Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “argument”

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 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Femtosecond x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy enables direct observations of atomic-scale relaxations of glass forming liquids

Glass-forming liquids exhibit structural relaxation behaviors, reflecting underlying atomic rearrangements on a wide range of timescales and playing a crucial role in determining material properties. However, the relaxation processes on the atomic scale are not well-understood due to the experimental difficulties in directly characterizing the evolving correlations of atomic-scale order in disordered systems. Here, in this study, we harness the coherence and ultrashort pulse characteristics of an x-ray free electron laser to directly probe atomic-scale ultrafast relaxation dynamics in the model system Ge 15 Te 85 . We demonstrate an analysis strategy for determining the intermediate scattering function by extracting the contrast decay of summed scattering patterns from two rapidly successive, nearly identical femtosecond x-ray pulses generated by a split-delay system. The result indicates a full decorrelation of atomic-scale order on the sub-picosecond timescale, supporting the argument for a high-fluidity fragile state of liquid Ge 15 Te 85 above its dynamic crossover temperature. The demonstrated strategy opens an avenue for experimental studies of relaxation dynamics in liquids, glasses, and other highly disordered systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Foundations of magnetohydrodynamics

In this tutorial, a derivation of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) valid beyond the usual ideal gas approximation is presented. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is used to obtain conservation equations and linear constitutive relations. When coupled with Maxwell's equations, this provides closed fluid equations in terms of material properties of the plasma, described by the equation of state and transport coefficients. These properties are connected to microscopic dynamics using the Irving–Kirkwood procedure and Green–Kubo relations. Symmetry arguments and the Onsager–Casimir relations allow one to vastly simplify the number of independent coefficients. Importantly, expressions for current density, heat flux, and stress (conventionally Ohm's law, Fourier's law, and Newton's law) take different forms in systems with a non-ideal equation of state. The traditional form of the MHD equations, which is usually obtained from a Chapman–Enskog solution of the Boltzmann equation, corresponds to the ideal gas limit of the general equations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

A charged particle transport approximation for thick and thin plasmas

In this work, we will construct a simple method to be utilized in the interpretation of the properties of a thin plasma from a study of the transport of charged particles through it. We do so by first demonstrating how charged particle fluxes encode local plasma information in their spectra for sufficiently thick plasmas and then propose how to extend that analysis to the thin plasma limit where the extensive geometry cannot be neglected through arguments from scale separation. We provide a numerical treatment of the transport problem and demonstrate that it is in good agreement with the approximation we present. Finally, we utilize both the numerical solution and our novel approximation to study the impact of the extensive scale of the plasma on the yield and flux normalized high-energy neutron spectra resulting from the upscattering of charged fuel ions. Using this analysis, we show that (after controlling for fusion yield) for the same uniform densities and temperatures, larger plasmas have higher magnitude but softer reaction-in-flight (RIF) neutron spectra relative to smaller plasmas. This is because larger plasmas retain more knocked-on suprathermal ions within their bulk and can downscatter them to lower average energies, while smaller plasmas allow a larger fraction of high energy particles to “range out” of the system prior to substantial downscattering or inducing an RIF reaction.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effects of phase singularity in the interference of two laser fields with a wide spectrum

The interference of laser beams with a wide spectrum is studied theoretically and numerically. It is shown that in the cross section of such intersecting beams in a small vicinity of zero of the complex mutual coherence function, the change in the argument of the slow amplitude of this function corresponds to the phase singularity. An approximate analytical representation of the mutual coherence function in the vicinity of the singularity point is given. It is found that an average ‘funnel’ diameter of the modulus of the mutual coherence function that arises in the singularity region does not depend on the intensity of the light beams and remains constant when the longitudinal coordinate changes. The emergence of phase dislocations in the interference pattern is established. (laser beams)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2010

Bifurcation diagram and the discriminant of a spectral curve of integrable systems on Lie algebras

A bifurcation diagram is a stratified (in general, nonclosed) set and is one of the efficient tools of studying the topology of the Liouville foliation. In the framework of the present paper, the coincidence of the closure of a bifurcation diagram {Sigma}-bar of the moment map defined by functions obtained by the method of argument shift with the closure of the discriminant D-bar{sub z} of a spectral curve is proved for the Lie algebras sl(n+1), sp(2n), so(2n+1), and g{sub 2}. Moreover, it is proved that these sets are distinct for the Lie algebra so(2n). Bibliography: 22 titles.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2011

Self-affine polytopes. Applications to functional equations and matrix theory

A special kind of functional equation with compression of the argument--the affine self-similarity equation--is studied. The earlier known one-dimensional self-similarity equations are generalized to the multidimensional case of functions of several variables. A criterion for the existence and uniqueness of an L{sub p}-solution is established. Description of such equations involves classification of finite-dimensional convex self-affine compact sets. In this work properties of such objects are thoroughly analysed; in particular, a counterexample to the well-known conjecture about the structure of such bodies, which was put forward in 1991, is given. Applications of the results obtained include some facts about the convergence of products of stochastic matrices; also, criteria for the convergence of some subdivision algorithms are suggested. Bibliography: 39 titles.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Vectors of a given Diophantine type. II

