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At least 829 records · Page 46

Theoretical Evaluation of Metal–Ligand Bonding in Neptunium Compounds in Relation to 237 Np Mössbauer Spectroscopy

The 237 Np Mössbauer isomer shift and quadrupole splitting (QS) are powerful probes for the metal–ligand bonding of neptunium, a 5f-element of vital importance in the nuclear fuel cycle. A large set of Np compounds with different oxidation states (III) to (VII) is studied to investigate, by first-principles calculations, isomer shifts and the QS trends in relation to the Np oxidation state. Natural Bond Orbital analysis reveals that in addition to donation bonding to the 5f shell, participation of the 6d and 7s neptunium shells in covalent (donation) bonding substantially impacts the isomer shifts. The isomer shift cannot be interpreted solely by the 5f shell electron count. The isomer shift for Np(II) compounds is estimated to be in the range of 31–34 mm/s, less positive than for Np(III) compounds. For the QS, density functional calculations fail to reproduce the quadrupole splitting for some Np(VI) ionic solids. A multiconfigurational wave function approach reproduces the observed QS trends. The calculations give a semiquantitative interpretation of the trends for Np oxidation states (V) to (VII). Furthermore, the contrasting QS for standard and “reverse” neptunyl(VI), at the opposite extremes of the observed QS scale, arises predominantly from the different crystal environments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

From individual leaves to forest stands: importance of niche, distance decay, and stochasticity vary by ecosystem type and functional group for fungal community composition

Abstract Community assembly is influenced by environmental niche processes as well as stochastic processes that can be spatially dependent (e.g. dispersal limitation) or independent (e.g. priority effects). Here, we sampled senesced tree leaves as unit habitats to investigate fungal community assembly at two spatial scales: (i) small neighborhoods of overlapping leaves from differing tree species and (ii) forest stands of differing ecosystem types. Among forest stands, ecosystem type explained the most variation in community composition. Among adjacent leaves within stands, variability in fungal composition was surprisingly high. Leaf type was more important in stands with high soil fertility and dominated by differing tree mycorrhizal types (sugar maple vs. basswood or red oak), whereas distance decay was more important in oak-dominated forest stands with low soil fertility. Abundance of functional groups was explained by environmental factors, but predictors of taxonomic composition within differing functional groups were highly variable. These results suggest that fungal community assembly processes are clearest for functional group abundances and large spatial scales. Understanding fungal community assembly at smaller spatial scales will benefit from further study focusing on differences in drivers for different ecosystems and functional groups, as well as the importance of spatially independent factors such as priority effects.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Global patterns of forest autotrophic carbon fluxes

Carbon (C) fixation, allocation, and metabolism by trees set the basis for energy and material flows in forest ecosystems and define their interactions with Earth’s changing climate. However, we lack a cohesive synthesis on how forest carbon fluxes vary globally with respect to climate and one another. Here, we draw upon 1,319 records from the Global Forest Carbon Database (ForC), representing all major forest types and the nine most significant autotrophic carbon fluxes, to comprehensively explore how C cycling in mature, undisturbed forests varies with latitude and climate on a global scale. We show that, across all flux variables analyzed, C cycling decreases continuously with absolute latitude – a finding that confirms multiple previous studies but contradicts the idea that net primary productivity of temperate forests rivals that of tropical forests. C flux variables generally displayed similar trends across latitude and multiple climate variables, with no differences in allocation detected at this global scale. Temperature variables in general, and mean annual temperature and temperature seasonality in particular, were the best univariate predictors of C flux, explaining 19 - 71% of variation in the C fluxes analyzed. The effects of temperature were modified by moisture availability, with C flux reduced under hot and dry conditions and sometimes under very high precipitation. C fluxes increased with growing season length, but this was never the best univariate predictor. Within the growing season, the influence of climate on C cycling was small but significant for a number of flux variables. These findings clarify how forest C flux varies with latitude and climate on a global scale. In a period of accelerating climatic change, this improved understanding of the fundamental climatic controls on forest C cycling sets a foundation for understanding patterns of change.

