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At least 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

Depolarization of an uncollimated laser beam in a turbulent medium

The depolarization of a beam wave, with Gaussian intensity distribution and arbitrary divergence, propagating in a turbulent medium is considered. The correlation function of the depolarized component of the beam is determined. The mean-square depolarization fluctuation is then determined for a medium characterized by a Kolmogorov spectrum. If the beam is assumed to be collimated, this expression reduces to that of Collett and Alferness; if the plane-wave limiting case of the Gaussian beam is taken, the results in this paper agree with those of Strohbehn. The results show that off the beam axis the depolarization can be greater than for the plane wave, and that near the beam focal point the depolarization may decrease by orders of magnitude.

Chang, F. C.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Gravitational waves from stochastic scalar fluctuations

Here, we present a novel mechanism for gravitational wave generation in the early Universe. Light spectator scalar fields during inflation can acquire a blue-tilted power spectrum due to stochastic effects. We show that this effect can lead to large curvature perturbations at small scales (induced by the spectator field fluctuations) while maintaining the observed, slightly red-tilted curvature perturbations at large cosmological scales (induced by the inflaton fluctuations). Along with other observational signatures, such as enhanced dark matter substructure, large curvature perturbations can induce a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB). The predicted strength of SGWB in our scenario, Ω GW ⁢ℎ 2 ≃10 -20 -10 -15 , can be observed with future detectors, operating between 10 -5 Hz and 10 Hz. We note that, in order to accommodate the newly reported NANOGrav observation, one could consider the same class of spectator models. At the same time, one would need to go beyond the simple benchmark considered here and consider a regime in which a misalignment contribution is also important.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

SPT-3G D1: Constraints on inflationary gravitational waves with two years of SPT-3G data

Here, we present a measurement of the 𝐵-mode polarization power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies at 32 ≤ ℓ < 502 for three bands centered at 95, 150, and 220 GHz using data from the SPT-3G receiver on the South Pole Telescope. This work uses SPT-3G observations from the 2019 and 2020 winter observing seasons of a ∼1500 deg 2 patch of sky that directly overlaps with fields observed with the BICEP/Keck family of telescopes and covers part of the proposed Simons Observatory and CMB-S4 deep fields. Employing new techniques for mitigating polarized atmospheric noise, the SPT-3G data demonstrates a white noise level of 9.3 (6.7) μ⁢K−arcmin at ℓ ∼500 for the 95 GHz (150 GHz) data, with a 1/ℓ noise knee at ℓ = 128 (182). We fit the observed six auto- and cross-frequency 𝐵-mode power spectra to a model including lensed Λ⁢CDM 𝐵-modes and a combination of Galactic and extragalactic foregrounds. This work characterizes foregrounds in the vicinity of the BICEP/Keck survey area, finding foreground power consistent with that reported by the BICEP/Keck collaboration within the same region and a factor of ∼3 higher power over the full SPT-3G survey area. Using SPT-3G data over the BICEP/Keck survey area, we place a 95% upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio of 𝑟 <0.25 and find the statistical uncertainty on 𝑟 to be 𝜎⁡(𝑟) = 0.067.

Zebrowski, J. A. [University of Chicago; Universit↗
NASA NTRS2016

Cryogenic Selective Surfaces

There are many challenges involved in deep-space exploration, but several of these can be mitigated, or even solved, by the development of a coating that can reject most of the Sun's energy and yet still provide some far-infrared heat emission. Such a coating would allow non-heat-generating objects in space to reach cryogenic temperatures without using an active cooling system. This would be a benefit to deep-space sensors that require low temperatures, such as the James Webb Telescope focal plane array. It would also allow the use of superconductors in deep space, which could lead to magnetic energy storage rings, lossless power delivery, or perhaps a large-volume magnetic shield against galactic cosmic radiation. But perhaps the most significant enablement achieved from such a coating would be the long-term storage in deep space of cryogenic liquids, such as liquid oxygen (LOX).In this report, we review the state of the art in low-temperature coatings and calculate the lowest temperatures each of these can achieve, demonstrating that cryogenic temperatures cannot be reached in deep space in this fashion. We then propose a new coating that does allow coated objects in deep space to achieve the very low temperatures required to store liquid oxygen or nitrogen. These new coatings consist of a moderately thick scattering layer (typically 5 mm) composed of a material transparent to most of the solar spectrum. This layer acts as a scatterer to the Sun's light, performing the same process as titanium dioxide in white paint in the visible. Under that layer, we place a metallic reflector, e.g. silver, to reflect long-wave radiation that is not well scattered. The result is a coating we call "Solar White," in that it scatters most of the solar spectrum just as white paint does for the visible. Our modeling of these coatings has shown that temperatures as low as 50 K can be reached for a coated object fully exposed to sunlight at 1 AU from the Sun and far from the Earth.In the second half of the report we explore a mission application of this coating in order to show that it allows LOX to be carried on a mission to Mars. Heat can reach a LOX tank in five ways: direct radiation from the Sun, scattered or reflected radiation from the Sun off of spacecraft components, radiation from nearby planets or the Moon, radiation from the infrared emission of other parts of the spacecraft, and conduction along support struts and flow lines. We discuss these and sum their total contribution when using a Solar White coating to demonstrate an architecture that allows the transportation of LOX to Mars. After this, other applications of Solar White are listed.

