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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 793 records · Page 44

Experimental trials of species-specific bat flight responses to an ultrasonic deterrent

Unintended consequences of increasing wind energy production include bat mortalities from wind turbine blade strikes. Ultrasonic deterrents (UDs) have been developed to reduce bat mortalities at wind turbines. Our goal was to experimentally assess the species-specific effectiveness of three emission treatments from the UD developed by NRG Systems. We conducted trials in a flight cage measuring approximately 60 m × 10 m × 4.4 m (length × width × height) from July 2020 to May 2021 in San Marcos, Texas, USA. A single UD was placed at either end of the flight cage, and we randomly selected one for each night of field trials. Trials focused on a red bat species group (Lasiurus borealis and Lasiurus blossevillii; n = 46) and four species: cave myotis (Myotis velifer; n = 57), Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis; n = 73), evening bats (Nycteceius humeralis; n = 53), and tricolored bats (Perimyotis subflavus; n = 17). The trials occurred during three treatment emissions: low (emissions from subarrays at 20, 26, and 32 kHz), high (emissions from subarrays at 38, 44, and 50 kHz), and combined (all six emission frequencies). We placed one wild-captured bat into the flight cage for each trial, which consisted of an acclimation period, a control period with the UD powered off, and the three emission treatments (order randomly selected), each interspersed with a control period. We tracked bat flight using four thermal cameras placed outside the flight cage. We quantified the effectiveness of each treatment by comparing the distances each bat flew from the UD during each treatment vs. the control period using quantile regression. Additionally, we conducted an exploratory analysis of differences between sex and season and sex within season using analysis of variance. Broadly, UDs were effective at altering the bats’ flight paths as they flew farther from the UD during treatments than during controls; however, results varied by species, sex, season, and sex within season. For the red bat group, bats flew farther from the UD during all treatments than during the control period at all percentiles (p < 0.001), and treatments were comparable in effectiveness. For cave myotis, all percentile distances were farther from the UD during each of the treatments than during the control, except the 90th percentile distance during high, and low was most effective. For evening bats and Brazilian free-tailed bats, results were inconsistent, but high and low were most effective, respectively. For tricolored bats, combined and low were significant at the 10th–75th percentiles, high was significant at all percentiles, and combined was most effective. Results suggest UDs may be an effective means of reducing bat mortalities due to wind turbine blade strikes. We recommend that continued research on UDs focus on low emission treatments, which have decreased sound attenuation and demonstrated effectiveness across the bat species evaluated in this study.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Automated ICRF heating surrogate modeling via machine learning

This work introduces automated machine learning workflows that address critical bottlenecks in surrogate model development for Ion Cyclotron Range of Frequencies (ICRF) heating applications. The automated framework includes data analysis tools that transform raw datasets into actionable insights in seconds, replacing weeks of manual exploratory effort and ensuring consistent, reproducible dataset characterization. By integrating advanced hyperparameter optimization (HPO) methods including Bayesian optimization via BoTorch and Tree-structured Parzen Estimators (TPE), the framework significantly reduces model development time from weeks to hours, decreasing computational cost and required expertise, while enabling high-accuracy surrogate models. Compared to traditional hyperparameter scanning (HPS) techniques such as methodical, randomized, and grid searches, HPO methods achieve superior convergence and predictive performance, even when compared to already well-tuned reference models. On NSTX High Harmonic Fast Wave (HHFW) heating datasets, both Random Forest Regressor (RFR) and neural network surrogates demonstrate improved accuracy, achieving R 2 values beyond 0.97 and 0.98, respectively. The results show that while HPO gains are modest for robust architectures like RFR, they become essential for more sensitive models such as neural networks, highlighting the trade-offs across optimization strategies. Through automated workflows that eliminate manual hyperparameter tuning and require minimal ML expertise, this work enables widespread adoption of high-fidelity surrogate models across the fusion community for real-time plasma control, uncertainty quantification, rapid experimental scenario development, and integrated system optimization.

