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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

Computational optimal transport for molecular spectra: The fully discrete case

In this study, the use of computational optimal transport is investigated as a tool for comparing two molecular spectra. Unlike other techniques for comparing molecular spectra in a pattern-recognition framework, transport distances simultaneously encode information about line positions and intensities. In addition, it is shown that transport distances are a useful alternative to Euclidean distances as Euclidean distances are based on line-by-line comparisons, while transport distances reflect broader features of molecular spectra and adequately compare spectra with different resolutions. This paper includes a tutorial on the use of optimal transport and investigates several well-chosen examples to illustrate the utility of computational optimal transport for comparing molecular spectra.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Multi-body coherent aperture synthesis

An antenna is provided with sub-apertures whose relative locations change and that are not connected via a mechanical link. a Multi-Body Coherent Aperture Synthesis system supports an antenna with sub-aperture devices that collect views, collect (using an optical link) ranging information (that includes timing information) relating to distance between sub-aperture devices, and transmit the collected views and ranging information to a master device. The master device synthesizes the collected views into a synthesized image based on the ranging information.

Panas, Robert Matthew↗

Measurement of the Length of an Optical Trap

NASA Glenn has been involved in developing optical trapping and optical micromanipulation techniques in order to develop a tool that can be used to probe, characterize, and assemble nano and microscale materials to create microscale sensors for harsh flight environments. In order to be able to assemble a sensor or probe candidate sensor material, it is useful to know how far an optical trap can reach; that is, the distance beyond/below the stable trapping point through which an object will be drawn into the optical trap. Typically, to measure the distance over which an optical trap would influence matter in a horizontal (perpendicular to beam propagation) direction, it was common to hold an object in one optical trap, place a second optical trap a known distance away, turn off the first optical trap, and note if the object was moved into the second trap when it was turned on. The disadvantage of this technique is that it only gives information of trap influence distance in horizontal (x y) directions. No information about the distance of the influence of the trap is gained in the direction of propagation of the beam (the z direction). A method was developed to use a time-of-flight technique to determine the length along the propagation direction of an optical trap beam over which an object may be drawn into the optical trap. Test objects (polystyrene microspheres) were held in an optical trap in a water-filled sample chamber and raised to a pre-determined position near the top of the sample chamber. Next, the test objects were released by blocking the optical trap beam. The test objects were allowed to fall through the water for predetermined periods of time, at the end of which the trapping beam was unblocked. It was noted whether or not the test object returned to the optical trap or continued to fall. This determination of the length of an optical trap's influence by this manner assumes that the test object falls through the water in the sample chamber at terminal velocity for the duration of its fall, so that the distance of trap influence can be computed simply by: d = VTt, where d is the trap length (or distance of trap reach), VT is the terminal velocity of the test object, and t is the time interval over which the object is allowed to fall.

Wrbanek, Susan Y.↗

Test–retest reliability for a social discounting of personal information task

Increasing cybercrime rates means identifying potential victims is critically important. Social discounting tasks show that individuals share less personally identifying information as social distance increases. However, the test–retest reliability and uniqueness of this measure is unclear. The current study assessed social discounting for personally identifying information (SDPII), delay discounting, risk taking, and personality at two measurement waves 30 days apart for 64 undergraduate students. Test–retest reliability was statistically significant for the SDPII and all other measures, replicating previous studies. SDPII rates were not significantly correlated with other measures during both measurement waves, showing discriminant validity. SDPII rates were lower than those reported in a previous study but were still well described by a hyperbolic discounting function, suggesting replicability across studies. Furthermore, the high test–retest reliability, uniqueness, and replicability of the SDPII suggests that it may quantitatively identify cybercrime victimization. Future research should test which measure or combination of measures can accurately predict scam and cybercrime victimization to inform data-based interventions.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Covariance Realism Is Not Enough

A great deal of effort has been put into improving the practice of space situational awareness such that covariance data associated with predicted close approaches is more “realistic.” However, “realistic” usually has meant “larger” and this presents a problem. In many cases, there exist multiple sources for predictive ephemerides, which may be fused to produce predictive states with smaller associated covariances. Ancillary to the fusion computation is the capability to assess consistency of the estimates. If actionable covariance information becomes available, interval estimates for the miss distance provide a more informative alternative to collision probability for risk assessment.

