant many-body levels stemming from single-particle chaos, together with islands of level attraction. These results are encoded in an exponential ramp in the spectral form factor, which we show to be a universal feature of nonergodic many-fermion systems embedded in a chaotic medium.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A real signal and its states

The paper describes the general physical theory of signals, carriers of information, which supplements Shannon’s abstract classical theory and is applicable in much broader fields, including nuclear physics. It is shown that in the absence of classical noise its place should be taken by the physical threshold of signal perception for objects of both macrocosm and microcosm. The signal perception threshold allows the presence of subthreshold (virtual) signal states. For these states, Boolean algebra of logic (A = 0/1) is transformed into the “algebraic logic” of probabilities (0 ≤ a ≤ 1). The similarity and difference of virtual states of macroand microsignals are elucidated. “Real” and “quantum” information for computers is considered briefly. The maximum information transmission rate is estimated based on physical constants.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Subplane Decusping for BWRs in MPACT

Control blade cusping can introduce significant error in boiling water reactor (BWR) calculations with MPACT when blade tips fall partway within an axial method of characteristics (MOC) plane, requiring homogenization of controlled and uncontrolled regions. This work implements subplane decusping for BWRs in MPACT by enabling BWR-compatible subplane coarse mesh finite difference (CMFD) and extending the existing decusping framework to represent between-assembly control blades that insert from the bottom of the core. The method resolves axial heterogeneity on a refined subplane mesh in the low-order solve and uses the resulting subplane flux shape to form flux-volume homogenized transport cross sections for the partially rodded MOC plane. The capability is evaluated using a single physics General Electric (GE)-14 assembly and a multiphysics Peach Bottom Unit 2 Type 1 assembly (PB2T1A) with thermal hydraulic feedback. In both cases, coarse axial meshes with and without subplane decusping are compared against fine mesh reference solutions over the full range of blade withdrawal positions. Subplane decusping reduces maximum/average eigenvalue errors from 3,369/220 pcm to 303/36 pcm for GE-14 and from 6,689/585 pcm to 1,582/109 pcm for PB2T1A. Additionally, it reduces pin power root mean square errors from 5.2%/0.8% to 1.8%/0.2% for GE-14 and from 6.9%/0.6% to 2.3%/0.1% for PB2T1A. These results demonstrate an effective, practical correction for BWR blade cusping in VERA-MPACT.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Consideration of the Impact of the Environmental Conditions when Designing Heat-Receiving Systems of the Solar Cylindrical Parabolic Modules

The aerohydrodynamic and heat exchange characteristics in the cylindrical heat receiver of a solar cylindrical parabolic concentrating module are investigated. The mathematical model is based on the Navier- Stokes equation system for a laminar flow in a channel. The model is implemented using the control volume method. The created computer algorithm allows carrying out parametric studies and revealing the most rational geometric, dynamic, and power parameters of the process. The proposed model describes the general physical outlines of the heat exchange in a cylindrical heat receiver which allows estimating the influence of the environment—wind velocity, ambient temperature, etc.—on it.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Toward the Analytic Bootstrap of Energy Correlators

In this paper, we present a framework for the analytic bootstrap of three-point energy correlators, a crucial observable in N = 4 N=4 super Yang-Mills theory and quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Our approach combines spherical contour techniques, general physical constraints such as pole cancellations, and power correction data in the singular limits to determine its analytic expression. In contrast to previous bootstrap studies restricted to scattering amplitudes for supersymmetric theories, our framework makes use of the properties of Feynman integrals, marking a significant step toward bootstrapping realistic QCD observables. Using this method, we derive analytic expressions for leading-order three-point energy correlators with equal and unequal energy weights, where the latter are crucial ingredients for projected N N-point energy correlators. We also apply the recently developed technique of analytic regression with lattice reduction as a way to bypass needing explicit expressions for the singular limits. Bridging theoretical advances in scattering amplitudes with the renewed interest in weighted cross-sections, our work opens the door to precision tests of QCD dynamics through analytic event-shape predictions.

