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Explicit environmental and vibronic effects in simulations of linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopy

Accurately simulating the linear and nonlinear electronic spectra of condensed phase systems and accounting for all physical phenomena contributing to spectral line shapes presents a significant challenge. Vibronic transitions can be captured through a harmonic model generated from the normal modes of a chromophore, but it is challenging to also include the effects of specific chromophore–environment interactions within such a model. We work to overcome this limitation by combining approaches to account for both explicit environment interactions and vibronic couplings for simulating both linear and nonlinear optical spectra. We present and show results for three approaches of varying computational cost for combining ensemble sampling of chromophore–environment configurations with Franck–Condon line shapes for simulating linear spectra. We present two analogous approaches for nonlinear spectra. Simulated absorption spectra and two-dimensional electronic spectra (2DES) are presented for the Nile red chromophore in different solvent environments. Furthermore, employing an average Franck–Condon or 2DES line shape appears to be a promising method for simulating linear and nonlinear spectroscopy for a chromophore in the condensed phase.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Observation and diagnostic application of Kr K-shell emission in magnetized liner inertial fusion experiments at Z

In a series of Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) experiments performed at the Z pulsed power accelerator of Sandia National Laboratories, beryllium liners filled with deuterium gas pressures in the 4–8 atm range and a tracer amount of krypton were imploded. At the collapse of the cylindrical implosion, temperatures in the 1–3 keV range and atom number densities of ∼1023 cm−3 were expected. The plasma was magnetized with a 10 T axial magnetic field. Krypton was added to the fuel for diagnosing implosion plasma conditions. Krypton K-shell line emission was recorded with the CRITR time-integrated transmission crystal x-ray spectrometer. The observation shows n = 2 to n = 1 line emissions in B-, Be-, Li-, and He-like Kr ions and is characteristic of the highest electron temperatures achieved in the thermonuclear plasma. Detailed modeling of the krypton atomic kinetics and radiation physics permits us to interpret the composite spectral feature, and it demonstrates that the spectrum is temperature sensitive. We discuss temperatures extracted from the krypton data analysis for experiments performed with several filling pressures.

Clapp, J. T. (ORCID:0000000219928146)↗

Effect of Soil Properties and Input Motion on Site Amplification Using Validated Nonlinear Soil Model

Here, three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear site response analyses are conducted using finite element models of actual soil profiles from ten nuclear power plant (NPP) sites in the United States to investigate the effects of soil properties and input motions on site amplification. The modeling approach developed in this study combines several novel elements, such as 3-D analysis (including vertical motions), nonlinear inelastic behavior of soil (strain-dependent shear modulus reduction and hysteretic damping), formulation of nonreflecting boundary conditions at the base, and generation of realistic outcrop ground motions for specific sites. All these elements of the modeling approach are first validated using actual data from five earthquakes at three downhole array stations recorded in the Kiban-Kyoshin network (KiK-net), Japan. The same approach is then used to develop site models of ten NPP sites in the United States and corresponding ground motions that are spectrally matched to the site hazard spectra. Eight sets of three-component input motions are used in the study and are categorized on the basis of presence or absence of a near-field pulse in the seed ground motions used for spectral matching. It is found that all sites retain a definite site amplification function regardless of the input motion, provided that the seed motion is spectrally matched to the site hazard spectra. The magnitude of site amplification and frequencies at which they occur depend upon soil properties, particularly the shear wave velocity profile and the constitutive relationship (strain-dependent shear modulus reduction and hysteretic damping) of soil. Amplification of spectral acceleration in the vertical direction (up-down motion) is found to be just as much as, if not more than, the amplification in the horizontal direction. Peak shear strain is found to be about 20% larger for near-field motions compared to far-field motions whereas maximum horizontal site amplification for far-field motions is found to be consistently larger than that of near-field motions, even though the differences between the two remain within the scatter resulting from individual ground motions.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