Sanchez-Villar, Alvaro [Princeton Plasma Physics L↗

Direct observation of magnetic ordering induced via systematic lattice disorder in artificial rhombus spin ices

It is critical to understand the effect of lattice geometry on the order parameter of a condensed matter system, as it controls phase transitions in such systems. Artificial spin ices (ASIs) are two-dimensional lattices of Ising-like nanomagnets that provide an opportunity to explore such phenomena by lithographically controlling the lattice geometry to observe its influence on magnetic ordering and frustration effects. Here we report a systematic approach to studying the effects of disorder in rhombus ASIs generated from combinations of five vertex motifs. We investigate four geometries characterized by a geometric order parameter, with symmetries ranging from periodic to quasiperiodic to random. Lorentz transmission electron microscopy data indicates magnetic domain behavior depends on chains of strongly-coupled islands in the periodic and sixfold-twinned lattices, while the behavior of the disordered lattice is dominated by vertex motifs with large configurational degeneracy. Utilizing micromagnetic simulations, a quantitative analysis of the lattice energetics showed that the experimental rotationally-demagnetized state of the disordered ASI was closer in energy to the idealized ground state compared to other periodic and twinned ASIs. Finally, our work provides a unique pathway for using degeneracy, magnetic frustration, and order to control the magnetization behavior of designer disordered systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Global Sensitivity Analysis Using the Ultra‐Low Resolution Energy Exascale Earth System Model

Abstract For decades, Arctic temperatures have increased twice as fast as average global temperatures. As a first step toward quantifying parametric uncertainty in Arctic climate, we performed a variance‐based global sensitivity analysis (GSA) using a fully coupled, ultra‐low resolution (ULR) configuration of version 1 of the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SMv1). Specifically, we quantified the sensitivity of six quantities of interests (QOIs), which characterize changes in Arctic climate over a 75 year period, to uncertainties in nine model parameters spanning the sea ice, atmosphere, and ocean components of E3SMv1. Sensitivity indices for each QOI were computed with a Gaussian process emulator using 139 random realizations of the random parameters and fixed preindustrial forcing. Uncertainties in the atmospheric parameters in the Cloud Layers Unified by Binormals (CLUBB) scheme were found to have the most impact on sea ice status and the larger Arctic climate. Our results demonstrate the importance of conducting sensitivity analyses with fully coupled climate models. The ULR configuration makes such studies computationally feasible today due to its low computational cost. When advances in computational power and modeling algorithms enable the tractable use of higher‐resolution models, our results will provide a baseline that can quantify the impact of model resolution on the accuracy of sensitivity indices. Moreover, the confidence intervals provided by our study, which we used to quantify the impact of the number of model evaluations on the accuracy of sensitivity estimates, have the potential to inform the computational resources needed for future sensitivity studies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Benchmarking highly entangled states on a 60-atom analogue quantum simulator

Abstract Quantum systems have entered a competitive regime in which classical computers must make approximations to represent highly entangled quantum states 1,2 . However, in this beyond-classically-exact regime, fidelity comparisons between quantum and classical systems have so far been limited to digital quantum devices 2–5 , and it remains unsolved how to estimate the actual entanglement content of experiments 6 . Here, we perform fidelity benchmarking and mixed-state entanglement estimation with a 60-atom analogue Rydberg quantum simulator, reaching a high-entanglement entropy regime in which exact classical simulation becomes impractical. Our benchmarking protocol involves extrapolation from comparisons against an approximate classical algorithm, introduced here, with varying entanglement limits. We then develop and demonstrate an estimator of the experimental mixed-state entanglement 6 , finding our experiment is competitive with state-of-the-art digital quantum devices performing random circuit evolution 2–5 . Finally, we compare the experimental fidelity against that achieved by various approximate classical algorithms, and find that only the algorithm we introduce is able to keep pace with the experiment on the classical hardware we use. Our results enable a new model for evaluating the ability of both analogue and digital quantum devices to generate entanglement in the beyond-classically-exact regime, and highlight the evolving divide between quantum and classical systems.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

Uncertainty-based weighted least squares density integration for background-oriented schlieren