Carpenter, J. Russell↗

Spin wavepackets in the Kagome ferromagnet Fe 3 Sn 2 : Propagation and precursors

The propagation of spin waves in magnetically ordered systems has emerged as a potential means to shuttle quantum information over large distances. Conventionally, the arrival time of a spin wavepacket at a distance, d , is assumed to be determined by its group velocity, v g . Here, we report time-resolved optical measurements of wavepacket propagation in the Kagome ferromagnet Fe 3 Sn 2 that demonstrate the arrival of spin information at times significantly less than d / v g . We show that this spin wave “precursor” originates from the interaction of light with the unusual spectrum of magnetostatic modes in Fe 3 Sn 2 . Related effects may have far-reaching consequences toward realizing long-range, ultrafast spin wave transport in both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Learning to predict slip for ground robots

In this paper we predict the amount of slip an exploration rover would experience using stereo imagery by learning from previous examples of traversing similar terrain. To do that, the information of terrain appearance and geometry regarding some location is correlated to the slip measured by the rover while this location is being traversed. This relationship is learned from previous experience, so slip can be predicted later at a distance from visual information only.

robots↗

Fast radio burst dispersion measure distribution as a probe of helium reionization

Fast radio burst (FRB) discoveries are occurring rapidly, with thousands expected from upcoming surveys. The dispersion measures (DM) observed for FRB include important information on cosmological distances and the ionization state of the universe from the redshift of emission until today. Rather than considering the DM–redshift relation, we investigate the statistical ensemble of the distribution of dispersion measures. Here, we explore the use of this abundance information, with and without redshift information, to probe helium reionization through simulated data to redshift z = 6. Carrying out Monte Carlo simulations of FRB survey samples, we examine the effect of different source redshift distributions, host galaxy models, sudden vs gradual reionization, and covariance with cosmological parameters on determination of helium reionization properties. We find that a fluence limited survey with 10 4 FRBs can discriminate different helium reionization histories at ~6σ using the DM-distribution of bursts, without redshift information (and ~10σ with redshifts).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A NICER View of the Massive Pulsar PSR J0740+6620 Informed by Radio Timing and XMM-Newton Spectroscopy

We report on Bayesian estimation of the radius, mass, and hot surface regions of the massive millisecond pulsar PSR J0740+6620, conditional on pulse-profile modeling of Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer X-ray Timing Instrument event data. We condition on informative pulsar mass, distance, and orbital inclination priors derived from the joint North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves and Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment/Pulsar wideband radio timing measurements of Fonseca et al. We use XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging Camera spectroscopic event data to inform our X-ray likelihood function. The prior support of the pulsar radius is truncated at 16 km to ensure coverage of current dense matter models. We assume conservative priors on instrument calibration uncertainty. We constrain the equatorial radius and mass of PSR J0740+6620 to be ${12.39}_{-0.98}^{+1.30}$ km and ${2.072}_{-0.066}^{+0.067}$ M ⊙ respectively, each reported as the posterior credible interval bounded by the 16% and 84% quantiles, conditional on surface hot regions that are non-overlapping spherical caps of fully ionized hydrogen atmosphere with uniform effective temperature; a posteriori, the temperature is ${\mathrm{log}}_{10}(T\,[{\rm{K}}])={5.99}_{-0.06}^{+0.05}$ for each hot region. All software for the X-ray modeling framework is open-source and all data, model, and sample information is publicly available, including analysis notebooks and model modules in the Python language. Furthermore, our marginal likelihood function of mass and equatorial radius is proportional to the marginal joint posterior density of those parameters (within the prior support) and can thus be computed from the posterior samples.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A NICER View of the Massive Pulsar PSR J0740+6620 Informed by Radio Timing and XMM-Newton Spectroscopy

