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At least 919 records · Page 51

Security of quantum position-verification limits Hamiltonian simulation via holography

We investigate the link between quantum position-verification (QPV) and holography established in [1] using holographic quantum error correcting codes as toy models. By inserting the “temporal” scaling of the AdS metric by hand via the bulk Hamiltonian interaction strength, we recover a toy model with consistent causality structure. This leads to an interesting implication between two topics in quantum information: if position-based verification is secure against attacks with small entanglement then there are new fundamental lower bounds for resources required for one Hamiltonian to simulate another.

AdS-CFT Correspondence↗

Quantitative validation of carbon-fiber laminate low velocity impact simulations

Simulations of low velocity impact with a flat cylindrical indenter upon a carbon fiber fabric reinforced polymer laminate are rigorously validated. Comparison of the impact energy absorption between the model and experiment is used as the validation metric. Additionally, non-destructive evaluation, including ultrasonic scans and three-dimensional computed tomography, provide qualitative validation of the models. The simulations include delamination, matrix cracks and fiber breaks. An orthotropic damage and failure constitutive model, capable of predicting progressive damage and failure, is developed in conjunction and described. An ensemble of simulations incorporating model parameter uncertainties is used to predict a response distribution which is then compared to experimental output using appropriate statistical methods. Lastly, the model form errors are exposed and corrected for use in an additional blind validation analysis. The result is a quantifiable confidence in material characterization and model physics when simulating low velocity impact in structures of interest.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Efficient implicit LES method for the simulation of turbulent cavitating flows

We present a numerical method for efficient large-eddy simulation of compressible liquid flows with cavitation based on an implicit subgrid-scale model. Phase change and subgrid-scale interface structures are modeled by a homogeneous mixture model that assumes local thermodynamic equilibrium. Unlike previous approaches, emphasis is placed on operating on a small stencil (at most four cells). The truncation error of the discretization is designed to function as a physically consistent subgrid-scale model for turbulence. We formulate a sensor functional that detects shock waves or pseudo-phase boundaries within the homogeneous mixture model for localizing numerical dissipation. In smooth regions of the flow field, a formally non-dissipative central discretization scheme is used in combination with a regularization term to model the effect of unresolved subgrid scales. The new method is validated by computing standard single- and two-phase test-cases. Comparison of results for a turbulent cavitating mixing layer obtained with the new method demonstrates its suitability for the target applications.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Third-Order Møller–Plesset Theory Made More Useful? The Role of Density Functional Theory Orbitals

The practical utility of Møller–Plesset (MP) perturbation theory is severely constrained by the use of Hartree–Fock (HF) orbitals. It has recently been shown that the use of regularized orbital-optimized MP2 orbitals and scaling of MP3 energy could lead to a significant reduction in MP3 error. In this work, we examine whether density functional theory (DFT)-optimized orbitals can be similarly employed to improve the performance of MP theory at both the MP2 and MP3 levels. We find that the use of DFT orbitals leads to significantly improved performance for prediction of thermochemistry, barrier heights, noncovalent interactions, and dipole moments relative to the standard HF-based MP theory. Indeed, MP3 (with or without scaling) with DFT orbitals is found to surpass the accuracy of coupled-cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) for several data sets. We also found that the results are not particularly functional sensitive in most cases (although range-separated hybrid functionals with low delocalization error perform the best). As such, MP3 based on DFT orbitals thus appears to be an efficient, noniterative O(N 6 ) scaling wave-function approach for single-reference electronic structure computations. Scaled MP2 with DFT orbitals is also found to be quite accurate in many cases, although modern double hybrid functionals are likely to be considerably more accurate.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Dynamic in-context learning with conversational models for data extraction and materials property prediction

The advent of natural language processing and large language models (LLMs) has revolutionized the extraction of data from unstructured scholarly papers. However, ensuring data trustworthiness remains a significant challenge. In this paper, we introduce PropertyExtractor, an open-source tool that leverages advanced conversational LLMs such as Google gemini-pro and OpenAI gpt-4, blends zero-shot with few-shot in-context learning, and employs engineered prompts for the dynamic refinement of structured information hierarchies—enabling autonomous, efficient, scalable, and accurate identification, extraction, and verification of material property data. Our tests on material data demonstrate precision and recall that exceed 95% with an error rate of ∼9%, highlighting the effectiveness and versatility of the toolkit. Finally, databases for 2D material thicknesses, a critical parameter for device integration, and energy bandgap values are developed using PropertyExtractor. In particular, for the thickness database, the rapid evolution of the field has outpaced both experimental measurements and computational methods, creating a significant data gap. Our work addresses this gap and showcases the potential of PropertyExtractor as a reliable and efficient tool for the autonomous generation of various material property databases, advancing the field.

