Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “scalar fields”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Search for resonant pair production of Higgs bosons in the b b ¯ b b ¯ final state using p p collisions at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search for resonant Higgs boson pair production in the bb¯bb¯ final state is presented. The analysis uses 126 fb -1 -139 fb -1 of pp collision data at √s=13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis is divided into two channels, targeting Higgs boson decays which are reconstructed as pairs of small-radius jets or as individual large-radius jets. Spin-0 and spin-2 benchmark signal models are considered, both of which correspond to resonant HH production via gluon-gluon fusion. The data are consistent with Standard Model predictions. Upper limits are set on the production cross section times branching ratio to Higgs boson pairs of a new resonance in the mass range from 251 GeV to 5 TeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Detecting nanometer-scale new forces with coherent neutron scattering

Significant effort has been devoted to searching for new fundamental forces of nature. At short length scales (below approximately 10 nm), the strongest experimental constraints come from neutron scattering from individual nuclei in gases. The leading experiments at longer length scales instead measure forces between macroscopic test masses. We propose a hybrid of these two approaches: scattering neutrons off of a target that has spatial structure at nanoscopic length scales. Such structures will give a coherent enhancement to small-angle scattering, where the new force is most significant. This can considerably improve the sensitivity of neutron scattering experiments for new forces in the 0.1–100 nm range. We discuss the backgrounds due to Standard Model interactions and a variety of potential target structures that could be used, estimating the resulting sensitivities. We show that, using only one day of beam time at a modern neutron scattering facility, our proposal has the potential to detect new forces as much as 2 orders of magnitude beyond current laboratory constraints at the appropriate length scales.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1982

Crustal interpretation of the MAGSAT data in the continental United States

The processing of MAGSAT scalar data to construct a crustal magnetic anomaly map over the continental U.S. involves removal of the reference field model, a path-by-path subtraction of a low order polynomial through a least-squares fit to reduce orbital offset errors, and a two dimensional spectral filtering to mitigate the spectral bias induced by the path-by-path orbital correction scheme. The resultant anomaly map shows reasonably good correlations with an aeromagnetic map derived from the project MAGNET. Prominent satellite magnetic anomalies are identified in terms of geological provinces and age boundaries. An inversion method was applied to MAGSAT data which produces both the Curie depth topography and laterally varying magnetic susceptibility of the crust. A contoured Curie depth map thus derived shows general agreements with a crustal thickness map based on seismic data.

Won, I. J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Towards C P -violation studies on superheavy molecules: Theoretical and experimental perspectives

Molecules containing superheavy atoms can be artificially created to serve as sensitive probes to study symmetry-violating phenomena. Here, we provide detailed theoretical studies of quantities relevant to the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) and nucleus-electron scalar-pseudoscalar interactions in diatomic molecules containing superheavy lawrencium nuclei. The sensitivity to parity and time (or, equivalently, CP) reversal violating properties is studied for different neutral and ionic molecules. The effective electric fields in these systems are found to be about 3–4 times larger than other known molecules on which eEDM experiments are being performed. Similarly, these superheavy molecules exhibit an enhancement of more than 3 times for CP-violating scalar-pseudoscalar nucleus-electron interactions. Our preliminary analysis using the Woods-Saxon nuclear model also demonstrates that these results are sensitive to the diffuse surface interactions inside the Lr nucleus. We also briefly comment on some experimental aspects by discussing the production of these systems.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1981

Simulation of the magnetic structure of the inner heliosphere by means of non-spherical source surface

A new method for mapping the Sun's magnetic field B from the photosphere through the corona and interplanetary space is presented. The method entails the derivation of B from a scalar potential within a current-free annular volume bounded inside by photosphere and outside by a prescribed nonspherical source surface to which B is made (as nearly as possible) perpendicular. As usual we obtain the potential for the part of B that arises from currents inside the Sun by fitting an expansion to the observed line-of-sight component of B at the photosphere. A second least-squares fit is introduced to obtain the part of B that arises from currents outside the source surface. Comparisons are made between this model and observed coronal and interplanetary structures. There is evidence that observation data underestimate the strength of photospheric polar magnetic fields.

