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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 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

The AGB star nucleosynthesis in the light of the recent {sup 17}O(p,α){sup 14}N and {sup 18}O(p,α){sup 15}N reaction rate determinations

Presolar grains form in the cold and dusty envelopes of Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. These solides, once that have been ejected by stellar winds, come to us as inclusions in meteorites providing invaluable benchmarks and constraints for our knowledge of low temeperature H-burning in stars. The Trojan Horse Method (THM) has been used to investigate the low-energy cross sections of the {sup 17}O(p,α){sup 14}N and {sup 18}O(p,α){sup 15}N reactions. Moreover, the strength of the 65 keV resonance in the {sup 17}O(p,α){sup 14}N reaction, measured by means of the THM, has been used to renormalize the corresponding resonance strength in the {sup 17}O+p radiative capture channel. The new estimates of the reaction rates have been introduced into calculations of AGB star nucleosynthesis and the results have been compared with geochemical analysis of 'presolar' grains to determine their impact on astrophysical environments.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Bounds for the cumulative conditional expectation function

We introduce the concept of cumulative conditional expectation function. This is a quantity that provides statistical support for making decisions in applied problems. The goal of this paper is to find an analytical expression for upper and lower bounds of this function, assuming stochastic dependence types as being the underlying random structure.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Specifying structural constraints of architectural patterns in the ARCHERY language

ARCHERY is an architectural description language for modelling and reasoning about distributed, heterogeneous and dynamically reconfigurable systems in terms of architectural patterns. The language supports the specification of architectures and their reconfiguration. This paper introduces a language extension for precisely describing the structural design decisions that pattern instances must respect in their (re)configurations. The extension is a propositional modal logic with recursion and nominals referencing components, i.e., a hybrid µ-calculus. Its expressiveness allows specifying safety and liveness constraints, as well as paths and cycles over structures. Refinements of classic architectural patterns are specified.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Analysis of transverse shear strains in pre-twisted thick beams using variational asymptotic method

The cross-sectional stiffness matrix is derived for a pre-twisted, moderately thick beam made of transversely isotropic materials and having rectangular cross sections. An asymptotically-exact methodology is used to model the anisotropic beam from 3-D elasticity, without any further assumptions. The beam is allowed to have large displacements and rotations, but small strain is assumed. The strain energy is computed making use of the beam constitutive law and kinematical relations derived with the inclusion of geometrical nonlinearities and an initial twist. The energy functional is minimized making use of the Variational Asymptotic Method (VAM), thereby reducing the cross section to a point on the beam reference line with appropriate properties, forming a 1-D constitutive law. VAM is a mathematical technique employed in the current problem to rigorously split the 3-D analysis of beams into two: a 2-D analysis over the beam cross-sectional domain, which provides a compact semi-analytical form of the properties of the cross sections, and a nonlinear 1-D analysis of the beam ref-erence curve. In this method, as applied herein, the cross-sectional analysis is performed asymptotically by taking advantage of a material small parameter and two geometric small parameters. 3-D strain components are derived using kinematics and arranged in orders of the small parameters. Closed-form expressions are derived for the 3-D non-linear warping and stress fields. Warping functions are obtained by the minimization of strain energy subject to certain set of constraints that render the 1-D strain measures well-defined. The zeroth-order 3-D warping field thus yielded is then used to integrate the 3-D strain energy density over the cross section, resulting in the 1-D strain energy density, which in turn helps identify the corresponding cross-sectional stiffness matrix. The model is capable of predicting interlaminar and transverse shear stresses accurately up to first order.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

A brief note on the magnecule order parameter upgrade hypothesis

In this short remark, we report on recent hypothetical work that aims to equip Santilli’s magnecule model with topological deformation order parameters (OP) of fractional statistics to define a preliminary set of wavepacket wavefunctions for the electron toroidal polarizations. The primary objective is to increase the representational precision and predictive accuracy of the magnecule model by exemplifying the fluidic characteristics for direct industrial application. In particular, the OPs are deployed to encode the spontaneous superfluidic gauge symmetry breaking (which may be restored at the iso-topic level) and correlated with Leggett’s superfluid B phases to establish a long range constraint for the wavefunctions. These new, developing, theoretical results may be significant because the OP configuration arms us with an extra degree of freedom for encoding a magnecule’s states and transitions, which may reveal further insight into the underlying physical mechanisms and features associated with these state-of-the-art magnecular bonds.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