We report on Bayesian estimation of the radius, mass, and hot surface regions of the massive millisecond pulsar PSR J0740+6620, conditional on pulse-profile modeling of Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer X-ray Timing Instrument event data. We condition on informative pulsar mass, distance, and orbital inclination priors derived from the joint North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves and Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment/Pulsar wideband radio timing measurements of Fonseca et al. We use XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging Camera spectroscopic event data to inform our X-ray likelihood function. The prior support of the pulsar radius is truncated at 16 km to ensure coverage of current dense matter models. We assume conservative priors on instrument calibration uncertainty. We constrain the equatorial radius and mass of PSR J0740+6620 to be-+12.390.981.30km and-+2.0720.0660.067Me respectively, each reported as the posterior credible interval bounded by the 16% and 84% quantiles, conditional on surface hot regions that are non-overlapping spherical caps of fully ionized hydrogen atmosphere with uniform effective temperature; a posteriori, the temperature is=-+TlogK5.99100.060.05([])for each hot region. All software for the X-ray modeling framework is open-source and all data, model, and sample information is publicly available, including analysis notebooks and model modules in the Python language. Our marginal likelihood function of mass and equatorial radius is proportional to the marginal joint posterior density of those parameters(within the prior support)and can thus be computed from the posterior samples.

Millisecond pulsars↗

Hi-Tech for Archeology

Remote sensing is the process of acquiring physical information from a distance, obtaining data on Earth features from a satellite or an airplane. Advanced remote sensing instruments detect radiations not visible to the ordinary camera or the human eye in several bands of the spectrum. These data are computer processed to produce multispectral images that can provide enormous amounts of information about Earth objects or phenomena. Since every object on Earth emits or reflects radiation in its own unique signature, remote sensing data can be interpreted to tell the difference between one type of vegetation and another, between densely populated urban areas and lightly populated farmland, between clear and polluted water or in the archeological application between rain forest and hidden man made structures.

Source record↗

Going the Distance: Mapping Host Galaxies of LIGO and VIRGO Sources in Three Dimensions using Local Cosmography and Targeted Follow-Up

The Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) discovered gravitational waves (GWs) from a binary black hole merger in 2015 September and may soon observe signals from neutron star mergers. There is considerable interest in searching for their faint and rapidly fading electromagnetic (EM) counterparts, though GW position uncertainties are as coarse as hundreds of square degrees. Because LIGO's sensitivity to binary neutron stars is limited to the local universe, the area on the sky that must be searched could be reduced by weighting positions by mass, luminosity, or star formation in nearby galaxies. Since GW observations provide information about luminosity distance, combining the reconstructed volume with positions and redshifts of galaxies could reduce the area even more dramatically. A key missing ingredient has been a rapid GW parameter estimation algorithm that reconstructs the full distribution of sky location and distance. We demonstrate the first such algorithm, which takes under a minute, fast enough to enable immediate EM follow-up. By combining the three-dimensional posterior with a galaxy catalog, we can reduce the number of galaxies that could conceivably host the event by a factor of 1.4, the total exposure time for the Swift X-ray Telescope by a factor of 2, the total exposure time for a synoptic optical survey by a factor of 2, and the total exposure time for a narrow-field optical telescope by a factor of 3. This encourages us to suggest a new role for small field of view optical instruments in performing targeted searches of the most massive galaxies within the reconstructed volumes.

catalogs – galaxies: distances and redshifts –↗

Information sources in science and technology in Finland

Finland poses some problems to be overcome in the field of scientific and technical information: a small user community which makes domestic systems costly; great distances within the country between users and suppliers of information; great distances to international data systems and large libraries abroad; and inadequate collections of scientific and technical information. The national bibliography Fennica includes all books and journals published in Finland. Data base services available in Finland include: reference data bases in science and technology; data banks for decision making such as statistical time series or legal proceedings; national bibliographies; and library catalogs.

