Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Systematic error”

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 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Ancient Rapid Radiation Explains Most Conflicts Among Gene Trees and Well-Supported Phylogenomic Trees of Nostocalean Cyanobacteria

Prokaryotic genomes are often considered to be mosaics of genes that do not necessarily share the same evolutionary history due to widespread horizontal gene transfers (HGTs). Consequently, representing evolutionary relationships of prokaryotes as bifurcating trees has long been controversial. However, studies reporting conflicts among gene trees derived from phylogenomic data sets have shown that these conflicts can be the result of artifacts or evolutionary processes other than HGT, such as incomplete lineage sorting, low phylogenetic signal, and systematic errors due to substitution model misspecification. Here, we present the results of an extensive exploration of phylogenetic conflicts in the cyanobacterial order Nostocales, for which previous studies have inferred strongly supported conflicting relationships when using different concatenated phylogenomic data sets. We found that most of these conflicts are concentrated in deep clusters of short internodes of the Nostocales phylogeny, where the great majority of individual genes have low resolving power. We then inferred phylogenetic networks to detect HGT events while also accounting for incomplete lineage sorting. Our results indicate that most conflicts among gene trees are likely due to incomplete lineage sorting linked to an ancient rapid radiation, rather than to HGTs. Moreover, the short internodes of this radiation fit the expectations of the anomaly zone, i.e., a region of the tree parameter space where a species tree is discordant with its most likely gene tree. In this work, we demonstrated that concatenation of different sets of loci can recover up to 17 distinct and well-supported relationships within the putative anomaly zone of Nostocales, corresponding to the observed conflicts among well-supported trees based on concatenated data sets from previous studies. Our findings highlight the important role of rapid radiations as a potential cause of strongly conflicting phylogenetic relationships when using phylogenomic data sets of bacteria. We propose that polytomies may be the most appropriate phylogenetic representation of these rapid radiations that are part of anomaly zones, especially when all possible genomic markers have been considered to infer these phylogenies.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2026

Optimizing injection for the storage ring proton-EDM experiment

The proposed proton electric dipole moment (pEDM) experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), to be built inside the alternating gradient synchrotron (AGS) tunnel, aims to measure the proton’s electric dipole moment with a sensitivity of 10 −29 𝑒 cm. This paper presents the design of the injection line from the AGS booster to the pEDM storage ring, utilizing portions of the existing booster-to-AGS (BtA) transfer line. Building on the symmetric-hybrid lattice design [, Comprehensive symmetric-hybrid ring design for a proton-EDM experiment at below 10 −29 𝑒 cm, Phys. Rev. D 105, 032001 (2022)], our study emphasizes rigorous optics matching, detailed particle and spin tracking, and systematic error mitigation essential for achieving a target sensitivity of 10 −29 𝑒 cm. This design preserves the proton’s vertical spin orientation within ±20 mrad, a critical requirement for the pEDM measurement. Particle and spin tracking simulations using the ray-tracing code Zgoubi [F. Méot, Zgoubi users’ guide, Technical Report, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), Upton, NY, 2012] validate the design’s performance, demonstrating its feasibility for this precision experiment. The simulation results demonstrate that both clockwise (CW) and counterclockwise (CCW) injection lines meet the stringent beam envelope and polarization requirements.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Z α 2 correction to superallowed beta decays in effective field theory and implications for | V u d |

Superallowed ( 0 + → 0 + ) beta decays currently provide the most precise extraction of quark mixing in the Standard Model. Their interpretation as a measurement of | V u d | relies on a reliable first-principles computation of QED radiative corrections expressed as a series in Z α and α . In this work, we provide the first model-independent result for two-loop, O ( Z α 2 ) , long-distance radiative corrections where the nuclei are treated as heavy pointlike particles. We use renormalization group analysis to obtain new results at O ( Z α 3 ) for the coefficient of double logarithms in the ratio of the maximal beta energy to the inverse nuclear size, E m / R - 1 . We use the Kinoshita-Lee-Nauenberg theorem to obtain new results at O ( Z 2 α 3 ) for the coefficient of logarithms in the ratio of maximal beta energy to the electron mass, log ( 2 E m / m ) . We identify a structure-dependent, and, therefore, short-distance, contribution to the traditional Z α 2 correction that should be revisited. We provide the first comprehensive update to the long-distance corrections in almost 40 years and comment on the impact of our findings for extractions of | V u d | . We find that shifts in the long-distance corrections are 2.5 × larger than past estimates of their uncertainty, 1.5 × larger than the statistical uncertainty from the combined fit of superallowed decays, and about 1 / 2 the size of estimated systematic error, which stems dominantly from nuclear structure effects.