An introduction to spherically symmetric loop quantum gravity black holes

We review recent developments in the treatment of spherically symmetric black holes in loop quantum gravity. In particular, we discuss an exact solution to the quantum constraints that represents a black hole and is free of singularities. We show that new observables that are not present in the classical theory arise in the quantum theory. We also discuss Hawking radiation by considering the quantization of a scalar field on the quantum spacetime.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Interacting dark sector with transversal interaction

We investigate the interacting dark sector composed of dark matter, dark energy, and dark radiation for a spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) background by introducing a three-dimensional internal space spanned by the interaction vector Q and solve the source equation for a linear transversal interaction. Then, we explore a realistic model with dark matter coupled to a scalar field plus a decoupled radiation term, analyze the amount of dark energy in the radiation era and find that our model is consistent with the recent measurements of cosmic microwave background anisotropy coming from Planck along with the future constraints achievable by CMBPol experiment.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Rastall’s cosmology and its observational constraints

The Rastall’s theory is a modification of General Relativity touching one of the cornestone of gravity theory: the conservation laws. In Rastall’s theory, the energy-momentum tensor is not conserved anymore, depending now on the gradient of the Ricci curvature. In this sense, this theory can be seen as a classical implementation of quantum effects in a curved background space-time. We exploit this structure in order to reproduce some results of an effective theory of quantum loop cosmology. Later, we propose a model for the dark sector of the universe. In this case, the corresponding ΛCDM model appears as the only model consistent with observational data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Evolution of field line helicity during magnetic reconnection

We investigate the evolution of field line helicity for magnetic fields that connect two boundaries without null points, with emphasis on localized finite-B magnetic reconnection. Total (relative) magnetic helicity is already recognized as an important topological constraint on magnetohydrodynamic processes. Field line helicity offers further advantages because it preserves all topological information and can distinguish between different magnetic fields with the same total helicity. Magnetic reconnection changes field connectivity and field line helicity reflects these changes; the goal of this paper is to characterize that evolution. We start by deriving the evolution equation for field line helicity and examining its terms, also obtaining a simplified form for cases where dynamics are localized within the domain. The main result, which we support using kinematic examples, is that during localized reconnection in a complex magnetic field, the evolution of field line helicity is dominated by a work-like term that is evaluated at the field line endpoints, namely, the scalar product of the generalized field line velocity and the vector potential. Furthermore, the flux integral of this term over certain areas is very small compared to the integral of the unsigned quantity, which indicates that changes of field line helicity happen in a well-organized pairwise manner. It follows that reconnection is very efficient at redistributing helicity in complex magnetic fields despite having little effect on the total helicity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Comment on “A model for phosphate glass topology considering the modifying ion sub-network” [J. Chem. Phys. 140, 154501 (2014)]

In a recent paper, Hermansen, Mauro, and Yue [J. Chem. Phys. 140, 154501 (2014)] applied the temperature-dependent constraint theory to model both the glass transition temperature, T{sub g}, and fragility, m, of a series of binary alkali phosphate glasses of the form (R{sub 2}O){sub x}(P{sub 2}O{sub 5}){sub 1−x}, where R represents an alkali species. Key to their success seems to be the retention of linear constraints between the alkali ion (R{sup +}) and the non-bridging oxygens near T{sub g}, which allows the model to mimic a supposed minimum for both T{sub g}(x) and m(x) located near x = 0.2. However, the authors have overlooked several recent studies that clearly show there is no minimum in m(x). We argue that the retention of the alkali ion constraints at these temperatures is unjustified and question whether the model calculations can be revised to meet the actual experimental data. We also discuss alternative interpretations for the fragility based on two-state thermodynamics that can accurately account for its compositional dependence.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

