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At least 721 records · Page 40

The Dynamics of Rapidly Emplaced Terrestrial Lava Flows and Implications for Planetary Volcanism

The Kaupulehu 1800-1801 lava flow of Hualalai volcano and the 1823 Keaiwa flow from the Great Crack of the Kilauea southwest rift zone had certain unusual and possibly unique properties for terrestrial basaltic lava flows. Both flows apparently had very low viscosities, high effusion rates, and uncommonly rapid rates of advance. Ultramafic xenolith nodules in the 1801 flow form stacks of cobbles with lava rinds of only millimeter thicknesses. The velocity of the lava stream in the 1801 flow was extremely high, at least 10 m/s (more than 40 km/h). Observations and geological evidence suggest similarly high velocities for the 1823 flow. The unusual eruption conditions that produced these lava flows suggest a floodlike mode of emplacement unlike that of most other present-day flows. Although considerable effort has gone into understanding the viscous fluid dynamics and thermal processes that often occur in basaltic flows, the unusual conditions prevalent for the Kaupulehu and Keaiwa flows necessitate different modeling considerations. We propose an elementary flood model for this type of lava emplacement and show that it produces consistent agreement with the overall dimensions of the flow, channel sizes, and other supporting field evidence. The reconstructed dynamics of these rapidly emplaced terrestrial lava flows provide significant insights about the nature of these eruptions and their analogs in planetary volcanism.

Baloga, Stephen↗

Synthesizing 3D Surfaces from Parameterized Strip Charts

We believe 3D information visualization has the power to unlock new levels of productivity in the monitoring and control of complex processes. Our goal is to provide visual methods to allow for rapid human insight into systems consisting of thousands to millions of parameters. We explore this hypothesis in two complex domains: NASA program management and NASA International Space Station (ISS) spacecraft computer operations. We seek to extend a common form of visualization called the strip chart from 2D to 3D. A strip chart can display the time series progression of a parameter and allows for trends and events to be identified. Strip charts can be overlayed when multiple parameters need to visualized in order to correlate their events. When many parameters are involved, the direct overlaying of strip charts can become confusing and may not fully utilize the graphing area to convey the relationships between the parameters. We provide a solution to this problem by generating 3D surfaces from parameterized strip charts. The 3D surface utilizes significantly more screen area to illustrate the differences in the parameters and the overlayed strip charts, and it can rapidly be scanned by humans to gain insight. The selection of the third dimension must be a parallel or parameterized homogenous resource in the target domain, defined using a finite, ordered, enumerated type, and not a heterogeneous type. We demonstrate our concepts with examples from the NASA program management domain (assessing the state of many plans) and the computers of the ISS (assessing the state of many computers). We identify 2D strip charts in each domain and show how to construct the corresponding 3D surfaces. The user can navigate the surface, zooming in on regions of interest, setting a mark and drilling down to source documents from which the data points have been derived. We close by discussing design issues, related work, and implementation challenges.

Robinson, Peter I.↗

The use of the temporal dimension in classifying and mapping ERTS-1 MSS data

Multispectral data from two ERTS-1 scenes of the same central Pennsylvania area were brought into registration by translation and then merged. The two scenes were viewed on different dates, but from adjacent ground tracks, as frequent cloud cover in Pennsylvania made it impossible to choose two scenes from the same track. Targets selected to be mapped included river water, railroad yards, creeks, urban areas, industrial areas, and vegetation. Equivalent training areas were chosen from each of the original scenes and from the merged data. Classification maps were produced for each, and a comparison was made. Scene brightness was found to have the most important effect on classification differences.

Borden, F. Y.↗

PT-symmetry entails pseudo-Hermiticity regardless of diagonalizability

We prove that in finite dimensions, a Parity-Time (PT)-symmetric Hamiltonian is necessarily pseudo-Hermitian regard-less of whether it is diagonalizable or not. This result is different from Mostafazadeh’s, which requires the Hamiltonian to be diagonalizable. PT-symmetry breaking often occurs at exceptional points where the Hamiltonian is not diagonalizable. Our result implies that PT-symmetry breaking is equivalent to the onset of instabilities of pseudo-Hermitian systems, which was systematically studied by Krein et al. in 1950s. In particular, we show that the mechanism of PT-symmetry breaking is the resonance between two eigen modes with opposite signs of actions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Block encoding of the three-dimensional heterogeneous Poisson equation with application to fracture flow