Cao, Zehua [Kentucky U.] (ORCID:0009000354256423)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Minimally entangled state preparation of localized wave functions on quantum computers

Initializing a single site of a lattice scalar field theory into an arbitrary state with support throughout the quantum register requires $O(2^{nQ})$ entangling gates on a quantum computer with $n_Q$ qubits per site. It is conceivable that instead initializing to functions that are good approximations to states may have utility in reducing the number of required entangling gates. In the case of a single site of a noninteracting scalar field theory, initializing to a symmetric exponential wave function requires $n_Q – 1$ entangling gates, the minimal number necessary to create an entangled state of all $n_Q$ qubits. This is compared with the $2^{nQ – 1} + n_Q – 3 + δ_{nQ, 1}$ required for a symmetric Gaussian wave function. In this work, we explore the initialization of one-site $(n_Q = 4)$, two-site $(n_Q = 3)$, and three-site ( n Q = 3 ) noninteracting scalar field theories with symmetric exponential wave functions using IBM's quantum simulators and quantum devices (Poughkeepsie and Tokyo). With the digitizations attainable with $n_Q = 3,4$, these tensor-product wave functions are found to have large overlap with a Gaussian wave function and provide a suitable low-noise initialization for improvement and Somma inflation. Further, in performing these simulations, we have employed a workflow that interleaves calibrations to mitigate systematic errors in production. The calibrations allow tolerance cuts on gate performance including the fidelity of the symmetrizing Hadamard gate, both in vacuum $(|\textbf{0}\gg^{\bigotimes nQ})$ and in medium ($n_Q –1$ qubits initialized to an exponential function). The results obtained in this work are relevant to systems beyond scalar field theories, such as the deuteron radial wave function, two- and three-dimensional Cartesian-space wave functions, and nonrelativistic multinucleon systems built on a localized eigenbasis.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

High-fidelity imaging of a band insulator in a three-dimensional optical lattice clock

Here, we report on the observation of a high-density, band insulating state in a three-dimensional optical lattice clock. Filled with a nuclear-spin-polarized degenerate Fermi gas of 87 Sr, the three-dimensional (3D) lattice has one atom per site in the ground motional state, thus guarding against frequency shifts due to contact interactions. At this high density where the average distance between atoms is comparable to the probe wavelength, conventional imaging techniques at saturation intensity suffer from large systematic errors. To spatially probe frequency shifts in the clock and measure thermodynamic properties of this system, accurate imaging techniques at high optical depths are required. Using a combination of highly saturated fluorescence and absorption imaging, we confirm the density distribution in our 3D optical lattice in agreement with a single spin band insulating state. Combining our clock platform with this high filling fraction opens the door to studying new classes of long-lived, many-body states arising from dipolar interactions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Developing Diagnostic Tools for Low-Burnup Reactor Samples

We test common neutron fluence diagnostics in the very-low-burnup regime for natural uranium reactor samples. The fluence diagnostics considered are the uranium isotopics ratios 235 U / 238 U and 236 U/ 235 U, for which we find that simple analytic formulas agree well with full reactor simulation predictions. Both ratios agree reasonably well with one another for fluences in the (mid -10 19 ) - n/cm 2 range. However, below about 10 19 n/cm 2 , the concentrations of 236 U are found to be sufficiently low that the measured 236 U/ 235 U ratios become unreliable. We also derive and test diagnostics to determine the cooling times in situations where very low burnup and very long cooling times render many standard diagnostics impractical, such as the 241 Am / 241 Pu ratio. Here, we find that using several fragment ratios is necessary to detect the presence of systematic errors such as fractionation.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Lefschetz thimble quantum Monte Carlo for spin systems

