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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Graphical User Interface for a Biasing Board for the PSEC6

The PSEC6 is an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designed for a readout system for a large area picosecond photodetector (LAPPD). The PSEC6 is currently in fabrication and pending testing. The testing system for the PSEC5, the previous iteration of the ASIC, required expensive and non-portable equipment, because the ASIC needs twelve adjustable reference voltages. The new testing system consists of an low-cost, open-source, cross-platform graphical user interface (GUI), a digital system, and a biasing board. The digital system is the interface between the GUI and biasing board, and can be implemented on a microcontroller or field-programmable gate array (FPGA). The biasing board contains twelve digital-to-analog converters (DACs) that are configurable via the GUI, which gives users the ability to write voltage values to all or specific DACs. The GUI was developed in C on Linux using the widget library GTK4 and cross-compiled for Windows compatibility. I2C and SPI protocols were implemented on an Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 microcontroller to write commands to the DACs and PSEC6. A hardware implementation of the I2C protocol is in development on an FPGA. Since LAPPDs will be used by the Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) at Fermilab, the PSEC6 testing system in this internship project can potentially benefit future neutrino research. The project is relevant to the Department of Energy’s microelectronics mission, because the PSEC6 is an ASIC that will handle fast time signals arriving from the detector for readout. It also provided experience with building a cross-platform user interface, practicing digital design and implementation in hardware description language (HDL), and using simulations to inform new design iterations.

Guerrero, Sasha Camila [North Central Coll.]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Exact Fock-State Preparation with $n^{1/4}$ Circuit Depth

Efficient, deterministic, and high-fidelity preparation of large Fock states is essential for scaling bosonic quantum technologies and exploring quantum phenomena at large excitation energies. We introduce a deterministic one-parameter (D1p) protocol that maps Fock-state preparation in an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space onto two-dimensional amplitude amplification. Starting from a coherent state with $|α|\simeq\sqrt{n}$, the initial target-state population scales as $n^{-1/2}$, yielding an iteration count and circuit depth of $\mathcal{O}(n^{1/4})$. Phase matching guarantees unit fidelity in the ideal model; remarkably, preparing $|{10^6}\rangle$ requires only 39 iterations. The protocol uses only displacements and number-selective phase operations, requires no numerical optimization, and further extends to state transfer, general superpositions, finite-dimensional systems, and multipartite entangled states. In the large-amplitude regime, its multi-target form prepares $L$-legged cat states with an iteration count determined only by $L$; cats with up to ten legs require only two iterations, independent of the coherent-state amplitude. This framework provides a broadly applicable route to highly excited bosonic states on platforms supporting these elementary controls.

Roy, Tanay [Fermilab] (ORCID:000000019442862X)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Functional Predictor Variables for the Leaching Potential of Arsenic and Selenium from Coal Fly Ash

The release of leachates from intact coal ash impoundments is a concern due to the enrichment and mobilization of toxic elements such as arsenic (As) and selenium (Se). This study aims to explore the intrinsic properties of coal fly ash that correlate with the relative leachability of As and Se. We performed leaching experiments with 52 fly ash samples collected from 15 different U.S. power plants and representing coal feedstocks from the three major domestic regions. We assessed the mobilization potential of As and Se in fly ash based on standardized leaching protocols and performed multivariate and lasso regression analyses to explore correlations of leachable As and Se contents with characteristics such as major element contents, loss on ignition, and pH. The results of regression models indicated that major elements (Fe, Ca, and Al) for a wide range of fly ashes can serve as predictor variables for the leaching potential of As but not for Se. LOI and pH were not important predictive variables in the models. Both regression approaches resulted in relatively strong fits for leachable As (correlation coefficient R 2 = 0.78 for both models) compared to models for leachable Se (R 2 = 0.49). Overall, these results suggest that correlation models combined with on-site elemental analysis with portable analyzers may enable a screening method for leachable As in coal ash.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2026

Scaling open-weight large language models for hydropower regulatory information extraction: A systematic analysis

Information extraction from regulatory and technical documents using large language models (LLMs) involves practical trade-offs between extraction quality and computational cost. We evaluate eight open-weight LLMs spanning 0.6B–70B parameters on hydropower licensing documents and report deployment-oriented evidence under a unified extraction schema and evaluation protocol. Across the model set, we observe clear scale-dependent trends in both baseline extraction quality and the effectiveness of reflective reasoning (self-checking) under our fixed-prompt, no-augmentation setting. Mid-scale models often provide a favorable balance of accuracy and efficiency, whereas the smallest models show limited or inconsistent gains from the reasoning variants tested. Larger models achieve the highest overall F1 scores but incur substantially greater compute and infrastructure requirements. We further find that reliability failure modes can distort conventional metrics in this domain: in particular, high recall can coincide with systematic extraction errors when models fabricate values for fields that are absent from the source text, underscoring the importance of conservative null handling and evidence-grounded evaluation. Overall, our study provides a reproducible resource–performance comparison for open-weight LLM-based extraction in hydropower regulatory documentation and offers practical guidance for model selection under different deployment constraints.