Quantum linear system (QLS) algorithms offer the potential to solve large-scale linear systems exponentially faster than classical methods. However, applying QLS algorithms to real-world problems remains challenging due to issues such as state preparation, data loading, and efficient information extraction. In this work, we study the feasibility of applying QLS algorithms to solve discretized three-dimensional (3D) heterogeneous Poisson equations, with specific examples relating to groundwater flow through geologic fracture networks. We explicitly construct a block encoding for the 3D heterogeneous Poisson matrix by leveraging the sparse local structure of the discretized operator. While classical solvers benefit from preconditioning, we show that block encoding the system matrix and preconditioner separately does not improve the effective condition number that dominates the QLS run-time. This differs from classical approaches where the preconditioner and the system matrix can often be implemented independently. Nevertheless, due to the structure of the problem in three dimensions, the quantum algorithm achieves a run-time of 𝑂⁡(𝑁 2/3 polylog 𝑁 ⋅log (1/𝜖)), outperforming the best classical methods (with run times of 𝑂⁡(𝑁⁢log 𝑁 ⋅log (1/𝜖))) and offering exponential memory savings. These results highlight both the promise and limitations of QLS algorithms for practical scientific computing, and point to effective condition-number reduction as a key barrier in achieving quantum advantages.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Real-time evolution of Anderson impurity models via tensor network influence functionals

In this work, we present and analyze two tensor network-based influence functional approaches for simulating the real-time dynamics of quantum impurity models such as the Anderson model. Via comparison with recent numerically exact simulations, we show that such methods accurately capture the long-time nonequilibrium quench dynamics. The two parameters that must be controlled in these tensor network influence functional approaches are a time discretization (Trotter) error and a bond dimension (tensor network truncation) error. We show that the actual numerical uncertainties are controlled by an intricate interplay of these two approximations, which we demonstrate in different regimes. Our work opens the door to using these tensor network influence functional methods as general impurity solvers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Elastic Wave Propagation in Curvilinear Coordinates with Mesh Refinement Interfaces by a Fourth Order Finite Difference Method

In this work, we develop a fourth order accurate finite difference method for the three dimensional elastic wave equation in isotropic media with the piecewise smooth material property. In our model, the material property can be discontinuous at curved interfaces. The governing equations are discretized in second order form on curvilinear meshes by using a fourth order finite difference operator satisfying a summation-by-parts property. The method is energy stable and high order accurate. The highlight is that mesh sizes can be chosen according to the velocity structure of the material so that computational efficiency is improved. At the mesh refinement interfaces with hanging nodes, physical interface conditions are imposed by using ghost points and interpolation. With a fourth order predictor-corrector time integrator, the fully discrete scheme is energy conserving. Numerical experiments are presented to verify the fourth order convergence rate and the energy conserving property.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Computing the Central Charge of the 3D Ising CFT Using Quantum Finite Elements

The 3D Ising conformal field theory (CFT) describes different physical systems, such as uniaxial magnets or fluids, at their critical points. In absence of an analytical solution for the 3D Ising model, the scaling dimensions and operator product expansion (OPE) coefficients characterizing this CFT must be determined numerically. The currently most-cited values for these quantities have been obtained from the conformal bootstrap, while lattice calculations have so far only produced reliable results for the scaling dimensions involved in calculating the critical exponents. Using Quantum Finite Elements to investigate critical \(\phi^4\)-theory on \(\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{S}^2\), we show in this work that it is possible to extract scaling dimensions and OPE coefficients of the 3D Ising CFT by fitting the lattice four-point function with expectations from the operator product expansion for the radially quantized CFT and extrapolating to the continuum limit. This way, we have for the first time been able to use Monte Carlo simulations to compute the central charge of the theory.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Spectrometry of Jupiter at selected locations on the disk during the 1979 apparition

Jupiter's reflectivity was measured as a function of wavelength between 3000 and 10,500 Angstrom for two nights during the 1979 apparition. The spectra obtained were used to calibrate the wavelength response of Voyager images and to establish differences from previous apparitions. The observations were taken in the prominent belts and zones and both polar caps along the central meridian using a slit of dimensions 2.33 x 2.5 sq arcsec. The equivalent widths of the 6190 and 7270 Angstrom CH4 bands were measured; compared to the 1976 apparition, there was significantly less CH4 absorption in the north tropical zone. Such equivalent-width decreases are said to result from either a reduction in particle albedo or a decrease in the scattering mean free path owing to a greater concentration of aerosol particles in the NTrZ.