STag. II. Classification of Serendipitous Supernovae Observed by Galaxy Redshift Surveys

With the number of supernovae observed expected to drastically increase thanks to large-scale surveys like the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), it is necessary that the tools we use to classify these objects keep up with this increase. We previously created Supernova Tagging and Classification (STag) to address this problem by employing machine learning techniques alongside logistic regression in order to assign “tags” to spectra based on spectral features. STag II is a continuation of this work, which now makes use of model supernova spectra combined with real DESI spectra in order to train STag to better deal with realistic data. Furthermore, we also make use of the rlap score as a trustworthiness cut, making for a more robust and accurate supernova classifier than before.

Astrostatistics techniques↗

Light-Induced Dynamic Frequency Shifting of Microwave Photons in a Superconducting Electro-Optic Converter

Hybrid superconducting-photonic microresonators are a promising platform for realizing microwave-to-optical transduction. However, the absorption of scattered photons by the superconductors leads to unintended microwave resonance-frequency variation and line-width broadening. Here, we experimentally study the dynamics of this effect and its impact on microwave-to-optics conversion in an integrated lithium niobate–superconductor hybrid-resonator platform. Here, we unveil an adiabatic frequency shifting of the intracavity microwave photons induced by the fast photoresponses of the thin-film superconducting resonator. As a result, the temporal and spectral responses of electro-optics transduction are modified and well described by our theoretical model. This work provides insights into the light-induced conversion dynamics that must be considered in future designs of hybrid superconducting-photonic system.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Resolution of zigzag magnetic correlations in Na-deficient Na x IrO 3 without long-range ordering

The materials search for Kitaev quantum spin liquids led to the discovery of many honeycomb lattice materials. Much attention has been paid to materials without magnetic order down to the lowest temperatures. The newly synthesized Na-deficient Na x IrO 3 has been found to bear no sign of long-range magnetic order above 1 K from physical property measurements. In this paper, we report momentum-and energy-resolved excitation spectra in Na-deficient Na x IrO 3 measured using a resonant inelastic x-ray scattering spectrometer. Orbital excitation spectra show that the octahedral and trigonal crystal field splittings are larger in Na x IrO 3 than in Na 2 IrO 3 . On the other hand, the low-energy spectrum at low temperature shows a wave-vector dispersion and a spectral weight distribution that are similar to those of Na 2 IrO 3 , revealing that the two-dimensional zigzag magnetic correlations in Na x IrO 3 are similar to those in Na 2 IrO 3 in terms of the ordered magnetic moment direction and three dynamically fluctuating zigzag orders. The azimuth angle dependence of the low-energy spectrum corroborates these results. The two-dimensional zigzag magnetic correlations rapidly weaken until 50 K. At high temperatures, the spectral weight distribution of the low-energy excitation resembles that of the pure Kitaev model, indicating that the Kitaev interaction dominates the dynamic magnetic response at high temperature. Here we suggest that the larger crystal field and distortion and the weakened longer-range Heisenberg exchange interactions due to the Na deficiency in Na x IrO 3 contribute to bring Na x IrO 3 away from the zigzag long-range magnetic order phase.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Hund bands in spectra of multiorbital systems

Spectroscopy experiments are routinely used to characterize the behavior of strongly correlated systems. An in-depth understanding of the different spectral features is thus essential. Here, we show that the spectrum of the multiorbital Hubbard model exhibits unique Hund bands that occur at energies given only by the Hund coupling J H , as distinct from the Hubbard satellites following the interaction U. We focus on experimentally relevant single-particle and optical spectra that we calculate for a model related to iron chalcogenide ladders. The calculations are performed via the density-matrix renormalization group and Lanczos methods. Finally, the generality of the implications is verified by considering a generic multiorbital model within dynamical mean-field theory.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Influence of disorder on antidot vortex Majorana states in three-dimensional topological insulators