Banbury Morgan, Rebecca↗

Electron-scale Magnetic Holes Generation Driven by Whistler-to-Bernstein Mode Conversion in Fully Kinetic Plasma Turbulence

Magnetic holes (MHs) are coherent structures characterized by a strong and localized magnetic field amplitude dip, commonly observed in the heliosphere. These structures come in different sizes, from magnetohydrodynamic to kinetic scales. Subion-scale MHs are usually sustained by an electron current vortex and exhibit a strong electron temperature anisotropy, with higher temperatures perpendicular to the background magnetic field. Magnetospheric multiscale observations (MMSs) have revealed electron-scale MHs to be ubiquitous in the turbulent Earth’s magnetosheath and the solar wind, potentially playing an important role in the energy cascade and dissipation. Despite abundant observations, the origin of electron-scale MHs is still unclear and debated. In this work, we use fully kinetic simulations to investigate the role of plasma turbulence in generating electron-scale MHs. We find that the turbulence spontaneously produces electron-scale MHs via the following mechanism: first, large-scale turbulent velocity shears produce regions with high electron temperature anisotropy; these localized regions become unstable, generating oblique electron-scale whistler waves; as they propagate over the inhomogeneous turbulent background, whistler fluctuations develop an electrostatic component, turning into Bernstein-like modes; the strong electrostatic fluctuations produce current filaments that merge into an electron-scale current vortex; the resulting electron vortex locally reduces the magnetic field amplitude, finally evolving into an electron-scale MH. We show that MHs generated by this mechanism have properties consistent with MMSs and nontrivial kinetic features with a “mushroom”-shaped electron velocity distribution function. Our results have potential implications for understanding the formation and occurrence of electron-scale MHs in astrophysical turbulent and space environments, such as the Earth’s magnetosheath and the solar wind.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Estimation of pollen productivity and dispersal: How pollen assemblages in small lakes represent vegetation

Abstract Quantitative understanding of vegetation dynamics over timespans beyond a century remains limited. In this regard, the pollen‐based reconstruction of past vegetation enables unique research opportunities by quantifying changes in plant community compositions during hundreds to thousands of years. Critically, the methodological basis for most reconstruction approaches rests upon estimates of pollen productivity and dispersal. Previous studies, however, have reached contrasting conclusions concerning these estimates, which may be perceived to challenge the applicability and reliability of pollen‐based reconstruction. Here we show that conflicting estimates of pollen production and dispersal are, at least in part, artifacts of fixed assumptions of pollen dispersal and insufficient spatial resolution of vegetation data surrounding the pollen‐collecting lake. We implemented a Bayesian statistical model that related pollen assemblages in surface sediments of 33 small lakes (<2 ha) in the northeastern United States, with surrounding vegetation ranging from 10 1 to >10 5 m from the lake margin. Our analysis revealed three key insights. First, pollen productivity is largely conserved within taxa and across forest types. Second, when local (within a 1‐km radius) vegetation abundances are not considered, pollen‐source areas may be overestimated for some common taxa (Cupressaceae, Pinus , Quercus , and Tsuga ). Third, pollen dispersal mechanisms may differ between local and regional scales; this is missed by pollen‐dispersal models used in previous studies. These findings highlight the complex interactions between vegetation heterogeneity on the landscape and pollen dispersal. We suggest that, when estimating pollen productivity and dispersal, both detailed local and extended regional vegetation must be taken into account. Also, both deductive (mechanistic models) and inductive (statistical models) approaches are needed to better understand the emergent properties of pollen dispersal in heterogeneous landscapes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Analysis of Coastal Fog from a Ship During the C-FOG Campaign

This work presents ship-based measurements of fog off St John’s Newfoundland on 13 September 2018 during the Coastal Fog (C-FOG) field campaign. The measurements included cloud-particle spectra, cloud-base height and aerosol backscatter, radiation, turbulence, visibility, and sea surface temperature. Radiosonde soundings were made at intervals less than 2 hours. Fog occurred in two episodes under the center of eastward-moving synoptic low-pressure system. The boundary layer structure during the first fog episode consisted of 3 layers, separated by 2 saturated air temperature inversions and capped by a subsidence inversion. The lowest layer was fog and the upper layers were cloud. The second fog episode consisted of one well-mixed fog layer capped by a subsidence inversion. Low wind speeds and stable stratification maintained low surface-layer turbulence during fog. Droplet size distributions had typical bimodal distributions. The visibility correlated with the droplet number concentration and liquid water content. The air temperature was higher than the sea surface temperature for the first 30 minutes of the first fog episode but was colder than the sea for the remainder of all fog. The sensible heat flux was upward, from sea to air, for the first 62 % of the first fog episode and then reversed to downward, from air to sea, for the remainder of the first fog episode and the second fog episode. Here, the counter-gradient heat fluxes observed (i.e., opposite to what is expected from the instantaneous air-sea temperature difference) appear to be related to turbulence, entrainment and stratification in the fog layer that overwhelmed the influence of air-sea temperature difference. While the synoptic-scale dynamics preconditioned the area for fog formation, the final step of fog appearance in this case was nuanced by stratification-turbulence interactions, local advective processes and microphysical environment.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Epigenetic effects associated with salmonid supplementation and domestication