Cryogenic Materials↗
NASA NTRS1991

The vibrational spectrum of H2O3: An ab initio investigation

Theoretically determined frequencies and absorption intensities are reported for the vibrational spectrum of the covalent HOOOH and hydrogen bonded HO---HOO intermediates that may form in the reaction of the hydroxyl and hydroperoxyl radicals. Basis sets of DZP quality, augmented by diffuse and second sets of polarization functions have been used with CASSCF wave functions. The calculated harmonic vibrational frequencies of HOOOH have been corrected with empirical factors and presented in the form of a 'stick' spectrum. The oxygen backbone vibrations, predicted to occur at 519, 760, and 870 cm(exp -1), are well separated from most interferences, and may be the most useful for the species' identification. In the case of the hydrogen bonded isomer, emphasis has been placed upon prediction of the shifts in the intramolecular vibrational frequencies that take place upon formation of the complex. In particular, the HO stretch and HOO bend of HO2 are predicted to have shifts of -59 and 53 cm(exp -1), respectively, which should facilitate their identification. It is also noted that the antisymmetric stretching frequency of the oxygen backbone in HOOOH exhibits a strong sensitivity to the degree of electron correlation, such as has been previously observed for the same mode in ozone.

Jackels, Charles F.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Stochastic gravitational wave background from global cosmic strings

Global cosmic strings are generically predicted in particle physics beyond the Standard Model, e.g., a post-inflationary global U(1) symmetry breaking which may associate with axion-like dark matter. Here, we demonstrate that although subdominant to Goldstone emission, gravitational waves (GWs) radiated from global strings can be observable with current/future GW detectors. The frequency spectrum of such GWs is also shown to be a powerful tool to probe the Hubble expansion rate of the Universe at times prior to the Big Bang nucleosynthesis where the standard cosmology has yet to be tested.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Updated systematics of intermediate-energy single-nucleon removal cross sections

The body of experimental measurements of intermediate-energy reactions that remove a single nucleon from a secondary beam of neutron- or proton-rich nuclei continues to grow. These data have been analyzed consistently using an approximate, eikonal-model treatment of the reaction dynamics combined with appropriate shell-model descriptions of the projectile initial state, the bound final states spectrum of the reaction residue, and single-particle removal strengths computed from their wave-function overlaps. Here, the systematics of the ratio R s of the measured inclusive cross section to all bound final states and the calculated cross section to bound shell-model states—in different regions of the nuclear chart and involving both very weakly bound and strongly bound valence nucleons—is important in relating the empirically deduced orbital occupancies to those from the best available shell-model predictions. Importantly, several new higher-energy measurements, for which the sudden-approximation aspect of the dynamical description is placed on an even stronger footing, now supplement the previously analyzed measurements. These additional data sets are discussed. Their R s values are shown to conform to and reinforce the earlier-observed systematics, with no indication that the approximately linear reduction in R s with increasing nucleon separation energy is a consequence of a breakdown of the sudden approximation.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Emergent pair density wave order across a Lifshitz transition

We numerically investigate the telltale signs of pair-density-wave order (PDW) in the Kondo-Heisenberg chain by focusing on the momentum resolved spectrum in different parameter regimes. Density matrix renormalization group calculations reveal that this phase is characterized by a dispersion with two minima and four Fermi points, indicating the emergence of an effective next-nearest-neighbor hopping that arises as a second-order effect to avoid magnetic frustration. The pairs appear in the spectrum as in-gap bound states with weight concentrated in the hole pockets. The low-energy physics can be understood by means of a generalized t−J model with next-nearest-neighbor hopping. Our results offer a guide for searching for experimental signatures, and for other models that can realize PDW physics.

Yang, Luhang [University of Tennessee Knoxville]↗
NASA NTRS1973

Solar millimeter bursts

Solar burst observations in the region above 10 GHz (wavelengths less than 3 cm.) are discussed. Observations have shown that many major solar events have large millimeter wave components. The total burst radio energy is frequently concentrated in this part of the spectrum. Graphs are presented showing the peak flux density spectrum for bursts on specific dates. Microwave burst mean duration is plotted as a function of the particle energy.

Croom, D. L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Three-dimensional ion sound turbulence

A fast cold large diameter electron beam is injected into a uniform background plasma. The injected beam current is balanced by a field-aligned return current which gives rise to an ion acoustic instability. The plasma is essentially unbounded and collisionless on the time scale of the pulsed experiment. The fluctuations are analyzed by probe techniques in real time and space as well as in the frequency and wavenumber domains. Strong density fluctuations are observed in the entire ion acoustic spectrum reaching peak amplitudes at the low frequency end. The propagation of phase coherent test waves in the current carrying plasma is investigated. For the highly turbulent regime strong damping is observed while at lower drift velocities direction is observed. Oblique propagation of two strong test waves at different frequencies indicate the role of nonlinear ion Landau damping in absorption of wave energy.