Levine, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Investigation of Strain/Vorticity and Large-Scale Flow Structure in Turbulent Nonpremixed Jet Flames

Our study will use the microgravity environment to investigate the underlying flow structure of turbulent nonpremixed round jet flames. In particular, we aim to investigate the large-scale turbulent structure using planar laser Mie scattering (PLMS), and the strain rate and vorticity fields using particle image velocimetry (PIV). This work is motivated by recent studies in our laboratory that have led to several interesting observations of nominally momentum-driven turbulent nonpremixed planar flames. First of all, the organized large-scale turbulent structures that are observed in nonreacting planar jets may be substantially modified or suppressed in nonpremixed planar jet flames. Furthermore, a recent study using PIV and planar laser-induced fluorescence of OH has shown that in transitional and turbulent nonpremixed planar jet flames the presence of the flame seems to greatly influence the underlying vorticity and strain fields, as compared to nonreacting jets. For example, the reaction zones in the jet flames are strongly correlated with regions of high vorticity. A related study has demonstrated that vorticity is not correlated in the same way with either iso-scalar surfaces or scalar dissipation layers in nonreacting planar jets. Furthermore, the relationship between strain and the reaction zone appears to be modified by the presence of high levels of heat release. In particular, the strain rate field in planar jet flames exhibits a preferred direction of principal compressive strain that apparently is related to strong shear across the reaction zone. This preferred direction of strain was not observed in nonreacting jets. One of the major problems encountered when conducting these types of studies is that it is difficult to know to what extent buoyancy influences the results. Therefore, the microgravity environment provides us with an excellent opportunity to explore these issues without the complicating effects of buoyancy. This is particularly the case when studying flames that are transitional between laminar and turbulent states. For example, the strong correlation of vorticity with the reaction zone (discussed above) was observed in both transitional and turbulent planar flames, but the effect was stronger for the transitional case. To date, the reason for the presence of the vorticity-reaction zone correlation is not known, although vorticity production via baroclinic torque is a likely cause. The microgravity environment will allow us to specifically determine whether the vorticity is produced by baroclinic torque resulting from the flame density gradient acting with the hydrostatic pressure gradient.AAdditional details of the planned experiments are provided.

Clemens, N. T.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Search for charged-lepton flavor violation in top quark production and decay in pp collisions at $ \sqrt{s} $ = 13 TeV

Results are presented from a search for charged-lepton flavor violating (CLFV) interactions in top quark production and decay in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The events are required to contain one oppositely charged electron-muon pair in the final state, along with at least one jet identified as originating from a bottom quark. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. This analysis includes both the production (q → eμt) and decay (t → eμq) modes of the top quark through CLFV interactions, with q referring to a u or c quark. These interactions are parametrized using an effective field theory approach. With no significant excess over the standard model expectation, the results are interpreted in terms of vector-, scalar-, and tensor-like CLFV four-fermion effective interactions. Finally, observed exclusion limits are set at 95% confidence levels on the respective branching fractions of a top quark to an eμ pair and an up (charm) quark of 0.13 × 10$^{-6}$ (1.31 × 10$^{-6}$), 0.07 × 10$^{-6}$ (0.89 × 10$^{-6}$), and 0.25 × 10$^{-6}$ (2.59 × 10$^{-6}$) for vector, scalar, and tensor CLFV interactions, respectively.[graphic not available: see fulltext]

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Estimating scalar turbulent fluxes with slow-response sensors in the stable atmospheric boundary layer

Conventional and recently developed approaches for estimating turbulent scalar fluxes under stable atmospheric conditions are evaluated, with a focus on gases for which fast sensors are not readily available. First, the relaxed eddy accumulation (REA) classical approach and a recently proposed mixing length parameterization, labeled A22, are tested against eddy-covariance computations. Using high-frequency measurements collected from two contrasting sites (the frozen tundra near Utqiaġvik, Alaska, and a sparsely vegetated grassland in Wendell, Idaho, during winter), it is shown that the REA and A22 models outperform the conventional Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) utilized widely to infer fluxes from mean gradients. Second, scenarios where slow trace gas sensors are the only viable option in field measurements are investigated using digital filtering applied to fast-response sensors to simulate their slow-response counterparts. With a filtered scalar signal, the observed filtered eddy-covariance fluxes are referred to here as large-eddy-covariance (LEC) fluxes. A virtual eddy accumulation (VEA) approach, akin to the REA model but not requiring a mechanical apparatus to separate the gas flows, is also formulated and tested. A22 outperforms VEA and LEC in predicting the observed unfiltered (total) eddy-covariance (EC) fluxes; however, VEA can still capture the LEC fluxes well. This finding motivates the introduction of a sensor response time correction into the VEA formulation to offset the effect of sensor filtering on the underestimated net averaged fluxes. The only needed parameter for this correction is the mean velocity at the instrument height, a surrogate of the advective timescale. The VEA approach is very suitable and simple to use with gas sensors of intermediate speed (∼ 0.5 to 1 Hz) and with conventional open- or closed-path setups.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Scalar dark matter vortex stabilization with black holes