The interaction of He{sup −} with fullerenes

The effects of interactions between He{sup −} and clusters of fullerenes in helium nanodroplets are described. Electron transfer from He{sup −} to (C{sub 60}){sub n} and (C{sub 70}){sub n} clusters results in the formation of the corresponding fullerene cluster dianions. This unusual double electron transfer appears to be concerted and is most likely guided by electron correlation between the two very weakly bound outer electrons in He{sup −}. We suggest a mechanism which involves long range electron transfer followed by the conversion of He{sup +}into He{sub 2}{sup +}, where formation of the He–He bond in He{sub 2}{sup +} releases sufficient kinetic energy for the cation and the dianion to escape their Coulombic attraction. By analogy with the corresponding dications, the observation of a threshold size of n ≥ 5 for formation of both (C{sub 60}){sub n}{sup 2−} and (C{sub 70}){sub n}{sup 2−} is attributed to Coulomb explosion rather than an energetic constraint. We also find that smaller dianions can be observed if water is added as a co-dopant. Other aspects of He{sup −} chemistry that are explored include its role in the formation of multiply charged fullerene cluster cations and the sensitivity of cluster dianion formation on the incident electron energy.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

PHARAO laser source flight model: Design and performances

In this paper, we describe the design and the main performances of the PHARAO laser source flight model. PHARAO is a laser cooled cesium clock specially designed for operation in space and the laser source is one of the main sub-systems. The flight model presented in this work is the first remote-controlled laser system designed for spaceborne cold atom manipulation. The main challenges arise from mechanical compatibility with space constraints, which impose a high level of compactness, a low electric power consumption, a wide range of operating temperature, and a vacuum environment. We describe the main functions of the laser source and give an overview of the main technologies developed for this instrument. We present some results of the qualification process. The characteristics of the laser source flight model, and their impact on the clock performances, have been verified in operational conditions.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Polychromatic sparse image reconstruction and mass attenuation spectrum estimation via B-spline basis function expansion

We develop a sparse image reconstruction method for polychromatic computed tomography (CT) measurements under the blind scenario where the material of the inspected object and the incident energy spectrum are unknown. To obtain a parsimonious measurement model parameterization, we first rewrite the measurement equation using our mass-attenuation parameterization, which has the Laplace integral form. The unknown mass-attenuation spectrum is expanded into basis functions using a B-spline basis of order one. We develop a block coordinate-descent algorithm for constrained minimization of a penalized negative log-likelihood function, where constraints and penalty terms ensure nonnegativity of the spline coefficients and sparsity of the density map image in the wavelet domain. This algorithm alternates between a Nesterov’s proximal-gradient step for estimating the density map image and an active-set step for estimating the incident spectrum parameters. Numerical simulations demonstrate the performance of the proposed scheme.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Internal transport barrier triggered by non-linear lower hybrid wave deposition under condition of beam-driven toroidal rotation

By using gyro-Landau fluid transport model (GLF23), time-dependent integrated modeling is carried out using TRANSP to explore the dynamic process of internal transport barrier (ITB) formation in the neutral beam heating discharges. When the current profile is controlled by LHCD (lower hybrid current drive), with appropriate neutral beam injection, the nonlinear interplay between the transport determined gradients in the plasma temperature (T{sub i,e}) and toroidal velocity (V{sub ϕ}) and the E×B flow shear (including q-profile) produces transport bifurcations, generating spontaneously a stepwise growing ITB. In the discharge, the constraints imposed by the wave propagation condition causes interplay of the LH driven current distribution with the plasma configuration modification, which constitutes non-linearity in the LH wave deposition. The non-linear effects cause bifurcation in LHCD, generating two distinct quasi-stationary reversed magnetic shear configurations. The change of current profile during the transition period between the two quasi-stationary states results in increase of the E×B shearing flow arising from toroidal rotation. The turbulence transport suppression by sheared E×B flow during the ITB development is analysed, and the temporal evolution of some parameters characterized the plasma confinement is examined. Ample evidence shows that onset of the ITB development is correlated with the enhancement of E×B shearing rate caused by the bifurcation in LHCD. It is suggested that the ITB triggering is associated with the non-linear effects of the LH power deposition.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Rotational stabilization of the resistive wall modes in tokamaks with a ferritic wall