We propose an improved density integration methodology for Background-Oriented Schlieren (BOS) measurements that overcomes the noise sensitivity of the commonly used Poisson solver. Here, the method employs a weighted least-squares (WLS) optimization of the 2D integration of the density gradient field by solving an over-determined system of equations. Weights are assigned to the grid points based on density gradient uncertainties to ensure that a less reliable measurement point has less effect on the integration procedure. Synthetic image analysis with a Gaussian density field shows that WLS constrains the propagation of random error and reduces it by 80% in comparison to Poisson for the highest noise level. Using WLS with experimental BOS measurements of flow induced by a spark plasma discharge shows a 30% reduction in density uncertainty in comparison to Poisson, thereby increasing the overall precision of the BOS density measurements.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Social Learning and Solar Photovoltaic Adoption

Growing literature points to the effectiveness of leveraging social interactions and nudges to spur adoption of prosocial behaviors. This study investigates a large-scale behavioral intervention designed to actively leverage social learning and peer interactions to encourage adoption of residential solar photovoltaic systems. Municipalities choose a solar installer offering group pricing and undertake an informational campaign driven by volunteer ambassadors. We find a causal treatment effect of 37 installations per municipality from the campaigns and no evidence of harvesting or persistence. The intervention also lowers installation prices. Randomized controlled trials based on the intervention show that selection into the program is important, whereas group pricing is not. Our results suggest that the program provided economies of scale and lowered consumer acquisition costs, leading to low-cost emission reductions. This paper was accepted by Matthew Shum, marketing.

Business & Economics↗

Leaf gas exchange raw data, 2015 - 2017, at Manaus, Brazil

This data package contains raw leaf gas exchange data from the NGEE Tropics K34 tower site on a plateau near Manaus, Brazil. Data was collected using sensor and leaf sample measurements. Leaves on a target tree were chosen by accessing a branch near the tower. In some cases, the branch was naturally positioned near the tower and in other cases, a small rope was used to pull the branch closer to the tower for better access to leaves. Mature leaves were targeted in nearly all cases. The gas exchange system was hauled with a climbing rope to the level of the branch on the tower and the sensor head/leaf enclosure was installed near the branch of interest using a magic arm. We measured leaf gas exchange from 5:00 AM to 5:00 PM, randomly cycling through the approximately 20 leaves in the targeted branch(es). Data were collected over two time periods, detailed within the files. The attached data files contain raw data, sensor manuals, and PDFs with detailed methods and procedures separated into multiple folders. Data is in Excel file format. See data references for data package containing related metadata. This dataset replaces the leaf gas exchange data of two retired packages, NGT0019 and NGT0040.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Active Learning for Rapid Targeted Synthesis of Compositionally Complex Alloys

The next generation of advanced materials is tending toward increasingly complex compositions. Synthesizing precise composition is time-consuming and becomes exponentially demanding with increasing compositional complexity. An experienced human operator does significantly better than a novice but still struggles to consistently achieve precision when synthesis parameters are coupled. The time to optimize synthesis becomes a barrier to exploring scientifically and technologically exciting compositionally complex materials. This investigation demonstrates an active learning (AL) approach for optimizing physical vapor deposition synthesis of thin-film alloys with up to five principal elements. We compared AL-based on Gaussian process (GP) and random forest (RF) models. The best performing models were able to discover synthesis parameters for a target quinary alloy in 14 iterations. We also demonstrate the capability of these models to be used in transfer learning tasks. RF and GP models trained on lower dimensional systems (i.e., ternary, quarternary) show an immediate improvement in prediction accuracy compared to models trained only on quinary samples. Furthermore, samples that only share a few elements in common with the target composition can be used for model pre-training. We believe that such AL approaches can be widely adapted to significantly accelerate the exploration of compositionally complex materials.