Evaluation protocol↗
DOE OSTI2022

Induced seismicity red-light thresholds for enhanced geothermal prospects in the Netherlands

Prospects for geothermal energy in the Netherlands have renewed concerns around induced earthquakes. Risks from induced earthquakes are managed by traffic light protocols (TLPs), where the red-light is chosen as the stop-point before exceeding a tolerance to risk. Here, we simulate post-shut-in earthquake scenarios based on realistic information for the Netherlands. We focus on three risk metrics: aggregates like nuisance and damage impacts and also local personal risk (LPR) – a likelihood of building collapse fatality for an individual. Our results show that the severity of these risks varies spatially by orders of magnitude. Prior induced seismicity (e.g., the 2012 Huizinge event) provides a reference baseline to calibrate the Dutch earthquake risk tolerances. We find that these calibrated risk tolerances are similar to those observed in North America, suggesting an underlying sociological ‘license to operate.’ Furthermore, the use of calibrated risk tolerances results in nuisance concerns completely eclipsing the other two metrics. We compare our results to a hypothetical Groningen geothermal operation and find that our approach sets red-light thresholds approximately one magnitude unit below the ML 3.6 Huizinge event. Overall, our results provide a first-order recommendation for red-light thresholds and proactive management of Dutch enhanced geothermal induced seismicity.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Cyber–physical vulnerability and resiliency analysis for DER integration: A review, challenges and research needs

High penetration of renewable and sustainable Distributed Energy Resources (DER) into the traditional distribution system requires a well-coordinated control strategy for the improvement of system-wide reliability and resiliency. Implementation of such a holistic control architecture requires a flexible, near real-time, and bi-directional communication framework for facilitating the participation of various agents in a multi-vendor heterogeneous smart grid. While the sustainability of energy generation is ensured, this exposes the smart grid to extrinsic cyber threats, and appropriate defense mechanism(s) must be deployed to guarantee continued reliability and resiliency of the power grid. Further, the comprehensive literature review presented in this paper discusses the latest trends in the DER control schemes with fast communication requirements and their accompanying cyber–physical vulnerabilities. These control schemes are compared and contrasted for various traits. A three-level DER system architecture has been depicted, facilitating the deployment of these control schemes. The current developments of standard communication protocols, key security mechanisms, and best practices along major standards and guidelines are explored. The impacts of different attack types with miscellaneous DER functions based on various control schemes and associated mitigation solutions are also provided. Finally, challenges and future research directions for limiting cyber-power susceptibility to enhance resiliency are summarized. The work presented here will help us enabling a cyber-resilient and sustainable smart electric grid.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nanocrystal Assemblies: Current Advances and Open Problems

Here we explore the potential of nanocrystals (a term used equivalently to nanoparticles) as building blocks for nanomaterials, and the current advances and open challenges for fundamental science developments and applications. Nanocrystal assemblies are inherently multiscale, and the generation of revolutionary material properties requires a precise understanding of the relationship between structure and function, the former being determined by classical effects and the latter often by quantum effects. With an emphasis on theory and computation, we discuss challenges that hamper current assembly strategies and to what extent nanocrystal assemblies represent thermodynamic equilibrium or kinetically trapped metastable states. We also examine dynamic effects and optimization of assembly protocols. Finally, we discuss promising material functions and examples of their realization with nanocrystal assemblies.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Network traffic control for multi-homed end-hosts via SDN

Software-defined networking (SDN) is an emerging technology of efficiently controlling and managing computer networks, such as in data centres, wide-area networks, as well as in ubiquitous communication. In this study, the authors explore the idea of embedding the SDN components, represented by SDN controller and virtual switch, in end-hosts to improve network performance. In particular, the authors consider load balancing across multiple network interfaces on end-hosts with different link capacity scenarios. The authors have explored and implemented different SDN-based load-balancing approaches based on OpenFlow software switches, and have demonstrated the feasibility and the potential of this approach. The proposed system has been evaluated with MultiPath transmission control protocol (MPTCP). Furthermore, the proposed results demonstrated the potential of applying the SDN concepts on multi-homed devices resulting in an increase in achieved throughput of 55% compared to the legacy single network approach and 10% compared to the MPTCP.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

MCP-enabled agentic AI workflow for building energy modelling: framework and use cases

Traditional building energy modelling workflows remain labor-intensive and error-prone, requiring specialized expertise that limits broader adoption. This paper introduces a novel Model Context Protocol (MCP)-enabled framework that connects AI assistants to EnergyPlus through MCP, a standardized interface for tool invocation and context management. Two complementary integration paradigms are presented and compared: conversational integration, where users interact through natural language while an AI assistant orchestrates MCP tools on demand, and agentic workflow integration, where specialized agents coordinate autonomously to complete multi-step tasks. Using an experimental testbed for residential buildings, the end-to-end workflows are demonstrated. The conversational approach reduced typical inspection and modification tasks from 1-2 h to under 15 min, while maintaining full transparency through visible tool invocations. The agentic approach automated parametric analysis. These demonstrations establish MCP as a foundational layer for AI-assisted building energy modelling, enabling natural language interactions with simulation tools while preserving professional oversight and decision-making authority.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Engineering, Control, and Longitudinal Readout of Floquet Qubits