Galaxies and their dark-matter halos are commonly presupposed to spin. But it is an open question how this spin manifests in halos and soliton cores made of scalar dark matter (SDM, including fuzzy/wave/ultralight-axion dark matter). One way spin could manifest in a necessarily irrotational SDM velocity field is with a vortex. But recent results have cast doubt on this scenario, finding that vortices are generally unstable except with substantial repulsive self-interaction. Here, in this paper, we introduce an alternative route to stability: in both (non-relativistic) analytic calculations and simulations, a black hole or other central mass at least as massive as a soliton can stabilize a vortex within it. This conclusion may also apply to AU-scale halos bound to the sun and stellar-mass-scale Bose stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1991

Non scale-invariant density perturbations from chaotic extended inflation

Chaotic inflation is analyzed in the frame of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Fluctuations in the energy density arise from quantum fluctuations of the Brans-Dicke field and of the inflation field. The spectrum of perturbations is studied for a class of models: it is non scale-invarient and, for certain values of the parameters, it has a peak. If the peak appears at astrophysically interesting scales, it may help to reconcile the Cold Dark Matter scenario for structure formation with large scale observations.

Mollerach, Silvia↗
NASA NTRS1991

Automated pattern eduction from turbulent flow diagnostics

The development of an automated technique for the eduction of 3-D spatial patterns in vector or scalar diagnostics was completed. The method is based on an iterative convolution between a trial pattern and the data field. It was applied to the analysis of low Reynolds number turbulent channel flow and homogeneous shear flow. The results yielded new information on the dominant flow structures in these flows, particularly with respect to the spatial relationships between various forms of organized motion. A particular application of the pattern eduction method, which is tentatively referred to as an 'adaptive wavelet transformation', is proposed with the objective of investigating the way turbulence structure changes with scale. Preliminary results using data from homogeneous turbulent shear flow simulations are presented. At the low Reynolds numbers of the simulations, there is no evidence of scale similarity. The small scales appear to be associated with the edges of the larger scale vortical structures.

Stretch, Derek D.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Flow Field Measurement of Mixing Driven by Buoyancy

Mixing driven by buoyancy-induced flows inside a cavity consists of stretching and folding of an interface. Measurement of the flow field using particle imaging velocimetry shows that during stretching the flow field has a single elliptic point, thus dominated by a single vortex. However, global bifurcation that results in folding introduces a hyperbolic point whereby the flow field degenerates to multiple vortex interactions. The short-lived coherent structure observed during mixing which results in the Rayleigh- Taylor morphology is attributed to vortex interactions. The mixing characteristics of non-homogeneous fluids driven by buoyancy are important towards understanding transport phenomenon in a microgravity environment. Mixing consists of stretching and folding of an interface due to a flow field whose intensity depends on the body force. For miscible liquids, the characteristic of the flow field determines whether mass transport is governed by diffusion or bulk stirring which induces mixing. For technologically important processes, transport of mass is governed by the coupling of the body force to scalar gradients such as concentration and or temperature' 2 3 . In order to lend insight into these classes of problems we consider a model experimental system to study mixing driven by buoyancy-induced flows. The characteristics of mixing is addressed from detail measurements of the flow field using particle imaging velocimetry (PIV), and its corresponding interface dynamics using image processing techniques.

Batur, C.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Systematizing the effective theory of self-interacting dark matter

If dark matter has strong self-interactions, future astrophysical and cosmological observations, together with a clearer understanding of baryonic feedback effects, might be used to extract the velocity dependence of the dark matter scattering rate. To interpret such data, we should understand what predictions for this quantity are made by various models of the underlying particle nature of dark matter. In this paper, we systematically compute this function for fermionic dark matter with light bosonic mediators of vector, scalar, axial vector, and pseudoscalar type. We do this by matching to the nonrelativistic effective theory of self-interacting dark matter and then computing the spin-averaged viscosity cross section nonperturbatively by solving the Schrödinger equation, thus accounting for any possible Sommerfeld enhancement of the low-velocity cross section. In the pseudoscalar case, this requires a coupled-channel analysis of different angular momentum modes. We find, contrary to some earlier analyses, that nonrelativistic effects only provide a significant enhancement for the cases of light scalar and vector mediators. Scattering from light pseudoscalar and axial vector mediators is well described by tree-level quantum field theory.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