Chemistry↗

Qudit Designs and Where to Find Them

Unitary t-designs are some of the most versatile tools in quantum information theory. Their applications range from randomized benchmarking and shadow tomography, to more fundamental ones such as emulating quantum chaos and establishing exponential separations between classical and quantum query complexity. While unitary designs originating from a group structure, such as the Clifford group, have proven to be incredibly useful for qubit systems, unfortunately, this is no longer true for qudits. In fact, the classification of finite-group representations rules out the existence of unitary 2-designs for arbitrary qudit dimensions. This severely limits the applicability of standard quantum information primitives when it comes to qudit systems. We overcome these limitations with a three-fold contribution. First, we introduce a general technique to construct families of weighted state t-designs in arbitrary qudit dimensions. These weighted state-designs generalize classical shadow tomography protocol from qubits to qudits. Second, we introduce a Clifford character RB that allows us to benchmark the qudit Clifford group in any dimension, including non-prime-power dimensions. And third, we establish bounds on the quantum circuit complexity of generating approximate unitary-designs from native gates in existing quantum hardware such as high-spin and cavity-QED qudits. Our work further highlights the analogy between spin and optical coherent states by proving that spin-GKP codewords form a state 2-design while spin coherent states do not; in direct analogy with the optical case. This work is structured as a pedagogical and self-contained introduction to unitary designs and their applications to qudit systems.

Anand, Namit [NASA, Ames; Unlisted, US] (ORCID:000↗

Machine learning models for rat multigeneration reproductive toxicity prediction

Reproductive toxicity is one of the prominent endpoints in the risk assessment of environmental and industrial chemicals. Due to the complexity of the reproductive system, traditional reproductive toxicity testing in animals, especially guideline multigeneration reproductive toxicity studies, take a long time and are expensive. Therefore, machine learning, as a promising alternative approach, should be considered when evaluating the reproductive toxicity of chemicals. We curated rat multigeneration reproductive toxicity testing data of 275 chemicals from ToxRefDB (Toxicity Reference Database) and developed predictive models using seven machine learning algorithms (decision tree, decision forest, random forest, k-nearest neighbors, support vector machine, linear discriminant analysis, and logistic regression). A consensus model was built based on the seven individual models. An external validation set was curated from the COSMOS database and the literature. The performances of individual and consensus models were evaluated using 500 iterations of 5-fold cross-validations and the external validation data set. The balanced accuracy of the models ranged from 58% to 65% in the 5-fold cross-validations and 45%–61% in the external validations. Prediction confidence analysis was conducted to provide additional information for more appropriate applications of the developed models. The impact of our findings is in increasing confidence in machine learning models. We demonstrate the importance of using consensus models for harnessing the benefits of multiple machine learning models (i.e., using redundant systems to check validity of outcomes). While we continue to build upon the models to better characterize weak toxicants, there is current utility in saving resources by being able to screen out strong reproductive toxicants before investing in vivo testing. The modeling approach (machine learning models) is offered for assessing the rat multigeneration reproductive toxicity of chemicals. Our results suggest that machine learning may be a promising alternative approach to evaluate the potential reproductive toxicity of chemicals.

consensus model↗

A scalable planning framework of energy storage systems under frequency dynamics constraints

As the penetration of renewables increases in power systems, the declining system inertia can cause frequency stability issues. Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) respond fast and therefore can relieve the low inertia difficulty but need to be appropriately sized considering the associated cost. This paper presents a novel stochastic optimization model for economically planning BESS capacity while considering the spatial–temporal correlation of wind generation and generator outages under frequency stability constraints, which include the rate-of-change of frequency (RoCoF), frequency nadir (FN), and quasi-steady-state (QSS) frequency. A set of new FN constraints that can be easily linearized is developed. To account for renewable uncertainties, a realistic uncertainty modeling approach, Random Field, is adopted to generate wind generation scenarios by considering both spatial and temporal evolutions of wind speed profiles. The ESS sizing is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming problem and solved by using a scalable decomposition-and-coordination approach, Surrogate Absolute Value Lagrangian Relaxation (SAVLR). To further improve the scalability and reduce computational burdens, a rolling-horizon-based update is developed and incorporated into SAVLR for providing a practical solution to the long-term planning of very large-scale power systems. Finally, a modified IEEE 118-bus system and the Polish system are used to validate the effectiveness and scalability of the model and solution methodology.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Modeling household-level party composition behavior for multiparty activities: a random parameter nested logit modeling approach