We discuss how properties of time-periodic Hamiltonians can be exploited to increase the dephasing time of qubits and to design protected one- and two-qubit gates. Recently, Huang et al. [Phys. Rev. Applied 15, 034065 (2021)] have shown that Floquet states offer a manifold of working points with dynamical protection larger than the few, usual, static sweet spots. Here, we show how Floquet theory, often used on systems with a single drive tone, can be used to describe approaches to robustly control Floquet qubits in the presence of multiple commensurate drive tones. Using this formulation, we introduce a longitudinal readout protocol to measure the Floquet qubit without the need of first adiabatically mapping the Floquet states back to the static qubit states, resulting in a significant speedup in the measurement time of the Floquet qubit. The analytical approach developed here can be applied to any Hamiltonian involving a small number of distinct drive tones, typical in the study of standard parametric gates for qubits outside of the rotating-wave approximation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Recovery of Damaged Information and the Out-of-Time-Ordered Correlators

The evolution with a complex Hamiltonian generally leads to information scrambling. A time-reversed dynamics unwinds this scrambling and thus leads to the original information recovery. In this work, we show that if the scrambled information is, in addition, partially damaged by a local measurement, then such a damage can still be treated by application of the time-reversed protocol. This information recovery is described by the long-time saturation value of a certain out-of-time-ordered correlator of local variables. We also propose a simple test that distinguishes between quantum and reversible classical chaotic information scrambling.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dynamical Enhancement of Symmetries in Many-Body Systems

We construct a dynamical decoupling protocol for accurately generating local and global symmetries in general many-body systems. Multiple commuting and noncommuting symmetries can be created by means of a self-similar-in-time ("polyfractal") drive. The result is an effective Floquet Hamiltonian that remains local and avoids heating over exponentially long times. This approach can be used to realize a wide variety of quantum models, and nonequilibrium quantum phases.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Efficient Estimation of Pauli Observables by Derandomization

In this work, we consider the problem of jointly estimating expectation values of many Pauli observables, a crucial subroutine in variational quantum algorithms. Starting with randomized measurements, we propose an efficient derandomization procedure that iteratively replaces random single-qubit measurements by fixed Pauli measurements; the resulting deterministic measurement procedure is guaranteed to perform at least as well as the randomized one. In particular, for estimating any L low-weight Pauli observables, a deterministic measurement on only of order log(L) copies of a quantum state suffices. In some cases, for example, when some of the Pauli observables have high weight, the derandomized procedure is substantially better than the randomized one. Specifically, numerical experiments highlight the advantages of our derandomized protocol over various previous methods for estimating the ground-state energies of small molecules.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Complexity Phase Diagram for Interacting and Long-Range Bosonic Hamiltonians

Here, we classify phases of a bosonic lattice model based on the computational complexity of classically simulating the system. We show that the system transitions from being classically simulable to classically hard to simulate as it evolves in time, extending previous results to include on-site number-conserving interactions and long-range hopping. Specifically, we construct a complexity phase diagram with easy and hard “phases” and derive analytic bounds on the location of the phase boundary with respect to the evolution time and the degree of locality. We find that the location of the phase transition is intimately related to upper bounds on the spread of quantum correlations and protocols to transfer quantum information. Remarkably, although the location of the transition point is unchanged by on-site interactions, the nature of the transition point does change. Specifically, we find that there are two kinds of transitions, sharp and coarse, broadly corresponding to interacting and noninteracting bosons, respectively. Our Letter motivates future studies of complexity in many-body systems and its interplay with the associated physical phenomena.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Noise Constraints on Sensitivity Scaling in Quantum Nonlinear Metrology

Quantum-enhanced metrology surpasses classical metrology by improving estimation precision scaling with a resource 𝑁 (e.g., particle number or energy) from 1/√𝑁 to 1/𝑁. Through the use of nonlinear effects, Roy and Braunstein [Exponentially enhanced quantum metrology, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 220501 (2008)] derived a 1/𝑁 2 scaling. However, later works argued this exponential improvement is unphysical and that even modest gains, like 1/𝑁 2 , may vanish under noise. We show that, in the presence of small errors, the nonlinear interactions enabling metrological enhancement induce emergent errors. Here, the errors propagate through the sensing protocol and are magnified proportional to any intended nonlinear enhancement. We identify a critical value of the parameter to be estimated, for a fixed error, below which the emergent errors can be avoided.

Quantum Fisher information↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cybersecurity for Electric Vehicle Fast-Charging Infrastructure

The integration of electric vehicles (EVs) into electric grid operations can potentially leave the grid vulnerable to cyberattacks from both legacy and new equipment and protocols, including extreme fast-charging infrastructure. This paper introduces a co-simulation platform to perform cyber vulnerability analysis of EV charging infrastructure and its dependencies on communications and control systems. Grid impact scenarios through linkages to power system simulation tools such as OpenDSS and vehicle infrastructure-specific attack paths are discussed. An adaptive platform that assists with predicting and solving evolving cybersecurity challenges is demonstrated with a cyber-energy emulation that accelerates the analysis of cyberattacks and system behavior.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