Monte Carlo simulations are useful tools for modeling quantum systems, but in some cases they suffer from a sign problem, leading to an exponential slow down in their convergence to a value. While solving the sign problem is generically NP hard, many techniques exist for mitigating the sign problem in specific cases; in particular, the technique of deforming the Monte Carlo simulation's plane of integration onto Lefschetz thimbles (complex hypersurfaces of stationary phase) has seen significant success in the context of quantum field theories. We extend this methodology to spin systems by utilizing spin coherent state path integrals to reexpress the spin system's partition function in terms of continuous variables. Using some toy systems, we demonstrate its effectiveness at lessening the sign problem in this setting, despite the fact that the initial mapping to spin coherent states introduces its own sign problem. The standard formulation of the spin coherent path integral is known to make use of uncontrolled approximations; despite this, for large spins they are typically considered to yield accurate results, so it is somewhat surprising that our results show significant systematic errors. Furthermore, possibly of independent interest, our use of Lefschetz thimbles to overcome the intrinsic sign problem in spin coherent state path integral Monte Carlo enables a novel numerical demonstration of a breakdown in the spin coherent path integral.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Currents and Green's functions of impurities out of equilibrium: Results from inchworm quantum Monte Carlo

Here, we generalize the recently developed inchworm quantum Monte Carlo method to the full Keldysh contour with forward, backward, and equilibrium branches to describe the dynamics of strongly correlated impurity problems with time-dependent parameters. We introduce a method to compute Green's functions, spectral functions, and currents for inchworm Monte Carlo and show how systematic error assessments in real time can be obtained. We then illustrate the capabilities of the algorithm with a study of the behavior of quantum impurities after an instantaneous voltage quench from a thermal equilibrium state.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Improved limits on Fierz interference using asymmetry measurements from the Ultracold Neutron Asymmetry (UCNA) experiment

The Ultracold Neutron Asymmetry (UCNA) experiment was designed to measure the β-decay asymmetry parameter, A 0 , for free neutron decay. In the experiment, polarized ultracold neutrons are transported into a decay trap, and their β-decay electrons are detected with ≈4π acceptance into two detector packages which provide position and energy reconstruction. The experiment also has sensitivity to b n , the Fierz interference term in the neutron β-decay rate. In this work, we determine bn from the energy dependence of A 0 using the data taken during the UCNA 2011–2013 run. In addition, we present the same type of analysis using the earlier 2010 A dataset. Furthermore, motivated by improved statistics and comparable systematic errors compared to the 2010 data-taking run, we present a new b n measurement using the weighted average of our asymmetry dataset fits, to obtain b n = 0.066 ± 0.041 stat ± 0.024 syst which corresponds to a limit of -0.012 < b n < 0.144 at the 90% confidence level.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Improved determination of the 𝛽−‾‾𝜈𝑒 angular correlation coefficient 𝑎 in free neutron decay with the 𝑎⁢SPECT spectrometer

We report on a precise measurement of the electron-antineutrino angular correlation (𝑎 coefficient) in free neutron beta decay from the 𝑎⁢SPECT experiment. The 𝑎 coefficient is inferred from the recoil energy spectrum of the protons which are detected in 4⁢𝜋 by the 𝑎⁢SPECT spectrometer using magnetic adiabatic collimation with an electrostatic filter. Data are presented from a 100-day run at the Institut Laue Langevin in 2013. The sources of systematic errors are considered and included in the final result. We obtain 𝑎=−0.10430⁢(84) which is the most precise measurement of the neutron 𝑎 coefficient to date. From this, the ratio of axial vector to vector coupling constants is derived giving |𝜆|=1.2677⁢(28).

Beck, Marcus↗
DOE OSTI2024

Pseudo-neutrino versus recoil formalism for 4-body phase space and applications to nuclear decay

It is well known that the traditional treatment of radiative corrections that utilizes the “true” neutrino momentum$\overrightarrow{p}_v$ in the differential decay rate formula could lead to a ~α/π systematic error in certain observables due to the mistreatment of 4-body kinematics. Here, I investigate the theory structure of one of the proposed solutions, the “v'-formalism”, in the nonrecoil limit appropriate for neutron and nuclear β decays. I derive an elegant master formula for the 4-body phase space and use it to reanalyze the spectrum-dependent “outer” radiative corrections to the β decay of a polarized spin-half nucleus; a complete set of analytic expressions is provided for readers to straightforwardly obtain the final numerical results. Furthermore, I compare it to the “recoil formalism” where the energy of the recoil nucleus is fixed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Correlations of π N partial waves for multireaction analyses