Ekuma, Chinedu E. (ORCID:0000000258527556)↗

Stellar LOCI. III. Photometric metallicities for half million FGK stars of Stripe 82

We develop a method to estimate photometric metallicities by simultaneously fitting the dereddened colors u−g, g−r, r−i, and i−z from the SDSS with those predicted by the metallicity-dependent stellar loci. The method is tested with a spectroscopic sample of main-sequence stars in Stripe 82 selected from the SDSS DR9 and three open clusters. With 1% photometry, the method is capable of delivering photometric metallicities precise to about 0.05, 0.12, and 0.18 dex at metallicities of 0.0, −1.0, and −2.0, respectively, comparable to the precision achievable with low-resolution spectroscopy at a signal-to-noise ratio of 10. We apply this method to the re-calibrated Stripe 82 catalog and derive metallicities for about 0.5 million stars of colors 0.3<g−i<1.6 mag and distances between 0.3 and 18 kpc. Potential systematics in the metallicities thus derived, due to the contamination of giants and binaries, are investigated. Photometric distances are also calculated. About 91%, 72%, and 53% of the sample stars are brighter than r = 20.5, 19.5, and 18.5 mag, respectively. The median metallicity errors are around 0.19, 0.16, 0.11, and 0.085 dex for the whole sample, and for stars brighter than r = 20.5, 19.5, and 18.5 mag, respectively. The median distance errors are 8.8%, 8.4%, 7.7%, and 7.3% for the aforementioned four groups of stars, respectively. The data are publicly available. Potential applications of the data in studies of the distribution, (sub) structure, and chemistry of the Galactic stellar populations, are briefly discussed. The results will be presented in future papers.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Full-Shape analysis of the power spectrum and bispectrum of DESI DR1 LRG and QSO samples

We present the first joint analysis of the power spectrum and bispectrum using the Data Release 1 (DR1) of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), focusing on Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) and quasars (QSOs) across a redshift range of 0.4 ≤ z ≤ 2.1. By combining the two- and three-point statistics, we are able to partially break the degeneracy between the logarithmic growth rate, f(z), and the amplitude of dark matter fluctuations, σ s8 (z), which cannot be measured separately in analyses that only involve the power spectrum. In comparison with the (fiducial) Planck ΛCDM cosmology we obtain f/f fid = {0.888 -0.089 +0.186 ,0.977 -0.220 +0.182 ,1.030 -0.085 +0.368 }, σ s8 /σ fid s8 = {1.224 -0.133 +0.091 ,1.071 -0.163 +0.278 ,1.00 0 -0.223 +0.088 } respectively for the three LRG redshift bins, corresponding to a cumulative 10.1% constraint on f, and of 8.4% on σ s8 , including the systematic error budget. Additionally, we obtain constraints for the ShapeFit compressed parameters describing the isotropic scaling parameter, α iso (z), the Alcock-Paczyński parameter, α AP (z), the combined growth of structure parameter fσ s8 (z), and the combined shape parameter m(z)+n(z). Their cumulative constraints from our joint power spectrum-bispectrum analysis are respectively σ αiso = 0.9% (9% improvement with respect to our power spectrum-only analysis); σ α AP = 2.3% (no improvement with respect to power spectrum-only analysis, which is expected given that the bispectrum monopole has no significant anisotropic signal); σ fσs8 = 5.1% (9% improvement); σ m+n = 2.3% (11% improvement). These results are fully consistent with the main DESI power spectrum analysis, demonstrating the robustness of the DESI cosmological constraints, and compatible with Planck ΛCDM cosmology.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Study of γ γ → γ ψ ( 2 S ) at Belle