Cochran, A. L.↗

Design of a linear projector for use with the normal modes of the GLAS 4th order GCM

The design of a linear projector for use with the normal modes of a model of atmospheric circulation is discussed. A central element in any normal mode initialization scheme is the process by which a set of data fields - winds, temperatures or geopotentials, and surface pressures - are expressed ("projected') in terms of the coefficients of a model's normal modes. This process is completely analogous to the Fourier decomposition of a single field (indeed a FFT applied in the zonal direction is a part of the process). Complete separability in all three spatial dimensions is assumed. The basis functions for the modal expansion are given. An important feature of the normal modes is their coupling of the structures of different fields, thus a coefficient in a normal mode expansion would contain both mass and momentum information.

Bloom, S. C.↗

Perturbation Method for Computational Fluid-Dynamical Equations

Perturbation technique yields accurate flow solutions using as few as one-fourth number of grid points required by finite-difference methods. Technique originally developed to solve Euler equations of two-dimensional, steady, inviscid transonic flow about airfoils, applicable to arbitrary equation sets and higher dimensions. New perturbations scheme used in design cycle where potential solutions generated routinely; Euler perturbation method used in second-cut analysis. Method also used to couple other equation sets.

Chow, L. J.↗

Time variations of the distant magnetotail

The likely dimensions of an extended earth magnetotail are investigated by considering various published polar cap and magnetotail observations in light of recent knowledge about magnetosphere behavior under different interplanetary magnetic field conditions. It is argued that the magnetotail is highly time dependent. During southward field conditions the tail probably attains its maximum radius but is subject to 'breaking off' via substorm associated reconnection events which temporarily deplete the flux and reduce the radius. During northward interplanetary conditions more field lines are apt to close near the earth leaving considerably less flux to form any extended tail. Using estimates for both the amount of open polar cap flux and the tail flux at 60 earth radii, it is argued that at 200 earth radii either the tail cross section is elongated in the equatorial plane or the average radius is not more than 25 earth radii.

Fairfield, D. H.↗

A Novel Approach to Solving the Problem of Needle Microcrystals (A Case Study of Ribosome Crystals)

Different morphology crystals (needle, rod-tetragonal and wedge-shaped) were grown from the same solution of ribosome; furthermore, in the same drop using 10- 15% 2-methyl-2,4pentanediol as a precipitant. The crystals appeared in 5-48 hours. Observations of the kinetics of crystals appearance lead to the conclusion that higher supersaturation of ribosome solution produces needle-shaped crystals, while the tetragonal-rod and the wedge-shaped crystals grow at lower supersaturation. The ribosome packing in the crystals was characterized by electron microscopy (EM). An analysis of EM ultrathin sections indicates that the unit cells, with a high degree of probability, are the same in the crystals of different morphology. The data obtained suggests how to shift the process of crystal formation from the needles to the crystals with comparative size in all three dimensions.

Karpova, Elizaveta A.↗

Hippocampal place-cell firing during movement in three-dimensional space

"Place" cells of the rat hippocampus are coupled to "head direction" cells of the thalamus and limbic cortex. Head direction cells are sensitive to head direction in the horizontal plane only, which leads to the question of whether place cells similarly encode locations in the horizontal plane only, ignoring the z axis, or whether they encode locations in three dimensions. This question was addressed by recording from ensembles of CA1 pyramidal cells while rats traversed a rectangular track that could be tilted and rotated to different three-dimensional orientations. Cells were analyzed to determine whether their firing was bound to the external, three-dimensional cues of the environment, to the two-dimensional rectangular surface, or to some combination of these cues. Tilting the track 45 degrees generally provoked a partial remapping of the rectangular surface in that some cells maintained their place fields, whereas other cells either gained new place fields, lost existing fields, or changed their firing locations arbitrarily. When the tilted track was rotated relative to the distal landmarks, most place fields remapped, but a number of cells maintained the same place field relative to the x-y coordinate frame of the laboratory, ignoring the z axis. No more cells were bound to the local reference frame of the recording apparatus than would be predicted by chance. The partial remapping demonstrated that the place cell system was sensitive to the three-dimensional manipulations of the recording apparatus. Nonetheless the results were not consistent with an explicit three-dimensional tuning of individual hippocampal neurons nor were they consistent with a model in which different sets of cells are tightly coupled to different sets of environmental cues. The results are most consistent with the statement that hippocampal neurons can change their "tuning functions" in arbitrary ways when features of the sensory input or behavioral context are altered. Understanding the rules that govern the remapping phenomenon holds promise for deciphering the neural circuitry underlying hippocampal function.