In the search for missing baryonic resonances, many analyses include data from a variety of pion- and photon-induced reactions. For elastic πN scattering, however, usually the partial waves of the SAID (Scattering Analysis Interactive Database) or other groups are fitted, instead of data. We provide the partial-wave covariance matrices needed to perform correlated χ 2 fits, in which the obtained χ 2 equals the actual χ 2 up to nonlinear and normalization corrections. For any analysis relying on partial waves extracted from elastic pion scattering, this is a prerequisite to assess the significance of resonance signals and to assign any uncertainty on results. Lastly, the influence of systematic errors is also considered.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Precision mass measurements of magnesium isotopes and implications for the validity of the isobaric mass multiplet equation

If the mass excess of neutron-deficient nuclei and their neutron-rich mirror partners are both known, it can be shown that deviations of the isobaric mass multiplet equation (IMME) in the form of a cubic term can be probed. Such a cubic term was probed by using the atomic mass of neutron-rich magnesium isotopes measured using the TITAN Penning trap and the recently measured proton-separation energies of 29 Cl and 30 Ar. The atomic mass of 27 Mg was found to be within 1.6σ of the value stated in the Atomic Mass Evaluation. The atomic masses of 28,29 Mg were measured to be both within 1σ, while being 7 and 33 times more precise, respectively. Using the 29 Mg mass excess and previous measurements of 29 Cl, we uncovered a cubic coefficient of d = 28(7)keV, which is the largest known cubic coefficient of the IMME. This departure, however, could also be caused by experimental data with unknown systematic errors. Hence there is a need to confirm the mass excess of 28 S and the one-neutron separation energy of 29 Cl, which have both come from a single measurement. Lastly, our results were compared with ab initio calculations from the valence-space in-medium similarity renormalization group, resulting in a good agreement.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

α -decay energies of superheavy nuclei: Systematic trends

Background: New superheavy nuclei are often identified through their characteristic α -decay energies, which requires accurate calculations of Q α values. While many Q α predictions are available, little is known about their uncertainties, and this makes it difficult to carry out extrapolations to as-yet-unknown systems. Purpose: This work aims to analyze several models, compare their predictions to available experimental data, and study their performance for the unobserved α-decay chains of 296 120 and 298 120, which are of current experimental interest. Our quantified results will also serve as a benchmark for future, more sophisticated statistical studies. Methods: We use nuclear superfluid density functional theory (DFT) with several Skyrme energy density functionals (EDFs). To estimate systematic model uncertainties, we employ uniform model averaging. Results: We investigated the Q α values for even-even nuclei from Fm to Z = 120 . For well-deformed nuclei between Fm and Ds, we find excellent consistency between different model predictions, and a good agreement with experimental results. For transitional nuclei beyond Ds, intermodel differences grow, resulting in an appreciable systematic error. In particular, our models underestimate Q α for the heaviest nucleus 294 Og. Conclusions The robustness of DFT predictions for well-deformed superheavy nuclei supports the idea of using experimental Q α values, together with theoretical predictions, as reasonable ( Z, A ) indicators. Unfortunately, this identification method is not projected to work well in the region of deformed-to-spherical shape transition as one approaches N = 184 . The use of Q α values in the identification of new superheavy nuclei will benefit greatly from progress in developing both new spectroscopic-quality EDFs and more sophisticated statistical techniques of uncertainty quantification.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Prompt fission product yields in the U 238 ( n , f ) reaction

Background: Significant yield discrepancies (500-600%) were reported recently between experi- mental results and predictions (from the GEF model) and evaluations (from the JEFF-3.1.1 and ENDF/B-VII.1 libraries) for Mo and Sn fission-fragment yields in fast-neutron induced reactions on 238 U using γ-γ-γ coincidence spectroscopy. The model/evaluations also predict Mo and Sn fragments that are on average ~1 to 2 neutrons richer than the experimental results. Purpose: γ-γ-γ coincidence spectroscopy favors detection of higher-multiplicity γ-ray cascades. An alternative approach is determining the fragment yields using single-γ-ray spectroscopy, as it was attempted here for selected cases where it was feasible. Advantages/drawbacks in both approaches need to be understood and potential systematic errors in the experimental results should be addressed using theoretical models. Methods: Fast neutrons from the LANSCE WNR facility were used to induce fission on 238 U. The emitted γ rays were measured with the GEANIE spectrometer. Results: The yield of selected even-even fission fragments was determined. The selection was based on the ability to reliably determine excitation functions for the detected γ rays. Conclusions: Our single-γ-ray results provide better agreement between experiment and predictions/evaluations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Machine-learning prediction for quasiparton distribution function matrix elements