Abstract Several studies have demonstrated lower fitness of salmonids born and reared in a hatchery setting compared to those born in nature, yet broad-scale genome-wide genetic differences between hatchery-origin and natural-origin fish have remained largely undetected. Recent research efforts have focused on using epigenetic tools to explore the role of heritable changes outside of genetic variation in response to hatchery rearing. We synthesized the results from salmonid studies that have directly compared methylation differences between hatchery-origin and natural-origin fish. Overall, the majority of studies found substantial differences in methylation patterns and overlap in functional genomic regions between hatchery-origin and natural-origin fish which have been replicated in parallel across geographical locations. Epigenetic differences were consistently found in the sperm of hatchery-origin versus natural-origin fish along with evidence for maternal effects, providing a potential source of multigenerational transmission. While there were clear epigenetic differences in gametic lines between hatchery-origin and natural-origin fish, only a limited number explored the potential mechanisms explaining these differences. We outline opportunities for epigenetics to inform salmonid breeding and rearing practices and to mitigate for fitness differences between hatchery-origin and natural-origin fish. We then provide possible explanations and avenues of future epigenetics research in salmonid supplementation programs, including: 1) further exploration of the factors in early development shaping epigenetic differences, 2) understanding the functional genomic changes that are occurring in response to epigenetic changes, 3) elucidating the relationship between epigenetics, phenotypic variation, and fitness, and 4) determining heritability of epigenetic marks along with persistence of marks across generations.

Koch, Ilana J. (ORCID:0000000335943108)↗

Virtual diffraction simulations using the quasi-coarse-grained dynamics method to understand and interpret plasticity contributions during in situ shock experiments

The dynamic deformation response of metallic materials has contributions from dislocations, deformation twinning, and plastic deformation. The current state-of-art techniques can detail the complex mechanistic history of deformation modes under shock loading in real-time using in situ X-ray diffraction (XRD). However, the capability of these experiments to unravel plasticity contributions is challenging due to limitations in interpreting results and the lack of validation from atomistic simulations. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can successfully capture various deformation modes in metals and complement experiments using simulated diffractograms at various stages of evolution. However, the difference in length and time scales of MD simulations and experiments is a substantial obstacle in completing and interpreting in situ diffractograms. Therefore, the existing modeling methods require various approximations to model defect evolution and interaction at the mesoscales. However, while using approximations to correlate the peak broadening behavior to the density of dislocations or the shifts/splitting due to the presence of twins, the interpretations of the plasticity contributions from diffractograms are non-trivial, especially when multiple modes of deformation may be operating. This viewpoint discusses combining a mesoscale modeling method called quasi-coarse-grained dynamics and virtual XRD to characterize the plasticity contributions in BCC metals from slip, twinning, and phase transformation behavior. Furthermore, the combined approach shows promise in bridging the mesoscale gap between the capabilities of atomic-scale simulations and in situ experiments to characterize the dynamic deformation of materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Emerging hierarchical dislocation structures: Insights from scanning electron microscopy-electron backscatter diffraction in situ tensile testing and multifractal analysis