Gong, Jianyu [State Key Laboratory]↗
DOE OSTI2015

Phase partitioning and volatility of secondary organic aerosol components formed from α-pinene ozonolysis and OH oxidation: the importance of accretion products and other low volatility compounds

We measured a large suite of gas- and particle-phase multi-functional organic compounds with a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols (FIGAERO) coupled to a high-resolution time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-CIMS) developed at the University of Washington. The instrument was deployed on environmental simulation chambers to study monoterpene oxidation as a secondary organic aerosol (SOA) source. We focus here on results from experiments utilizing an ionization method most selective towards acids (acetate negative ion proton transfer), but our conclusions are based on more general physical and chemical properties of the SOA. Hundreds of compounds were observed in both gas and particle phases, the latter being detected by temperature-programmed thermal desorption of collected particles. Particulate organic compounds detected by the FIGAERO–HR-ToF-CIMS are highly correlated with, and explain at least 25–50 % of, the organic aerosol mass measured by an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS). Reproducible multi-modal structures in the thermograms for individual compounds of a given elemental composition reveal a significant SOA mass contribution from high molecular weight organics and/or oligomers (i.e., multi-phase accretion reaction products). Approximately 50 % of the HR-ToF-CIMS particle-phase mass is associated with compounds having effective vapor pressures 4 or more orders of magnitude lower than commonly measured monoterpene oxidation products. The relative importance of these accretion-type and other extremely low volatility products appears to vary with photochemical conditions. We present a desorption-temperature-based framework for apportionment of thermogram signals into volatility bins. The volatility-based apportionment greatly improves agreement between measured and modeled gas-particle partitioning for select major and minor components of the SOA, consistent with thermal decomposition during desorption causing the conversion of lower volatility components into the detected higher volatility compounds.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Seesaw haze pollution in North China modulated by the sub-seasonal variability of atmospheric circulation

Utilizing a recent observational dataset of particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 µ m (PM 2.5 ) in North China, this study reveals adistinct seesaw feature of abnormally high and low PM 2.5 concentrationsin the adjacent two months of December 2015 and January 2016, accompanied bydistinct meteorological modulations. The seesaw pattern is postulated to belinked to a super El Niño and the Arctic Oscillation (AO). During themature phase of El Niño in December 2015, the weakened East Asian wintermonsoon (EAWM) and the associated low-level southerly wind anomaly reducedplanetary boundary layer (PBL) height, favoring strong haze formation. Thiscirculation pattern was completely reversed in the following month, in partdue to a sudden phase change of the AO from positive to negative and thebeginning of a decay of the El Niño, which enhanced the southward shiftof the upper tropospheric jet from December to January relative toclimatology, leading to an enhanced EAWM and substantially lower hazeformation. This sub-seasonal change in circulation is also robustly found in1982–1983 and 1997–1998, implicative of a general physical mechanismdynamically linked to El Niño and the AO. Numerical experiments using theWeather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Community Multiscale Air Quality(CMAQ) model were used to test the modulation of the meteorologicalconditions on haze formation. With the same emission, simulations for threesuper El Niño periods (1983, 1997 and 2015) robustly show higherPM 2.5 concentrations under the mature phase of the super El Niño,but substantially lower PM 2.5 concentrations during the decay phase ofEl Niño (and the sudden AO phase change), further verifying themodulation effect of the sub-seasonal circulation anomaly on PM 2.5 concentrations in North China

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1965

Experiment m-3, inflight exerciser on gemini iv

Evaluation of general physical condition of Gemini IV flight crew with increasing time under space flight conditions - response of cardiovascular system to calibrated workload

CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM↗
NASA NTRS1971

Inflight exercise and work tolerance, experiment M003

The response of the cardiovascular system to a known exercise workload is used as index of the general physical condition of crewmembers during long duration space flight. Day-to-day evaluations of pulse rates before and after exercise periods were not remarkable. The response of the cardiovascular system to a calibrated workload was relatively constant for a given individual during space flights of as many as 14 days in connection with the Gemini Program.

Dietlein, L. F.↗