There have been rapid developments in the direct calculation in lattice QCD (LQCD) of the Bjorken-x dependence of hadron structure through large-momentum effective theory (LaMET). LaMET overcomes the previous limitation of LQCD to moments (that is, integrals over Bjorken x) of hadron structure, allowing LQCD to directly provide the kinematic regions where the experimental values are least known. LaMET requires large-momentum hadron states to minimize its systematics and allow us to reach small- x reliably. This means that very fine lattice spacing to minimize lattice artifacts at order $(P_za)^n$ will become crucial for next-generation LaMET-like structure calculations. Furthermore, such calculations require operators with long Wilson-link displacements, especially in finer lattice units, increasing the communication costs relative to that of the propagator inversion. In this work, we explore whether machine-learning algorithms can make predictions of correlators to reduce the computational cost of these LQCD calculations. We consider two algorithms, gradient-boosting decision tree and linear models, applied to LaMET data, the matrix elements needed to determine the kaon and $η_s$ unpolarized parton distribution functions (PDFs), meson distribution amplitude (DA), and the nucleon gluon PDF. We find that both algorithms can reliably predict the target observables with different prediction accuracy and systematic errors. The predictions from smaller displacement z to larger ones work better than those for momentum p due to the higher correlation among the data.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cosmological constraints from cluster abundances and weak lensing

In this work we perform a joint analysis of the counts and weak lensing signal of redMaPPer clusters selected from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 dataset. Our analysis uses the same shear and source photometric redshifts estimates as were used in the DES combined probes analysis. Our analysis results in surprisingly low values for $S_8 =\sigma_8(\Omega_{\rm m}/0.3)^{0.5}= 0.65\pm 0.04$, driven by a low matter density parameter, $\Omega_{\rm m}=0.179^{+0.031}_{-0.038}$, with $\sigma_8-\Omega_{\rm m}$ posteriors in $2.4\sigma$ tension with the DES Y1 3x2pt results, and in $5.6\sigma$ with the Planck CMB analysis. These results include the impact of post-unblinding changes to the analysis, which did not improve the level of consistency with other data sets compared to the results obtained at the unblinding. The fact that multiple cosmological probes (supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, cosmic shear, galaxy clustering and CMB anisotropies), and other galaxy cluster analyses all favor significantly higher matter densities suggests the presence of systematic errors in the data or an incomplete modeling of the relevant physics. Cross checks with X-ray and microwave data, as well as independent constraints on the observable--mass relation from SZ selected clusters, suggest that the discrepancy resides in our modeling of the weak lensing signal rather than the cluster abundance. Repeating our analysis using a higher richness threshold ($\lambda \ge 30$) significantly reduces the tension with other probes, and points to one or more richness-dependent effects not captured by our model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nucleon mass with highly improved staggered quarks

We present the first computation in a program of lattice-QCD baryon physics using staggered fermions for sea and valence quarks. For this initial study, we present a calculation of the nucleon mass, obtaining 964 ±16 MeV with all sources of statistical and systematic errors controlled and accounted for. This result is the most precise determination to date of the nucleon mass from first principles. We use the highly improved staggered quark action, which is computationally efficient. Three gluon ensembles are employed, which have approximate lattice spacings 𝑎 ≈ 0.09, 0.12, and 0.15 fm, each with equal-mass 𝑢/𝑑, 𝑠, and 𝑐 quarks in the sea. Further, all ensembles have the light valence and sea 𝑢/𝑑 quarks tuned to reproduce the physical pion mass, avoiding complications from chiral extrapolations. Our work opens a new avenue for precise calculations of baryon properties, which are both feasible and relevant to experiments in particle and nuclear physics.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