Understanding the evolution of dislocation structures during plastic deformation is critical for predicting the mechanical performance of metallic materials. In this work, we applied in situ scanning electron microscopy/electron backscatter diffraction tensile testing combined with multifractal (MF) analysis to assess deformation-induced dislocation structure evolution in solution-annealed 304 L stainless steel, both in its as-received and neutron-irradiated states (5.4 displacements per atom). The analysis of kernel average misorientation patterns revealed the formation of hierarchical dislocation arrangements that exhibit clear MF scaling behavior. Despite pronounced visual differences between nonirradiated and irradiated specimens—most notably, the appearance of dislocation channels after irradiation—the singularity spectra suggest that both conditions give rise to similar underlying hierarchical structures. MF analysis provides a quantitative measure of the spatial complexity and self-organization of dislocation patterns, highlighting the accelerated emergence and evolution of the dislocation structures in irradiated polycrystalline materials, as well as the limitation of their spatial extent. The findings indicate that irradiation not only modifies microstructure but also alters correlation-driven dislocation organization. More generally, they demonstrate that MF analysis is a powerful tool for probing mesoscale deformation mechanisms.

Dislocation structures↗

Elucidating the Atomic Structures of the Gel Layer Formed during Aluminoborosilicate Glass Dissolution: An Integrated Experimental and Simulation Study

The altered glasses produced during aqueous dissolution of silicate and borosilicate glasses are among the most complex structures to understand at the atomic level due to their amorphous nature, random porosity and various levels of hydration. In this study, we gained insights of the complex atomic structures of altered aluminoborosilicate glasses by combining a range of experimental and computational approaches. The altered glasses were prepared by dissolution of three glasses with varying level of alumina in acid for 7 days. A comprehensive set of experimental [elemental analysis, high-energy X-ray diffraction, 29 Si and 27 Al solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and O 1s X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)] and modeling (molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using non-reactive and reactive force fields) were used to study the atomic structures of these altered glasses. Elemental analysis showed that most of the B in the pristine glasses was leached into the solution and was not contained in the altered glass. The 29 Si and 27 Al solid-state NMR spectra revealed that the altered glasses have more polymerized silicate network as compared to those in the pristine glasses due to the reformation of linkages among Si and Al oxygen polyhedral in the altered glasses. The bridging and non-bridging (or hydroxyl O) atoms in the altered glasses were also quantified from their O 1s XPS spectra. Atomic structure models of the altered glasses were constructed by using MD simulations using the reactive force field based on the compositional information obtained from experiments. Various pore structures were generated using the charge-scaling (CS) method by using different initial densities and CS temperatures; the best CS parameters of each alternated glass were then determined by comparing with the experimental structure factors obtained from high energy X-ray diffraction. Pore and the atomic structures and vibrational properties around these pore surfaces were analyzed. Furthermore, these results from this comprehensive study thus provides a realistic insight into the pore morphology, atomic structure, and vibrational properties of altered glasses.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Relaxation Dynamics and Ion Conduction of Poly(Ethylene Carbonate/Ethylene Oxide) Copolymer-Based Electrolytes

Poly(ethylene carbonate/ethylene oxide) P(EC/EO) copolymer was synthesized from EC monomer as a new matrix component of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs), and the correlation between polymer dynamics and ionic conductivity in the P(EC/EO)-based SPEs at various lithium salt weight fractions (w Li ) was investigated by dielectric spectroscopy, rheology, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. With the addition of lithium salt, the molecular motions at various scales (i.e., from local to segmental and global motion scales) were found to change as follows: (i) the local motion of P(EC/EO) was slightly accelerated, and at w Li ≥ 0.22, it was separated into two relaxation modes, one faster and the other slower than that of P(EC/EO), (ii) the segmental motion of P(EC/EO) became significantly slower with the addition of lithium salt, and (iii) the global terminal relaxation became slightly slower with the increase of w Li . Thus, the motion of P(EC/EO) at various scales in SPEs changed with different trends with increasing lithium salt. It was also found that the temperature dependence of the ionic conductivity was described by a Vogel–Fulcher–Tammann-type function, which was correlated with the segmental motion, as is known in other SPE systems. Furthermore, from MD simulations, lithium ions are coordinated with the EC units more likely and with a closer distance than EO units in P(EC/EO), and the coordination number of oxygens around one lithium ion was estimated as 6–7 at the distance of 0.30 nm. Here, these results suggest that the coordination structure of the oxygens around the lithium ion is slightly disrupted due to the presence of EC units compared to the chelating structure of pure PEO electrolytes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Biochemical Conversion of Herbaceous Biomass to Renewable Diesel: Net Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollutant Trade-offs