We prove the existence of a family of vectors with continuum many elements v element of R{sup s} admitting infinitely many simultaneous ({phi}(p)/p{sup 1/s})(1+B{center_dot}{phi}{sup 1+1/s}(p))-approximations and admitting no simultaneous ({phi}(p)/p{sup 1/s})(1-B{center_dot}{phi}{sup 1+1/s}(p))-approximation. We prove that for 0<t{<=}T the closed interval [t,t(1+16B{center_dot}t{sup 1+1/s})] contains an element of the s-dimensional Lagrange spectrum. Here A, B and T stand for some positive constants depending on the dimension s only and {phi} is a positive nonincreasing function of positive integer argument such that {phi}(1){<=}A. Bibliography: 5 titles.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2013

On the structure of self-affine convex bodies

We study the structure of convex bodies in R{sup d} that can be represented as a union of their affine images with no common interior points. Such bodies are called self-affine. Vallet's conjecture on the structure of self-affine bodies was proved for d = 2 by Richter in 2011. In the present paper we disprove the conjecture for all d≥3 and derive a detailed description of self-affine bodies in R{sup 3}. Also we consider the relation between properties of self-affine bodies and functional equations with a contraction of an argument. Bibliography: 10 titles.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Polynomial solutions of the Monge-Ampère equation

The question of the existence of polynomial solutions to the Monge-Ampère equation z{sub xx}z{sub yy}−z{sub xy}{sup 2}=f(x,y) is considered in the case when f(x,y) is a polynomial. It is proved that if f is a polynomial of the second degree, which is positive for all values of its arguments and has a positive squared part, then no polynomial solution exists. On the other hand, a solution which is not polynomial but is analytic in the whole of the x, y-plane is produced. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of polynomial solutions of degree up to 4 are found and methods for the construction of such solutions are indicated. An approximation theorem is proved. Bibliography: 10 titles.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

An asymptotic expansion of the solution of a matrix difference equation of general form

An asymptotic expansion of the solution of an inhomogeneous matrix difference equation of general form is obtained. The case when there is no bound on the differences of the arguments is considered. The effect of the roots of the characteristic equation is taken into account. An integral estimate with a submultiplicative weight is established for the remainder in terms of the submultiplicative moment of the free term of the equation. Bibliography: 14 titles.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Compact noncontraction semigroups of affine operators

We analyze compact multiplicative semigroups of affine operators acting in a finite-dimensional space. The main result states that every such semigroup is either contracting, that is, contains elements of arbitrarily small operator norm, or all its operators share a common invariant affine subspace on which this semigroup is contracting. The proof uses functional difference equations with contraction of the argument. We look at applications to self-affine partitions of convex sets, the investigation of finite affine semigroups and the proof of a criterion of primitivity for nonnegative matrix families. Bibliography: 32 titles.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Variational structure of Luttinger–Ward formalism and bold diagrammatic expansion for Euclidean lattice field theory

Significance Many-body perturbation theory is one of the pillars of quantum many-body physics and has been used extensively to predict ground-state and excited-state electronic properties of real materials in the past few decades. Nonetheless, few practically used methods in many-body perturbation theory have been justified on a rigorous basis. We present a variational formalism that can be used for the rigorous study of a number of many-body perturbation methods in Euclidean lattice field theory. In particular, this perspective allows us to justify the widely used bold Feynman diagrammatic expansion, without relying on formal arguments such as partial resummation of Feynman diagrams to infinite order.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

High aspect ratio nanotubes assembled from macrocyclic iminium salts

One-dimensional nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes and actin filaments rely on strong and directional interactions to stabilize their high aspect ratio shapes. This requirement has precluded making isolated, long, thin organic nanotubes by stacking molecular macrocycles, as their noncovalent stacking interactions are generally too weak. Here we report high aspect ratio (>10 3 ), lyotropic nanotubes of stacked, macrocyclic, iminium salts, which are formed by protonation of the corresponding imine-linked macrocycles. Iminium ion formation establishes cohesive interactions that, in organic solvent (tetrahydrofuran), are two orders of magnitude stronger than the neutral macrocycles, as explained by physical arguments and demonstrated by molecular dynamics simulations. Furthermore, nanotube formation stabilizes the iminium ions, which otherwise rapidly hydrolyze, and is reversed and restored upon addition of bases and acids. Acids generated by irradiating a photoacid generator or sonicating chlorinated solvents also induced nanotube assembly, allowing these nanostructures to be coupled to diverse stimuli, and, once assembled, they can be fixed permanently by cross-linking their pendant alkenes. As large macrocyclic chromonic liquid crystals, these iminium salts are easily accessible through a modular design and provide a means to rationally synthesize structures that mimic the morphology and rheology of carbon nanotubes and biological tubules.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Fluidization of collisionless plasma turbulence