Using 980 fb -1 of data at and around the Υ(nS)(n = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) resonances collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider, the two-photon process γγ → γψ(2S) is studied from the threshold to 4.2 GeV for the first time. Two structures are seen in the invariant mass distribution of γψ(2S): one at M R 1 = 3922.4 ± 6.5 ± 2.0 MeV/c 2 with a width of Γ R 1 = 22 ± 17 ± 4 MeV, and another at M R 2 = 4014.3 ± 4.0 ± 1.5 MeV/c 2 with a width of Γ R 2 = 4 ± 11 ± 6 MeV; the signals are parametrized with the incoherent sum of two Breit- Wigner functions. The first structure is consistent with the X(3915) or the χ c2 (3930), and the local statistical significance is determined to be 3.1σ with the systematic uncertainties included. The second matches none of the known charmonium or charmonium like states, and its global significance is determined to be 2.8σ including the look-elsewhere effect. The production rates are Γ γγ B(R 1 → γψ(2S)) = 9.8 ± 3.6 ± 1.2 eV assuming (J PC , |λ|) = (0 ++ , 0) or 2.0 ± 0.7 ± 0.2 eV with (2 ++ , 2) for the first structure and Γ γγ B(R 2 → γψ(2S)) = 6.2 ± 2.2 ± 0.8 eV with (0 ++ , 0) or 1.2 ± 0.4 ± 0.2 eV with (2 ++ , 2) for the second one. Furthermore, the first errors are statistical and the second systematic, and λ is the helicity.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Combined iterative reconstruction and image-domain decomposition for dual energy CT using total-variation regularization

Purpose: Dual-energy CT (DECT) is being increasingly used for its capability of material decomposition and energy-selective imaging. A generic problem of DECT, however, is that the decomposition process is unstable in the sense that the relative magnitude of decomposed signals is reduced due to signal cancellation while the image noise is accumulating from the two CT images of independent scans. Direct image decomposition, therefore, leads to severe degradation of signal-to-noise ratio on the resultant images. Existing noise suppression techniques are typically implemented in DECT with the procedures of reconstruction and decomposition performed independently, which do not explore the statistical properties of decomposed images during the reconstruction for noise reduction. In this work, the authors propose an iterative approach that combines the reconstruction and the signal decomposition procedures to minimize the DECT image noise without noticeable loss of resolution. Methods: The proposed algorithm is formulated as an optimization problem, which balances the data fidelity and total variation of decomposed images in one framework, and the decomposition step is carried out iteratively together with reconstruction. The noise in the CT images from the proposed algorithm becomes well correlated even though the noise of the raw projections is independent on the two CT scans. Due to this feature, the proposed algorithm avoids noise accumulation during the decomposition process. The authors evaluate the method performance on noise suppression and spatial resolution using phantom studies and compare the algorithm with conventional denoising approaches as well as combined iterative reconstruction methods with different forms of regularization. Results: On the Catphan©600 phantom, the proposed method outperforms the existing denoising methods on preserving spatial resolution at the same level of noise suppression, i.e., a reduction of noise standard deviation by one order of magnitude. This improvement is mainly attributed to the high noise correlation in the CT images reconstructed by the proposed algorithm. Iterative reconstruction using different regularization, including quadratic orq-generalized Gaussian Markov random field regularization, achieves similar noise suppression from high noise correlation. However, the proposed TV regularization obtains a better edge preserving performance. Studies of electron density measurement also show that our method reduces the average estimation error from 9.5% to 7.1%. On the anthropomorphic head phantom, the proposed method suppresses the noise standard deviation of the decomposed images by a factor of ∼14 without blurring the fine structures in the sinus area. Conclusions: The authors propose a practical method for DECT imaging reconstruction, which combines the image reconstruction and material decomposition into one optimization framework. Compared to the existing approaches, our method achieves a superior performance on DECT imaging with respect to decomposition accuracy, noise reduction, and spatial resolution.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Reconstruction of plasma equilibrium and eddy current induced error fields in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment-β (Final Report)

This is the final report for the DOE award DE-SC0019239, titled “Reconstruction of plasma equilibrium and eddy current induced error fields in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment-b” for the period July 1, 2018 – July 2, 2023. This award supported research into computational models for plasma equilibrium and 3D conducting structures in the Lithium Tokamak eXperiment-b (LTX-b) using the PSI-Tri/TokaMaker and PSI-Tet codes. Additional detail on progress in support of these tasks is provided below.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Evidence for Universality in the Initial Planetesimal Mass Function