This study examines greenhouse gas (GHG) and criteria air pollutant (CAP) emissions trade-offs for renewable diesel across 12 scenarios, involving different biochemical conversion designs, biorefinery scales, and feedstocks. A conventional design uses lignin for on-site heat and power, which exports excess power to the grid. An alternative design exports lignin pellets, offsetting other pellet production methods but requiring grid electricity to meet biorefinery power demands. Net emissions were quantified in Iowa and Georgia, selected considering feedstock availability, coproduct displacement, and regional power grids, assuming grid-exported power avoids coal or low-carbon electricity. Results for the conventional design remained consistent across the electricity displacement scenarios. When comparing lignin utilization strategies, pelletizing lignin reduces sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds (net emissions –0.66 mg MJ –1 , 25 mg MJ –1 , 25 mg MJ –1 , 7.8 mg MJ –1 , respectively). However, lignin pelletization increases net particulate matter (fine and coarse) and ammonia (net emissions of 4.7 mg MJ –1 , 13 mg MJ –1 , and 0.26 mg MJ –1 , respectively), alongside indirect GHG emissions due to grid electricity dependence. Additionally, processing 2000 tonnes corn stover daily minimizes emissions for both designs. Only lignin pelletization with renewable electricity and additional particulate matter and ammonia controls reduces all CAP and GHG emissions simultaneously.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Integrated global assessment of the natural forest carbon potential

Forests are a substantial terrestrial carbon sink, but anthropogenic changes in land use and climate have considerably reduced the scale of this system. Remote-sensing estimates to quantify carbon losses from global forests are characterized by considerable uncertainty and we lack a comprehensive ground-sourced evaluation to benchmark these estimates. Here we combine several ground-sourced and satellite-derived approaches to evaluate the scale of the global forest carbon potential outside agricultural and urban lands. Despite regional variation, the predictions demonstrated remarkable consistency at a global scale, with only a 12% difference between the ground-sourced and satellite-derived estimates. At present, global forest carbon storage is markedly under the natural potential, with a total deficit of 226 Gt (model range = 151–363 Gt) in areas with low human footprint. Most (61%, 139 Gt C) of this potential is in areas with existing forests, in which ecosystem protection can allow forests to recover to maturity. The remaining 39% (87 Gt C) of potential lies in regions in which forests have been removed or fragmented. Although forests cannot be a substitute for emissions reductions, our results support the idea that the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of diverse forests offer valuable contributions to meeting global climate and biodiversity targets.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Next-Generation Intensity-Duration-Frequency Curves for Diverse Land across the Continental United States

The current methods for designing hydrological infrastructure rely on precipitation-based intensity-duration-frequency curves. However, they cannot accurately predict flooding caused by snowmelt or rain-on-snow events, potentially leading to underdesigned infrastructure and property damage. To address these issues, next-generation intensity-duration-frequency (NG-IDF) curves have been developed for the open condition, characterizing water available for runoff from rainfall, snowmelt, and rain-on-snow. However, they lack consideration of land use land cover (LULC) factors, which can significantly affect runoff processes. We address this limitation by expanding open area NG-IDF dataset to include eight vegetated LULCs over the continental United States, including forest (deciduous, evergreen, mixed), shrub, grass, pasture, crop, and wetland. This NG-IDF 2.0 dataset offers a comprehensive analysis of hydrological extreme events and their associated drivers under different LULCs at a continental scale. It will serve as a useful resource for improving standard design practices and aiding in the assessment of infrastructure design risks. Additionally, it provides useful insights into how changes in LULC impact flooding magnitude, mechanisms, timing, and snow water supply.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Characterization of volcanic tuff pores pre- and post-underground nuclear detonation using ultra-small and small angle neutron scattering

The ability to accurately model the subsurface transport of radionuclides is fundamental to the remote detection and characterization of underground nuclear explosion (UNE) events. Developing more sophisticated transport models presents a significant opportunity to enhance monitoring capabilities, particularly in the reliable prediction of signature migration. Experimentally determined characterization of geologic materials associated with transport properties is the pertinent base information for such robust model development and calibration. Here, we report results from an unprecedented study demonstrating changes to the pore and fracture network structures in geological materials in response to UNEs over nanometer to micrometer length scales. Volcanic tuffs of five different lithological formations from pre- and post-UNE environments were collected from the Nevada National Security Site. Combined ultra-small and small-angle neutron scattering techniques were used to characterize the tuff pore structure. The results demonstrate measurable differences in the specific surface area and porosity of samples pre- and post-shot from texturally similar lithological formations, indicating that pore properties can serve as a direct physical signature of a UNE. The results also provide experimentally determined transport parameters in support of advanced model development through the integration of gas migration, hydrodynamic simulations, and geologic framework models.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Analysis of the impact of parallel magnetic fluctuations on linear gyrokinetic stability in NSTX-U and verification of gyro-fluid models