In a collisionless, magnetized plasma, particles may stream freely along magnetic field lines, leading to “phase mixing” of their distribution function and consequently, to smoothing out of any “compressive” fluctuations (of density, pressure, etc.). This rapid mixing underlies Landau damping of these fluctuations in a quiescent plasma—one of the most fundamental physical phenomena that makes plasma different from a conventional fluid. Nevertheless, broad power law spectra of compressive fluctuations are observed in turbulent astrophysical plasmas (most vividly, in the solar wind) under conditions conducive to strong Landau damping. Elsewhere in nature, such spectra are normally associated with fluid turbulence, where energy cannot be dissipated in the inertial-scale range and is, therefore, cascaded from large scales to small. By direct numerical simulations and theoretical arguments, it is shown here that turbulence of compressive fluctuations in collisionless plasmas strongly resembles one in a collisional fluid and does have broad power law spectra. This “fluidization” of collisionless plasmas occurs, because phase mixing is strongly suppressed on average by “stochastic echoes,” arising due to nonlinear advection of the particle distribution by turbulent motions. Other than resolving the long-standing puzzle of observed compressive fluctuations in the solar wind, our results suggest a conceptual shift for understanding kinetic plasma turbulence generally: rather than being a system where Landau damping plays the role of dissipation, a collisionless plasma is effectively dissipationless, except at very small scales. The universality of “fluid” turbulence physics is thus reaffirmed even for a kinetic, collisionless system.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Out-of-plane carrier spin in transition-metal dichalcogenides under electric current

Significance Although out-of-plane current-induced spin polarization (CISP) is important for perpendicular-magnetization reorientation, and it has been realized by the crystalline symmetry breaking, its material examples are relatively fewer compared with in-plane CISP in Rashba systems. With the help of intrinsic spin–orbit coupling, an intriguing out-of-plane CISP is designed in transition-metal dichalcogenides by the symmetry breaking in the spin space, which provides opportunities for out-of-plane magnetization rotation and electric control of valley splitting. Moreover, the spin polarization is associated with valley-dependent responses to electric current and adds a dimension, valley degree of freedom, to the study of CISP. The symmetry argument and non-Rashba effective model also helps to illuminate these physics and broaden the scope of the CISP.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Electrostatic shape control of a charged molecular membrane from ribbon to scroll

Bilayers of amphiphiles can organize into spherical vesicles, nanotubes, planar, undulating, and helical nanoribbons, and scroll-like cochleates. These bilayer-related architectures interconvert under suitable conditions. Here, a charged, chiral amphiphile (palmitoyl-lysine, C 16 -K 1 ) is used to elucidate the pathway for planar nanoribbon to cochleate transition induced by salt (NaCl) concentration. In situ small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS), atomic force and cryogenic transmission electron microscopies (AFM and cryo-TEM) tracked these transformations over angstrom to micrometer length scales. AFM reveals that the large length (L) to width (W) ratio nanoribbons (L/W > 10) convert to sheets (L/W → 1) before rolling into cochleates. Furthermore, a theoretical model based on electrostatic and surface energies shows that the nanoribbons convert to sheets via a first-order transition, at a critical Debye length, with 2 shallow minima of the order of thermal energy at L/W >> 1 and at L/W = 1. SAXS shows that interbilayer spacing ( D ) in the cochleates scales linearly with the Debye length, and ranges from 13 to 35 nm for NaCl concentrations from 100 to 5 mM. Theoretical arguments that include electrostatic and elastic energies explain the membrane rolling and the bilayer separation–Debye length relationship. These models suggest that the salt-induced ribbon to cochleate transition should be common to all charged bilayers possessing an intrinsic curvature, which in the present case originates from molecular chirality. Our studies show how electrostatic interactions can be tuned to attain and control cochleate structures, which have potential for encapsulating, and releasing macromolecules in a size-selective manner.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Signatures of a liquid–liquid transition in an ab initio deep neural network model for water

Significance Water is central across much of the physical and biological sciences and exhibits physical properties that are qualitatively distinct from those of most other liquids. Understanding the microscopic basis of water’s peculiar properties remains an active area of research. One intriguing hypothesis is that liquid water can separate into metastable high- and low-density liquid phases at low temperatures and high pressures, and the existence of this liquid–liquid transition could explain many of water’s anomalous properties. We used state-of-the-art approaches in computational quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics, and machine learning and obtained evidence consistent with a liquid–liquid transition, supporting the argument for the existence of this phenomenon in real water.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