Topological insulator/superconductor two-dimensional heterostructures are promising candidates for realizing topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. In these systems, a vortex pinned by a prefabricated antidot in the superconductor can host Majorana zero-energy modes (MZMs), which are exotic quasiparticles that may enable quantum information processing. However, a major challenge is to design devices that can manipulate the information encoded in these MZMs. One of the key factors is to create small and clean antidots, so the MZMs, localized in the vortex core, have a large gap to other excitations. If the antidot is too large or too disordered, the level spacing for the subgap vortex states may become smaller than temperature. In this paper, we numerically investigate the effects of disorder, chemical potential, and antidot size on the subgap vortex spectrum, using a two-dimensional effective model of the topological insulator surface. Our model allows us to simulate large system sizes with vortices up to 1.8 µ⁢m in diameter (with a 6 nm lattice constant). We also compare our disorder model with the transport data from existing experiments. As a result, we find that the spectral gap can exhibit a nonmonotonic behavior as a function of disorder strength, and that it can be tuned by applying a gate voltage.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Core collapse supernova gravitational wave emission for progenitors of 9.6, 15, and 25 M ⊙

Here, we present gravitational wave emission predictions based on three core collapse supernova simulations corresponding to three different progenitor masses. The masses span a large range, between 9.6 and 25M ⊙ , are all initially nonrotating, and are of two metallicities: zero and solar. We compute both the temporal evolution of the gravitational wave strains for both the plus and the cross polarizations, as well as their spectral decomposition and characteristic strains. The temporal evolution of our zero metallicity 9.6M ⊙ progenitor model is distinct from the temporal evolution of our solar metallicity 15M ⊙ progenitor model and our zero metallicity 25M ⊙ progenitor model. In the former case, the high-frequency gravitational wave emission is largely confined to a brief time period ~75 ms after bounce, whereas in the latter two cases high-frequency emission does not commence until ~125 ms after bounce or later. The excitation mechanisms of the high-frequency emission in all three cases correspond to proto-neutron star convection and accretion onto the proto-neutron star from the convective gain layer above it, with the former playing the dominant role for most of the evolution. The low-frequency emission in all three models exhibits very similar behavior. At frequencies below ~250 Hz, gravitational waves are emitted by neutrino-driven convection and the standing accretion shock instability (SASI). This emission extends throughout the simulations when a gain region is present. In all three models, explosion is observed at ~125, ~500, and ~250 ms after bounce in the 9.6, 15, and 25M ⊙ progenitor models, respectively. At these times, the low-frequency gravitational wave emission is joined by very low-frequency emission, below ~10 Hz. These very low-frequency episodes are the result of explosion and begin at the above designated explosion times in each of our models. Our characteristic strains tell us that, in principle, all three gravitational wave signals would be detectable by current-generation detectors for a supernova at a distance of 10 kpc. However, our 9.6M ⊙ progenitor model is a significantly weaker source of gravitational waves, with strain amplitudes approximately 5–10 times less than in our other two models. The characteristic strain for this model tells us that such a supernova would be detectable only within a much more narrow frequency range around the maximum sensitivity of today’s detectors. Finally, in our 9.6M ⊙ progenitor model, we see very high-frequency gravitational radiation, extending up to ~2000 Hz. This feature results from the interaction of shock- and deleptonization-induced convection with perturbations introduced in the progenitor by nuclear burning during core collapse. While unique to the 9.6M ⊙ progenitor model analyzed here, this very high-frequency emission may, in fact, be a generic feature of the predictions for the gravitational wave emission from all core collapse supernova models when simulations are performed with three-dimensional progenitors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Radiative Particle-in-Cell Simulations of Turbulent Comptonization in Magnetized Black-Hole Coronae