Stenzel, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Nonlinear evolution of the collisionless tearing mode

For a broad k vector spectrum, the collisionless tearing mode grows linearly until the Landau electrons become magnetized by the wave field. The electrons then spatially diffuse as a result of turbulent magnetic-gradient drifts which leads to a nonlinearly enhanced growth rate. At large amplitudes the nonlinear growth rate is dominated by ions.

Coroniti, F. V.↗
NASA NTRS1983

On the interaction of a sound pulse with the shear layer of an axisymmetric jet. II - Heated jets

The fluctuating field of a heated jet excited by a sound pulse is simulated numerically. The fluctuations in both the flow field and the far field are studied. The flow field results depend crucially on the stability properties of the heated jet. The altered stability properties due to the heating cause a reduction in the overall fluctuations and a shift of the instability waves into lower frequencies. These changes cause a similar downward shift in the far field spectrum and a reduction in the total far field noise. The results provide a partial explanation in terms of stability theory of experimentally observed properties of the noise of heated jets.

Bayliss, A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

General circulation of the middle atmosphere, part 1.4B

In both the tropical and extratropical regions there are a large number of dynamical problems which can be addressed by mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere (MST) radars. The distinct advantage the MST radar has over rocket observations is continuous data acquisition. Without a doubt, the time-space spectrum of the mesospheric flow field is rich in high frequency motions associated with gravity waves rather than turbulent (random) fluctuations, and these events are particularly amenable to analysis with continuous data sets. In addition to the high frequency motions these are longer period fluctuations in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere wind fields which, combined with temperature fields derived from satellite data or lidars, can greatly enhance our knowledge of the upper atmosphere.

Schoeberl, M. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Cosmic physics data analysis program

A data analysis program was carried out to investigate the intensity, propagation, and origin of primary Cosmic Ray Galactic electrons. Scanning was carried out on two new balloon flight experiments as well as the border area of previous experiments. The identification and evaluation of the energies of the primary electrons were carried out. A new analysis of these data were incorporated into an overall evaluation of the roll of electrons in the problem of the origin of cosmic rays. Recent measurements indicate that the earth may be within the expanding Geminga supernova shock wave which is expected to have a major effect upon the propagation and the energy spectrum of galactic electrons. Calculations with the Geminga model indicate that the cut-off energy may be very close to the observed highest energy electrons in our analysis.

Wilkes, R. Jeffrey↗
NASA NTRS1994

A complex symbol signal-to-noise ratio estimator and its performance

This article presents an algorithm for estimating the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of signals that contain data on a downconverted suppressed carrier or the first harmonic of a square-wave subcarrier. This algorithm can be used to determine the performance of the full-spectrum combiner for the Galileo S-band (2.2- to 2.3-GHz) mission by measuring the input and output symbol SNR. A performance analysis of the algorithm shows that the estimator can estimate the complex symbol SNR using 10,000 symbols at a true symbol SNR of -5 dB with a mean of -4.9985 dB and a standard deviation of 0.2454 dB, and these analytical results are checked by simulations of 100 runs with a mean of -5.06 dB and a standard deviation of 0.2506 dB.

Feria, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Atmospheric effects on the risetime and waveshape of sonic booms

Accurate prediction of human response to sonic booms from proposed HSCT aircraft depends on a knowledge of the waveshape and risetime of the boom at the ground. In previous work, we have developed a numerical technique to predict the combined effects of molecular absorption and finite wave distortion on the sonic boom as it propagates from the aircraft to the top of the turbulent boundary layer. We have more recently developed a scattering center based model to calculate the effects of turbulence on the sonic boom waveform as it propagates through this boundary layer. Calculations have been performed using single scales of turbulence and compared to measurements at Edwards AFB in the late 1960's. A model of the atmosphere involving two scales each for convective and mechanical turbulence has been developed and fit to meteorological data collected during JAPE 2. Scattering calculations employing this model underpredict the number of unperturbed waveforms. In order to develop a more realistic model of the atmosphere, the JAPE 2 meteorological data has been fit to a von Karman spectrum. Results of scattering using this multi-scale model will be presented. The combination of finite wave effects with turbulent scattering predictions includes the principal effects of the atmosphere on the sonic boom from the HSCT.

Raspet, Richard↗
NASA NTRS1985

A study of the stress wave factor technique for the characterization of composite materials

This study has investigated the potential of the Stress Wave Factor as an NDT technique for thin composite laminates. The conventional SWF and an alternate method for quantifying the SWF were investigated. Agreement between the initial SWF number, ultrasonic C-scan, inplane displacements as obtained by full field moire interferometry, and the failure location have been observed. The SWF number was observed to be the highest when measured along the fiber direction and the lowest when measured across the fibers. The alternate method for quantifying the SWF used square root of the zeroth moment (square root of M sub o) of the frequency spectrum of the received signal as a quantitative parameter. From this study it therefore appears that the stress wave factor has an excellent potential to monitor damage development in thin composite laminates.

Govada, A. K.↗