Haarala, Arja-Riitta↗

Dynamics of metastable contact soliton dissipative exchange flows in one-dimensional ferromagnetic channels

Dissipative exchange flows (DEFs) are large-amplitude boundary value solutions of ferromagnetic channels. In their low-injection limit, DEFs reduce to spin superfluids. However, in the strong injection limit, nonlinearities dominate close to the injection site and a soliton is formed; this solution has been termed a contact soliton dissipative exchange flow (CS-DEF). Here, in this work, we numerically investigate CS-DEF solutions in a moderate injection regime and a finite injection width. We find a solution where two metastable solitons coexist in the injection region. This solution is metastable in the sense that any perturbation to the system will eject one of the solitons out of the injection region. Moreover, soliton dynamics can be excited when two injection regions are separated by a certain distance. We find that the ensuing DEF between the solitons induces a steady-state dynamics in which metastable solitons are continually ejected and nucleated. Furthermore, and depending on the relative signs of the spin injections, the soliton dynamics possess a particular handedness and frequency related to the spin transfer torque delivered by the DEF. Our results provide insights into the transport of spin current by DEFs - where the interaction between DEFs and solitons suggests a mechanism for detaching contact-solitons from the injection boundary. Although this study focuses on the "nonlocal" interaction between solitons, it may lead to the investigation of new mechanisms for inserting solitons in a DEF, e.g., for discrete motion and transport of information over long distances.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Optically heralded microwave photon addition

Photons with optical frequencies of a few hundred terahertz are perhaps the only way to distribute quantum information over long distances. Superconducting qubits, which are one of the most promising approaches for realizing large-scale quantum machines, operate on microwave photons at frequencies that are ~40,000 times lower. To network these quantum machines across appreciable distances, we must bridge this frequency gap. Here we implement and demonstrate a transducer that can generate correlated optical and microwave photons. In this study, we use it to show that by detecting an optical photon we generate an added microwave photon with an efficiency of ~35%. Our device uses a gigahertz nanomechanical resonance as an intermediary, which efficiently couples to optical and microwave channels through strong optomechanical and piezoelectric interactions. We show continuous operation of the transducer with 5% frequency conversion efficiency, input-referred added noise of ~100, and pulsed microwave photon generation at a heralding rate of 15 Hz. Optical absorption in the device generates thermal noise of less than two microwave photons. Improvements of the system efficiencies and device performance are necessary to realize a high rate of entanglement generation between distant microwave-frequency quantum nodes, but these enhancements are within reach.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Rephasing spectral diffusion in time-bin spin-spin entanglement protocols

Generating high-fidelity spin-spin entanglement is an essential task of quantum repeater networks for the distribution of quantum information across long distances. Solid-state-based spin-photon interfaces are promising candidates to realize nodes of a quantum network, but are often limited by spectral diffusion of the optical transition, which results in phase errors on the entangled states. Here, we introduce a method to correct phase errors from quasi-static frequency fluctuations after the entangled state is generated, by shelving the emitters in the excited state to refocus the unknown phase. For quasi-static frequency fluctuations, the fidelity is determined only by the lifetime of the excited state used for shelving, making it particularly suitable for systems with a long-lived shelving state with correlated spectral diffusion. Such a shelving state may be found in Kramers doublet systems such as rare-earth emitters and color centers in Si or SiC interfaced with nanophotonic cavities with a strongly frequency-dependent Purcell enhancement. Furthermore, the protocol can be used to generate high-fidelity entangled spin pairs without reducing the rate of entanglement generation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Evidence for Gravity as a Cue for Absolute Size and Distance

The constant force of gravity constrains the motion of objects in natural environments. In principle, gravity could provide valuable scaling information about size and distance of unfamiliar objects. We supply empirical evidence that observers use some of the information provided by gravity to scale objects. However, scaling judgments based on retinal size and event duration alone are nearly as accurate as those made with gravitational acceleration information.

Hecht, Heiko↗

Block segmentation in feature space for realtime object detection in high granularity images

Computer vision has applications in object detection, image recognition and classification, and object tracking. One of the challenges of computer vision is the presence of useful information at multiple distance scales. Filtering techniques may sacrifice details at small scales in order to prioritize the analysis of large-scale features of the image. We present a strategy for coarse-graining multidimensional data while maintaining fine-grained detail for subsequent analysis. The algorithm is based on fixed-size block segmentation in the feature space. We apply this strategy to solve the long-standing challenge of detecting particle trajectories at the Large Hadron Collider in real time.

Computer vision↗