The dynamics of the rotating resistive wall modes (RWMs) is analyzed in the presence of a uniform ferromagnetic resistive wall with μ{sup ^}≡μ/μ{sub 0}≤4 (μ is the wall magnetic permeability, and μ{sub 0} is the vacuum one). This mimics a possible arrangement in ITER with ferromagnetic steel in test blanket modules or in future experiments in JT-60SA tokamak [Y. Kamada, P. Barabaschi, S. Ishida, the JT-60SA Team, and JT-60SA Research Plan Contributors, Nucl. Fusion 53, 104010 (2013)]. The earlier studies predict that such a wall must provide a destabilizing influence on the plasma by reducing the beta limit and increasing the growth rates, compared to the reference case with μ{sup ^}=1. This is true for the locked modes, but the presented results show that the mode rotation changes the tendency to the opposite. At μ{sup ^}>1, the rotational stabilization related to the energy sink in the wall becomes even stronger than at μ{sup ^}=1, and this “external” effect develops at lower rotation frequency, estimated as several kHz at realistic conditions. The study is based on the cylindrical dispersion relation valid for arbitrary growth rates and frequencies. This relation is solved numerically, and the solutions are compared with analytical dependences obtained for slow (s/d{sub w}≫1) and fast (s/d{sub w}≪1) “ferromagnetic” rotating RWMs, where s is the skin depth and d{sub w} is the wall thickness. It is found that the standard thin-wall modeling becomes progressively less reliable at larger μ{sup ^}, and the wall should be treated as magnetically thick. The analysis is performed assuming only a linear plasma response to external perturbations without constraints on the plasma current and pressure profiles.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Guided basin-hopping search of small boron clusters with density functional theory

The search for the ground state structures of Boron clusters has been a difficult computational task due to the unique metalloid nature of Boron atom. Previous research works had overcome the problem in the search of the Boron ground-state structures by adding symmetry constraints prior to the process of locating the local minima in the potential energy surface (PES) of the Boron clusters. In this work, we shown that, with the deployment of a novel computational approach that incorporates density functional theory (DFT) into a guided global optimization search algorithm based on basin-hopping, it is possible to directly locate the local minima of small Boron clusters in the PES at the DFT level. The ground-state structures search algorithm as proposed in this work is initiated randomly and needs not a priori symmetry constraint artificially imposed throughout the search process. Small sized Boron clusters so obtained compare well to the results obtained by similar calculations in the literature. The electronic properties of each structures obtained are calculated within the DFT framework.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Impact of Pb content on the physical parameters of Se-Te-Pb system

In the present study, we have investigated the impact of Pb content on the physical parameters in Se-Te-Pb system via average coordination number, constraints, the fraction of floppy modes, cross-linking density, lone pairs electrons, heat of atomization, mean bond energy, cohesive energy and electronegativity. The bulk samples have been prepared by using melt quenching technique. X-ray diffraction pattern of various samples indicates the amorphous nature of investigated glassy alloys. It is observed that average coordination number, average number of constraints and cross-linking density increase with Pb content. However, lone-pair electrons, floppy modes, average heat of atomization, cohesive energy and mean bond energy are found to decrease with Pb atomic percentage.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Recent results of the ANTARES neutrino telescope

The latest results from the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope are reported. Limits on a high energy neutrino diffuse flux have been set using for the first time both muon–track and showering events. The results for point sources obtained by ANTARES are also shown. These are the most stringent limits for the southern sky for neutrino energies below 100 TeV. Constraints on the nature of the cluster of neutrino events near the Galactic Centre observed by IceCube are also reported. In particular, ANTARES data excludes a single point–like neutrino source as the origin of this cluster. Looking for neutrinos coming from the Sun or the centre of the Galaxy, very competitive limits are set by the ANTARES data to the flux of neutrinos produced by self-annihilation of weakly interacting massive particles.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