Planetesimals may form from the gravitational collapse of dense particle clumps initiated by the streaming instability. We use simulations of aerodynamically coupled gas–particle mixtures to investigate whether the properties of planetesimals formed in this way depend upon the sizes of the particles that participate in the instability. Based on three high-resolution simulations that span a range of dimensionless stopping times 6×10{sup −3}⩽τ⩽2, no statistically significant differences in the initial planetesimal mass function are found. The mass functions are fit by a power law, dN/dM{sub p}∝M{sub p}{sup −p}, with p = 1.5–1.7 and errors of Δp≈0.1. Comparing the particle density fields prior to collapse, we find that the high-wavenumber power spectra are similarly indistinguishable, though the large-scale geometry of structures induced via the streaming instability is significantly different between all three cases. We interpret the results as evidence for a near-universal slope to the mass function, arising from the small-scale structure of streaming-induced turbulence.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Impact of White Dwarf Luminosity Profiles on Oscillation Frequencies

KIC 08626021 is a pulsating DB white dwarf (WD) of considerable recent interest, and the first of its class to be extensively monitored by Kepler for its pulsation properties. Fitting the observed oscillation frequencies of KIC 08626021 to a model can yield insights into its otherwise-hidden internal structure. Template-based WD models choose a luminosity profile where the luminosity is proportional to the enclosed mass, ${L}_{r}\,\propto \,{M}_{r}$, independent of the effective temperature T eff . Evolutionary models of young WDs with T eff ≳ 25,000 K suggest that neutrino emission gives rise to luminosity profiles with L r ${/}\!\!\!\!\!\!{\propto }$ M r . We explore this contrast by comparing the oscillation frequencies between two nearly identical WD models: one with an enforced ${L}_{r}\propto {M}_{r}$ luminosity profile, and the other with a luminosity profile determined by the star's previous evolution history. We find that the low-order g-mode frequencies differ by up to ≃70 μHz over the range of Kepler observations for KIC 08626021. This suggests that by neglecting the proper thermal structure of the star (e.g., accounting for the effect of plasmon neutrino losses), the model frequencies calculated by using an ${L}_{r}\propto {M}_{r}$ profile may have uncorrected, effectively random errors at the level of tens of μHz. A mean frequency difference of 30 μHz, based on linearly extrapolating published results, suggests a template model uncertainty in the fit precision of ≃12% in WD mass, ≃9% in the radius, and ≃3% in the central oxygen mass fraction.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Data and code from: Multivariate bayesian regression model for predicting disposed ash composition at U.S. coal fired power stations

This dataset contains the code and data files needed for implementation of a Multivariate Bayesian Regression model, described in Jin et al. (2025), for the historical prediction of the chemical composition of disposed coal ash at U.S. coal fired power plants as a function of annualized coal purchase data. The integrated coal supply data file (CoalSupplyDataset.csv) represents a compilation of monthly fuel purchase records for the period 1973-2022 at major U.S. power stations. These records were obtained from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The CSV file also contains, for each coal purchase record, the coal region of the mine as defined by the U.S. Geological Survey. Data entry errors and data gaps in the EIA records were corrected as described in Jin et al. This CSV file represents the integrated coal supply data after corrections were made. The model structure and fitting parameters are encoded in pickle file format (Bayesian.pkl). The model was developed with the coal supply data and coal ash composition data, apportioned according to the Stratified Shuffle Split for training and testing subsets. The model was built using Python and the PyMC library. Reference Publication: Jin, Z.; Huang, J.; Hower, J.C.; Hsu-Kim, H.(2025). Predictive Assessment of the Chemical Composition of Coal Ash in Reserve at U.S. Disposal Sites. Environmental Science & Technology.

Coal ash composition↗

Improving Computational Efficiency of Mechanical Finite Element Method Simulations for PV Modules: Preprint

In this work we have elucidated the trade off between structural mechanics FEM model accuracy and computation time by employing lower fidelity viscoelastic models. Results indicate that computation time can easily be cut in half while only expecting a potential maximum error of 10 % by considering lower fidelity models. A novel approach to produce the Prony Series fit for viscoelastic characterization has also been presented. Employing this approach, we were able to achieve a further 10 % reduction in computation time without further sacrificing simulation accuracy.