In this work, we use the CGYRO gyrokinetic code to analyze two L- and one H-mode discharges from the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) and NSTX-Upgrade (NSTX-U) selected due to their different mix of ion-scale driftwaves, ion temperature gradient (ITG) mode and trapped electron mode (TEM), and electromagnetic instabilities, kinetic ballooning mode (KBM), and micro-tearing mode (MTM) in the plasma core. It is found that the effect of parallel magnetic fluctuations is strongly destabilizing to the unstable KBMs compared to calculations with only perpendicular magnetic fluctuations. Two discharges have a mix of ITG/TEM and MTMs that are predicted to be dominant instability across the plasma radius. The parallel magnetic fluctuations are found to have little effect on the MTM stability but are destabilizing to ITG/TEM modes. To test the validity of the gyro-fluid linear stability codes TGLF and GFS at low aspect ratio, a database of linear growth rates has been created using the CGYRO gyrokinetic code. The database is comprised of various parameter scans around a standardized set of NSTX-U core parameters. It contains a group of electrostatic cases and an electromagnetic group that includes the effects of perpendicular and parallel magnetic fluctuations. Comparing the results from the GFS and TGLF models, we find that GFS exhibits the best agreement with the database of CGYRO linear growth rates. Comparing the model results for the electromagnetic scans shows that GFS captures the effects of parallel magnetic fluctuations accurately, while the TGLF model does not, as it lacks sufficient perpendicular energy resolution.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

An analysis of parameter compression and Full-Modeling techniques with Velocileptors for DESI 2024 and beyond

In anticipation of forthcoming data releases of current and future spectroscopic surveys, we present the validation tests and analysis of systematic effects within velocileptors modeling pipeline when fitting mock data from the AbacusSummit N-body simulations. We compare the constraints obtained from parameter compression methods to the direct fitting (Full-Modeling) approaches of modeling the galaxy power spectra, and show that the ShapeFit extension to the traditional template method is consistent with the Full-Modeling method within the standard ΛCDM parameter space. We show the dependence on scale cuts when fitting the different redshift bins using the ShapeFit and Full-Modeling methods. We test the ability to jointly fit data from multiple redshift bins as well as joint analysis of the pre-reconstruction power spectrum with the post-reconstruction BAO correlation function signal. We further demonstrate the behavior of the model when opening up the parameter space beyond ΛCDM and also when combining likelihoods with external datasets, namely the Planck CMB priors. Finally, we describe different parametrization options for the galaxy bias, counterterm, and stochastic parameters, and employ the halo model in order to physically motivate suitable priors that are necessary to ensure the stability of the perturbation theory.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Wavelet flow for extragalactic foreground simulations

Extragalactic foregrounds in cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations are both a source of cosmological and astrophysical information and a nuisance to the CMB. Effective field-level modeling that captures their non-Gaussian statistical distributions is increasingly important for optimal information extraction, particularly given the low-noise observations from current and upcoming experiments. Here, we explore the use of Wavelet Flow (WF) models to tackle the novel task of modeling the field-level probability distributions of multi-component CMB secondaries and foregrounds. Specifically, we jointly train correlated CMB lensing convergence (κ) and cosmic infrared background (CIB) maps with a WF model and obtain a network that statistically recovers the input to high accuracy — the trained network generates samples of κ and CIB fields whose average power spectra are within a few percent of the inputs across all scales, and whose Minkowski functionals are similarly accurate compared to the inputs. Leveraging the multiscale architecture of these models, we fine-tune both the model parameters and the priors at each scale independently, optimizing performance across different resolutions. These results demonstrate that WF models can accurately simulate correlated components of CMB secondaries, supporting improved analysis of cosmological data. Our code and trained models can be found on this GitHub repo.

cosmological simulations↗