This study presents findings of a household-level party composition model for multiparty activities. It exploits data from a comprehensive Household Travel Survey conducted by Chicago Metropolitan Agency of Planning. The study estimates a random parameter nested logit model to capture households’ unobserved preference heterogeneity and non-proportional substitution patterns in terms of activity party composition for multiparty activities. A wide variety of household demographics, activity attributes and residential neighborhood characteristics are examined in this paper. The magnitude of the impacts of the determinants are tested in this study by analyzing the elasticity of the variables, which suggests that household demographics and attributes of the multiparty activities have significant effects on the household-level activity party composition. Residential neighborhood characteristics, although somewhat less impactful, still play a meaningful role. This model will be implemented within the POLARIS transportation systems simulator to improve the activity generation modeling workflow, and the prediction accuracy of various activity-travel components.

activity party composition↗

A multi-dimensional dataset for two-phase instability in low pressure natural circulation based on direct transient local measurement

Thermal hydraulic instability can challenge the control and the safety of nuclear reactors. This experimental research captures and investigates the instability in a low-pressure (1–10 atmospheres) natural circulation loop with an adiabatic chimney installed above the heated section. Direct transient local measurement of two-phase flow is performed at multiple axial locations along the flow channel with thermocouples and conductivity probes traversed by customized high-precision mechanisms. Based on the periodicity of oscillations, a post-processing method is proposed to align the data captured non-simultaneously to reconstruct the instability behavior in one representative period. The averaging operation over multiple oscillation cycles is performed to reduce the random errors. Cyclic phenomena are clearly demonstrated by the post-processed data, and rapid void fraction change induced by the flashing is observed to be significant in the driving mechanism for low pressure oscillations. Parametric effects of inlet subcooling, heat flux, inlet flow restriction and system pressure are studied within the experiment range, and qualitative results are explained and compared with existing literature. The ratio between the oscillation period and the travelling time of the fluid particle through the test section is compared with the theoretical value for the density wave oscillation. The new dataset contains directly measured transient multi-dimensional two-phase data along the flow channel for natural circulation under density wave oscillations. The generated dataset is valuable for the validation of system analysis codes and CFD codes in the simulation of natural circulation phenomena and dynamic two-phase flow.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A review of spatial Markov models for predicting pre-asymptotic and anomalous transport in porous and fractured media

Heterogeneity across a broad range of scales in geologic porous media often manifests in observations of non-Fickian or anomalous transport. While traditional anomalous transport models can successfully make predictions in certain geological systems, increasing evidence suggests that assumptions relating to independent and identically distributed increments constrain where and when they can be reliably applied. A relatively novel model, the Spatial Markov model (SMM), relaxes the assumption of independence. The SMM belongs to the family of correlated continuous time random walks and has shown promise across a wide range of transport problems relevant to natural porous media. It has been successfully used to model conservative as well as more recently reactive transport in highly complex flows ranging from pore scales to much larger scales of interest in geology and subsurface hydrology. In this review paper we summarize its original development and provide a comprehensive review of its advances and applications as well as lay out a vision for its future development.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

A graphics processing unit accelerated sparse direct solver and preconditioner with block low rank compression