41 EE - Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)↗

Study on neutronics calculation method of SCWR with annular fuel assembly - 26804

Many Supercritical Water Reactor designs have been proposed all over the world. Annular fuel was employed in SCWR by Xi'an JiaoTong University to achieve lower fuel center temperature and lower cladding surface temperature. Different analysis codes have been developed for these designs. In this article, a neutronics calculation code for SCWR with annular fuel is developed. This code is compared with Monte-Carlo code doing both assembly and core calculation. The results showed that the spectra difference of PWRs and SCWRs is the main reason for assembly calculation errors and conventional assembly homogenization method is not suitable for SCWRs. Thus the group-collapsing and spatial-averaging method were studied to improve the accuracy. The few-group structure which contains 14 energy groups is used. The 'super-assembly' model is employed to consider effect of reflector. The results showed that the accuracy of effective multiplication factor and radial power was improved. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Monte Carlo control loops for cosmic shear cosmology with DES Year 1 data

Weak lensing by large-scale structure is a powerful probe of cosmology and of the dark universe. This cosmic shear technique relies on the accurate measurement of the shapes and redshifts of background galaxies and requires precise control of systematic errors. Monte Carlo control loops (MCCL) is a forward modeling method designed to tackle this problem. It relies on the ultra fast image generator (UFig) to produce simulated images tuned to match the target data statistically, followed by calibrations and tolerance loops. Here, we present the first end-to-end application of this method, on the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 wide field imaging data. We simultaneously measure the shear power spectrum $C_ℓ$ and the redshift distribution $n(z)$ of the background galaxy sample. The method includes maps of the systematic sources, point spread function (PSF), an approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) inference of the simulation model parameters, a shear calibration scheme, and a fast method to estimate the covariance matrix. We find a close statistical agreement between the simulations and the DES Y1 data using an array of diagnostics. In a nontomographic setting, we derive a set of $C_ℓ$ and $n(z)$ curves that encode the cosmic shear measurement, as well as the systematic uncertainty. Following a blinding scheme, we measure the combination of $Ω_m$, $σ_8$, and intrinsic alignment amplitude $A_{IA}$, defined as $S_8D_{IA}=σ_8(Ω_m/0.3)^{0.5}D_{IA}$, where $D_{IA}=1-0.11(A_{IA}-1)$. We find $S_8D_{IA}=0.8954_{-0.039}^{+0.054}$, where systematics are at the level of roughly 60% of the statistical errors. We discuss these results in the context of earlier cosmic shear analyses of the DES Y1 data. Our findings indicate that this method and its fast runtime offer good prospects for cosmic shear measurements with future wide-field surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Comparative first-principles studies of prototypical ferroelectric materials by LDA, GGA, and SCAN meta-GGA

Originating from a broken spatial inversion symmetry, ferroelectricity is a functionality of materials with an electric dipole that can be switched by external electric fields. Spontaneous polarization is a crucial ferroelectric property, and its amplitude is determined by the strength of polar structural distortions. Density functional theory (DFT) is one of the most widely used theoretical methods to study ferroelectric properties, yet it is limited by the levels of approximations in electron exchange-correlation. On the one hand, the local density approximation (LDA) is considered to be more accurate for the conventional perovskite ferroelectrics such as BaTiO 3 and PbTiO 3 than the generalized gradient approximation (GGA),which suffers from the so-called super-tetragonality error. On the other hand, GGA is more suitable for hydrogen-bonded ferroelectrics than LDA, which largely overestimates the strength of hydrogen bonding in general. We demonstrate here that the recently developed general-purpose strongly constrained and appropriately normed (SCAN) meta-GGA functional significantly improves over the traditional LDA/GGA for structural, electric, and energetic properties of diversely bonded ferroelectric materials with a comparable computational effort and thus enhances largely the predictive power of DFT in studies of ferroelectric materials. We also address the observed system-dependent performances of LDA and GGA for ferroelectrics from a chemical bonding point of view.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