We report results from the first radiative particle-in-cell simulations of strong Alfvénic turbulence in plasmas of moderate optical depth. The simulations are performed in a local 3D periodic box and self-consistently follow the evolution of radiation as it interacts with a turbulent electron-positron plasma via Compton scattering. We focus on the conditions expected in magnetized coronae of accreting black holes and obtain an emission spectrum consistent with the observed hard state of Cyg X-1. Most of the turbulence power is transferred directly to the photons via bulk Comptonization, shaping the peak of the emission around 100 keV. The rest is released into nonthermal particles, which generate the MeV spectral tail. As a result, the method presented here shows promising potential for ab initio modeling of various astrophysical sources and opens a window into a new regime of kinetic plasma turbulence.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Topological Langmuir-cyclotron wave

A theory is developed to describe the topological Langmuir-cyclotron wave (TLCW), a topological excitation in magnetized plasmas recently identified by numerical simulations. As a topological wave in a continuous medium, the TLCW propagates unidirectionally without scattering in complex boundaries and can be explored as an effective mechanism to energize particles. We show that, because momentum space in continuous media is contractible in general, the topology of the wave bundles is trivial over momentum space that contains no degeneracy points. This is in stark contrast to condensed matters with periodic lattice structures that impose nontrivial topology on momentum space. In continuous media without lattice structures, nontrivial topology of the eigenmode bundles manifests over phase space, and it is the nontrivial topology over phase space that underpins the topological excitations, such as the TLCW. It is shown that the TLCW can be faithfully modeled by a generic tilted Dirac cone in phase space, whose entire spectrum, including the spectral flow, is given.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Impact of Cloud-Base Turbulence on CCN Activation: CCN Distribution

Abstract Following our previous investigation of the turbulence impact on cloud-base single-size CCN activation, this study considers a similar problem assuming CCN size distribution obtained from field measurements. The total CNN concentration is taken as either 200 cm −3 to represent clean conditions, or as 2000 cm −3 to represent polluted conditions. CCN is assumed to be sodium chloride. The CCN activation in the rising nonturbulent adiabatic parcel is contrasted with the activation within a rising adiabatic parcel filled with inertial-range homogeneous isotropic turbulence. The turbulent parcel of 64 3 m 3 and the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate of 10 −3 m −2 s −3 are used in most of the simulations. Results for a range of mean parcel ascent rates, between 0.125 and 8 m s −1 , are discussed. Overall, the adiabatic turbulent parcel simulations show results consistent with the adiabatic nonturbulent parcel, with higher activated CCN concentrations for stronger parcel ascent rates. The key difference is a blurriness of the separation between dry CCN size bins featuring activated and nonactivated (haze) CCN, especially for weak mean ascent rates. The blurriness comes from CCN getting activated and subsequently deactivated in the fluctuating supersaturation field, instead of all becoming cloud droplets above the cloud base. This leads to significantly larger spectral widths in turbulent parcel simulations compared to the nonturbulent parcel when activation is completed. Modeling results are discussed in the context of the impact of turbulent fluctuations on CCN activation documented in laboratory experiments using the Pi chamber.

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences↗

ACRRF High-Bay Dose Calculations using MCNP (Part A)