We present the GPU implementation efforts and challenges of the sparse solver package STRUMPACK. The code is made publicly available on github with a permissive BSD license. STRUMPACK implements an approximate multifrontal solver, a sparse LU factorization which makes use of compression methods to accelerate time to solution and reduce memory usage. Multiple compression schemes based on rank-structured and hierarchical matrix approximations are supported, including hierarchically semi-separable, hierarchically off-diagonal butterfly, and block low rank. Here, in this paper, we present the GPU implementation of the block low rank (BLR) compression method within a multifrontal solver. Our GPU implementation relies on highly optimized vendor libraries such as cuBLAS and cuSOLVER for NVIDIA GPUs, rocBLAS and rocSOLVER for AMD GPUs and the Intel oneAPI Math Kernel Library (oneMKL) for Intel GPUs. Additionally, we rely on external open source libraries such as SLATE (Software for Linear Algebra Targeting Exascale), MAGMA (Matrix Algebra on GPU and Multi-core Architectures), and KBLAS (KAUST BLAS). SLATE is used as a GPU-capable ScaLAPACK replacement. From MAGMA we use variable sized batched dense linear algebra operations such as GEMM, TRSM and LU with partial pivoting. KBLAS provides efficient (batched) low rank matrix compression for NVIDIA GPUs using an adaptive randomized sampling scheme. The resulting sparse solver and preconditioner runs on NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs. Interfaces are available from PETSc, Trilinos and MFEM, or the solver can be used directly in user code. We report results for a range of benchmark applications, using the Perlmutter system from NERSC, Frontier from ORNL, and Aurora from ALCF. For a high frequency wave equation on a regular mesh, using 32 Perlmutter compute nodes, the factorization phase of the exact GPU solver is about 6.5× faster compared to the CPU-only solver. The BLR-enabled GPU solver is about 13.8× faster than the CPU exact solver. For a collection of SuiteSparse matrices, the STRUMPACK exact factorization on a single GPU is on average 1.9× faster than NVIDIA’s cuDSS solver.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Novel In-situ Patterning Technique to Fabricate Single Quantum Dots for Quantum Photonics

Photon sources able to emit single or entangled photon pairs are key components in quantum information systems. Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are promising candidates due to their high efficiencies and ease of integration with other photonic or electronic components. State-of-the-art QDs, however, are limited to certain emission wavelengths and specific applications due to material choice constraints and their randomness in shape/size. This project is focused on developing a novel in-situ patterning technique to realize QDs with a broad emission range, shape/size control and the ability to emit single/entangled photons. Our approach has two key elements: (1) In-situ patterning via arsenic-induced nanovoid etching on antimonide surfaces and (2) In-filling of nanovoids to form QDs. By closely controlling the experimental conditions, it is shown that this technique can be used to realize III-V QDs in As 2 - etched nanovoids on a GaSb surface. The exposure to As 2 in terms of substrate temperature, time and flux is found to have a significant impact on the process variables such as nanovoid depth, QD dimensions etc. An in-depth analysis of the etch mechanism reveals that by controlling the As 2 exposure, uniform 3-dimensional nanostructures with varying areal densities can be obtained without an in-filling step. Preliminary optical characterization of these nanostructures shows that these QDs may be relevant for realizing emitters in the telecom wavelength range.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Monte Carlo Dropout Uncertainty Quantification of Long Short-Term Memory Autoencoder Anomaly Detection in a Liquid Sodium Cold Trap

Advanced high-temperature fluid reactors, such as sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs) and molten salt–cooled reactors (MSCRs), require coolant purification systems to prevent fluid contamination and local freezing that can lead to plugging. Liquid sodium purification can be achieved with a cold trap, where the sodium temperature is reduced to a near-freezing point to precipitate out impurities. Automation of monitoring of the cold trap performance with machine learning algorithms can aid in early detection of incipient anomalies. An efficient approach to loss-of-coolant–type anomaly detection in a cold trap monitored with more than two dozen thermal-hydraulic sensors consists of a long short-term memory (LSTM) autoencoder. This work develops the uncertainty quantification of the LSTM autoencoder performance for cold trap anomaly detection using the Monte Carlo (MC) dropout method. The MC dropout methodology creates a distribution of sister distributions that all slightly differ from each other because of random neurons being turned off for testing. The variances of the sister network distributions are used to make an uncertainty interval. Our analysis shows that the uncertainty in the autoencoder performance is largest near the peak of the anomaly signal. Using the MC dropout method, we investigate the uncertainty in the anomaly detection with missing sensor inputs. This capability allows the reactor operator to evaluate resilience of the anomaly detection system and to make informed decisions about continuity of operation in the event of sensor failure.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