Non-NASA Center↗

Performance and mood-state parameters during 30-day 6 degrees head-down bed rest with exercise training

The study was designed to determine if performance and mood impairments occur in bed-rested subjects, and if different exercise-training regimens modify or prevent them. Eighteen normal, healthy men were divided on the basis of age, peak oxygen uptake, and maximal isometric knee extension strength into three similar groups: no exercise (NOE), isotonic exercise (ITE), and isokinetic exercise (IKE). A 15-min battery of 10 performance tests and 8 mood and 2 sleep scales were administered daily during ambulatory control, 30 d of absolute bed rest (BR), and 4 d of ambulatory recovery. Performance test proficiency increased (p < 0.05) for all three groups during BR in 7 of 10 tests and there were no consistent significant differences between the three groups. However, during BR, the ITE group was distinguished from the other groups by a decline (p < 0.05) in the activation mood dimension and in two of its constituent scales (motivation and concentration), and by improvement (p < 0.05) in the trouble-falling-asleep and psychological-tension scales. Since few deleterious changes in performance and mood occurred in the three groups and did not exceed baseline ambulatory levels, we conclude that mood and performance did not deteriorate in response to prolonged BR and were not altered by exercise training. However, the decline in activation mood scales in the ITE group may reflect overtraining or excess total workload in this group.

NASA Center ARC↗

Crack Imaging and Quantification in Aluminum Plates with Guided Wave Wavenumber Analysis Methods

Guided wavefield analysis methods for detection and quantification of crack damage in an aluminum plate are presented in this paper. New wavenumber components created by abrupt wave changes at the structural discontinuity are identified in the frequency-wavenumber spectra. It is shown that the new wavenumbers can be used to detect and characterize the crack dimensions. Two imaging based approaches, filter reconstructed imaging and spatial wavenumber imaging, are used to demonstrate how the cracks can be evaluated with wavenumber analysis. The filter reconstructed imaging is shown to be a rapid method to map the plate and any existing damage, but with less precision in estimating crack dimensions; while the spatial wavenumber imaging provides an intensity image of spatial wavenumber values with enhanced resolution of crack dimensions. These techniques are applied to simulated wavefield data, and the simulation based studies show that spatial wavenumber imaging method is able to distinguish cracks of different severities. Laboratory experimental validation is performed for a single crack case to confirm the methods' capabilities for imaging cracks in plates.

Yu, Lingyu↗

Who Controls Energy in the Smart Home? A Multidisciplinary Taxonomy

Advances in technology have begun to open new opportunities for behavior-based and technical approaches to managing residential energy use and meet sustainability-related objectives. Visions of the future predict homes with smart technologies delivering enhanced comfort and cost savings to residents; utility-partners who can remotely optimize energy resources to meet grid needs; and occupants who play more active roles in the energy system supported by advanced information communication technologies. Each of these scenarios implies augmented control over home energy use, yet uncertainties remain regarding which ones will deliver the greatest grid benefits and services to customers in a given situation. These scenarios also raise broader questions regarding customer agency and the relationship between customers and third parties moving forward. While both the provision of information to spur behavior change and automated technologies theoretically enhance control over energy use in the built environment, these strategies are not often studied from an integrated perspective. Seeking to address this gap and develop a deeper understanding of the evolving paradigm of control over home energy use, this paper presents a taxonomy to evaluate perspectives from public policy (ex. demand-side management), technological innovation (automated controls), and user-agency (ex. the role of behavior change) on approaches to managing home energy use. We draw on theoretical and empirical evidence from across disciplines to detail the dimensions and implications of deploying programs that incorporate various levels of control and anticipate such a taxonomy will help holistically map out and evaluate tradeoffs between different approaches to demand-side management moving forward.

McIlvennie, Claire↗

Apparent Endless Extraction of Energy from the Vacuum by Cyclic Manipulation of Casimir Cavity Dimensions

In 1983, Ambjorn and Wolfram produced plots of the energy density of the quantum mechanical electromagnetic fluctuations in a volume of vacuum bounded by perfectly conducting walls in the shape of a rectangular cavity of dimensions a(1), a(2), and a(3), as a function of the ratios a(2)/a(1) and a(3)/a(1). Portions of these plots are double-valued, in that they allow rectangular cavities with the same, value of a(2)/a(1), but different values of a(3)/a(1), to have the saint total energy. Using these double-valued regions of the plots, I show that it is possible to define a "Casimir Vacuum Energy Extraction Cycle" which apparently would allow for the endless extraction of energy from the vacuum in the Casimir cavity by cyclic manipulation of the Casimir cavity dimensions.

Forward, Robert L.↗