Analytical tools and models have been developed as a starting point for directly assessing dose in the Annular Core Research Reactor Facility (ACRRF) due to reactor operation. Key results include peak dose along the Central Cavity (CC) centerline (beamline) at the cavity level, dose throughout the High-Bay (HB), and dose on the facility roof for partially-shielded reactor operation where the 4” insert is removed from the CC Shield Plug (SP). Model results in the beamline are benchmarked against measured doses from passive dosimetry evaluations. Personnel total (neutron and gamma) dose in the ACRRF HB is calculated using Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP). Various CC and SP configurations are analyzed, including unshielded (no SP) and partially shielded (SP installed but 4” insert removed). Novel application of Variance Reduction (VR) techniques, namely the Surface Source Write (SSW) and Surface Source Read (SSR) capabilities in MCNP, enable impressive resolution (in a Monte Carlo modeling sense) of dose throughout much the facility. The VR techniques reduce stochastic error for challenging tallies, with more advanced techniques explored in the companion to this report (Part B) [1]. Supplementary studies (including a verification analysis) and pedagogic evaluations in Part B involve neutron spectra, angular distributions, and the dose impact of facility characteristics. With the SP 4” insert removed and the Lead-Boron (44”) Bucket (LB–44) in the reactor cavity, Total Effective Dose (TED) within the CC beamline is ≈140 rem per 300 MJ of reactor yield (or 3900 rem per hour at 100% Steady-State (SS) power). With no SP (unshielded) and a Free-Field (FF) cavity, TED within the beamline is ≈610 rem per 300 MJ (or 17000 rem per hour at 100% SS power). Due to the predicted collimation of radiation by the reactor pool (and partial SP, if present), beamline dose is much greater than the scattered radiation field surrounding the cavity and reactor tank. Comparisons are made to beamline dosimetry measurements to validate the model. Model predictions agree reasonably well (⪅10%) with measured quantities of neutron fluence, gamma fluence, and spectral metrics. Away from the beamline, comparisons made to previous dose measurements in the HB agreement within an order of magnitude.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Exploring the Mass-loss Histories of the Red Supergiants

We report mid- to far-infrared imaging and photometry from 7 to 37 μm with SOFIA/FORCAST and 2 μm adaptive optics imaging with LBTI/LMIRCam of a large sample of red supergiants (RSGs) in four Galactic clusters: RSGC1, RSGC2 = Stephenson 2, RSGC3, and NGC 7419. The RSGs in these clusters cover their expected range in luminosity and initial mass from ≈9 to more than 25 M {sub ⊙}. The population includes examples of very late-type RSGs such as MY Cep, which may be near the end of the RSG stage, high-mass-losing maser sources, yellow hypergiants, and post-RSG candidates. Many of the stars and almost all of the most luminous have spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with extended infrared excess radiation at the longest wavelengths. To best model their SEDs, we use the DUSTY code with a variable radial density distribution function to estimate their mass-loss rates. Our M-dot –luminosity relation for 42 RSGs basically follows the classical de Jager curve, but at luminosities below 10{sup 5} L{sub ⊙}, we find a significant population of RSGs with M-dot below the de Jager relation. At luminosities above 10{sup 5} L {sub ⊙}, there is a rapid transition to higher mass-loss rates that approximates and overlaps the de Jager curve. We recommend that instead of using a linear relation or single curve, the empirical M-dot –luminosity relation is better represented by a broad band. Interestingly, the transition to much higher M-dot at about 10{sup 5} L {sub ⊙} corresponds approximately to an initial mass of 18–20 M {sub ⊙}, which is close to the upper limit for RSGs becoming Type II supernovae.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Modeling Competing Line-broadening Mechanisms in Neutron Star Atmospheres: Interference between Motional Stark and Ion Broadening

Neutron star surfaces have extremely high magnetic fields. In the atmosphere, the broadening of spectral lines will be substantial from the dense plasma as well as from the magnetic field. One broadening mechanism of note is due to the motional Stark effect (MSE)—an additional electric field that arises from the motion of the atom in the magnetic field. However, approximate formulae are often used to construct atmosphere models, and the MSE is assumed to be the dominant line-broadening mechanism even in ions. Detailed pressure-broadening models in these extreme magnetic fields are now currently being developed. In these more detailed models, it was suggested that the MSE may not be as large as previously predicted. If correct, this hypothesis implies that neutron star line widths might be dominated by pressure broadening rather than by motional Stark broadening. We find that, in the absence of plasma perturbations, for typical magnetic fields (B = 10 12 G), mid-Z elements, such as oxygen, have motional Stark widths of order 1 eV for transitions between dipole-allowed transitions from the ground state, though higher temperatures and transitions to higher-energy states are expected to have more broadening. The MSE also breaks down selection rules, giving rise to forbidden transitions, which have much larger widths. When plasma perturbations are included, we find that the plasma perturbation and motional Stark processes are not independent and, as a result, the spectral lines become narrow in a nontrivial way and display harmonics of the ion cyclotron frequency.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Emerging Flexible Designs for Geospatial Multimodal Foundation Models