An E and B gyrokinetic simulation model for kinetic Alfvén waves in tokamak plasmas

The gyrokinetic particle simulation is a powerful tool for studies of transport, nonlinear phenomenon, and energetic particle physics in tokamak plasmas. While most gyrokinetic simulations make use of the scalar and vector potentials, a new model (GK-E&B) has been developed by using the E and B field in a general form and has been implemented in simulating kinetic Alfvén waves in uniform plasma. In our work, the Chen et al. GK-E&B model has been expressed, in general, tokamak geometry using the local orthogonal coordinates and general tokamak coordinates. Its reduction for uniform plasma is verified, and the numerical results show good agreement with the original work. The theoretical dispersion relation and numerical results in the local model in screw pinch geometry are also in excellent agreement. Numerical results show excellent performance in a realistic parameter regime of burning plasmas with high values of β/(M e k$^{2}_{⊥}$ρ$^{2}_{i}$), which is a challenge for traditional methods due to the “cancellation” problem. As one application, the GK-E&B model is implemented with kinetic electrons in the local single flux surface limit. With the matched International Tokamak Physics Activity-Toroidicity-induced Alfvén Eigenmodes parameters adopted, numerical results show the capability of the GK-E&B in treating the parallel electron Landau damping for realistic tokamak plasma parameters. As another application, the global GK-E&B model has been implemented with the dominant electron contribution in the cold electron limit. Its capability in simulating the finite E || due to the finite electron mass is demonstrated.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1982

The reduction, verification and interpretation of MAGSAT magnetic data over Canada

Correlations between the MAGSAT scalar anomaly map produced at the Earth Physics ranch and other geophysical and geological data reveal relationships between high magnetic field and some metamorphic grade shields, as well as between low magnetic field and shield regions of lower metamorphic grade. An intriguing contrast exists between the broad low anomaly field over the Nasen-Gakkel Ridge (a spreading plate margin) and the high anomaly field over Iceland (part of a spreading margin). Both regions have high heat flow, and presumably thin magnetic crust. This indicates that Iceland is quite anomalous in its magnetic character, and possible similarities with the Alpha Ridge are suggested. Interesting correlations exist between MAGSAT anomalies around the North Atlantic, after reconstructing the fit of continents into a prerifting configuration. These correlations suggest that several orogenies in that region have not completely destroyed an ancient magnetization formed in high grade Precambrian rocks.

Coles, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Four-dimensional symmetry from a broad viewpoint. II Invariant distribution of quantized field oscillators and questions on infinities

The foundation of the quantum field theory is changed by introducing a new universal probability principle into field operators: one single inherent and invariant probability distribution P(/k/) is postulated for boson and fermion field oscillators. This can be accomplished only when one treats the four-dimensional symmetry from a broad viewpoint. Special relativity is too restrictive to allow such a universal probability principle. A radical length, R, appears in physics through the probability distribution P(/k/). The force between two point particles vanishes when their relative distance tends to zero. This appears to be a general property for all forces and resembles the property of asymptotic freedom. The usual infinities in vacuum fluctuations and in local interactions, however complicated they may be, are all removed from quantum field theories. In appendix A a simple finite and unitary theory of unified electroweak interactions is discussed without assuming Higgs scalar bosons.

Hsu, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Propagation characteristics of optical fiber structures with arbitrary shape and index variation

The application of the scalar wave-fast Fourier transform (SW-FFT) technique to the computation of the propagation characteristics of some complex optical fiber structures is presented. The SW-FFT technique is based on the numerical solution of the scalar wave equation by a forward-marching fast Fourier transform method. This solution yields the spatial configuration of the fields as well as its modal characteristics in and around the guiding structure. The following are treated by the SW-FFT method: analysis of coupled optical fibers and computation of their odd and even modes and coupling length; the solution of tapered optical waveguides (transitions) and the study of the effect of the slope of the taper on mode conversion; and the analysis of branching optical fibers and demonstration of their mode-filtering and/or power-dividing properties.

Manshadi, F.↗