Foundation models are rapidly transforming Earth observation by enabling scalable pretraining across diverse unlabeled geospatial modalities. However, their architectural diversity—ranging from encoder-only to encoder-decoder and masked autoencoding paradigms—makes it challenging to assess performance trade-offs in a consistent manner. In this work, we present an apples-to-apples comparison of leading FM architectures designed for geospatial multimodal reasoning, with a particular focus on flexibility across varied spectral band configurations. We standardize pretraining using identical self-supervised learning objectives and training datasets, and evaluate all models under consistent parameterization on the GEOBench benchmark across classification and segmentation tasks. Our results offer new insights into the design trade-offs between model flexibility, modality alignment, and downstream task performance. By highlighting architectural strengths and limitations under controlled conditions, this study provides practical guidance for building next-generation geospatial foundation models capable of robust multimodal reasoning.

Ambrozio Dias, Philipe [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000194277↗

New Grids of Pure-hydrogen White Dwarf NLTE Model Atmospheres and the HST/STIS Flux Calibration

Nonlocal thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) calculations of hot white dwarf (WD) model atmospheres are the cornerstone of modern flux calibrations for the Hubble Space Telescope and for the CALSPEC database. These theoretical spectral energy distributions (SEDs) provide the relative flux versus wavelength, and only the absolute flux level remains to be set by reconciling the measured absolute flux of Vega in the visible with the Midcourse Space Experiment values for Sirius in the mid-IR. The most recent SEDs calculated by the tlusty and tmap NLTE model atmosphere codes for the primary WDs G191-B2B, GD 153, and GD 71 show improved agreement to 1% from 1500 Å to 30 μm, in comparison to the previous 1% consistency only from 2000 Å to 5 μm. These new NLTE models of hot WDs now provide consistent flux standards from the far UV to the mid-IR.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Mesh and model requirements for capturing deep-stall aerodynamics in low-Mach-number flows

Here, this work presents a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics investigation of the effects of grid resolution and turbulence-model choice for capturing the unsteady three-dimensional aerodynamic performance of NACA 0012 and 0021 airfoils, with specific focus on the deep-stall regime. At high angles of attack (α), wind turbine blades routinely experience vortex-induced vibrations, which can cause significant structural damages. Accurate predictions of post-stall aerodynamics can identify the frequencies at which such vibrations maybe triggered. In this context, the NACA 0012 airfoil simulations are conducted at a chord-based Reynolds number, Re c =2×10 6 , with the k-ω Shear-Stress Transport Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) and Improved Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (IDDES) hybrid RANS-Large Eddy Simulation turbulence models. The effect of mesh resolution both in the wall-normal and spanwise directions is investigated. Only the IDDES model with a minimum spanwise resolution of 24 cells per chord length correctly predicts the aerodynamic forces. Spectral analysis shows the peak primary shedding frequency at α=30°, which signifies the end of the stall region. In the post-stall regime, both lift and drag frequencies drop asymptotically with increasing α. The Strouhal number, based on normalised chord length, remains nearly constant in this region. Based on this study, NACA 0021 airfoil runs are performed with IDDES for Re c =2.7×10 5 and 2.0×10 6 on the finest wall-normal mesh and three spanwise grids. Simulations conducted on the finer spanwise grids demonstrate grid independence and show good agreement with experiments. The effect of varying Rec on the airfoil frequency statistics is investigated. Additionally, comparison studies are presented to investigate the impact of airfoil thickness on the frequency content at Re c =2.0×10 6 . The results from the study provide guidance on the choice of mesh resolution with the IDDES model to accurately capture aerodynamic quantities for complex industrial applications.

17 WIND ENERGY↗