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At least 1,153 records · Page 64
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Microscopic mechanism of unusual lattice thermal transport in TlInTe 2

We investigate the microscopic mechanism of ultralow lattice thermal conductivity (κ l ) of TlInTe 2 and its weak temperature dependence using a unified theory of lattice heat transport, that considers contributions arising from the particle-like propagation as well as wave-like tunneling of phonons. While we use the Peierls–Boltzmann transport equation (PBTE) to calculate the particle-like contributions (κ l (PBTE)), we explicitly calculate the off-diagonal (OD) components of the heat-flux operator within a first-principles density functional theory framework to determine the contributions (κ l (OD)) arising from the wave-like tunneling of phonons. At each temperature, T, we anharmonically renormalize the phonon frequencies using the self-consistent phonon theory including quartic anharmonicity, and utilize them to calculate κ l (PBTE) and κ l (OD). With the combined inclusion of κ l (PBTE), κ l (OD), and additional grain-boundary scatterings, our calculations successfully reproduce the experimental results. Our analysis shows that large quartic anharmonicity of TlInTe 2 (a) strongly hardens the low-energy phonon branches, (b) diminishes the three-phonon scattering processes at finite T, and (c) recovers the weaker than T –1 decay of the measured κ l .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Coupled nuclear–electronic decay dynamics of O2 inner valence excited states revealed by attosecond XUV wave-mixing spectroscopy

Multiple Rydberg series converging to the $O_2^+$ c $^{4}Σ^{-}_{u}$ state, accessed by 20-25 eV extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light, serve as important model systems for the competition between nuclear dissociation and electronic autoionization. The dynamics of the lowest member of these series, the $3sσ_g $ state around 21 eV, has been challenging to study owing to its ultra-short lifetime (<10 fs). Here, we apply transient wave-mixing spectroscopy with an attosecond XUV pulse to investigate the decay dynamics of this electronic state. Lifetimes of 5.8 ± 0.5 fs and 4.5 ± 0.7 fs at 95% confidence intervals are obtained for v = 0 and v = 1 vibrational levels of the 3s Rydberg state, respectively. A theoretical treatment of predissociation and electronic autoionization finds that these lifetimes are dominated by electronic autoionization. The strong dependence of the electronic autoionization rate on the internuclear distance because of two ionic decay channels that cross the 3s Rydberg state results in the different lifetimes of the two vibrational levels. The calculated lifetimes are highly sensitive to the location of the 3s potential with respect to the decay channels; by slight adjustment of the location, values of 6.2 and 5.0 fs are obtained computationally for the v = 0 and v = 1 levels, respectively, in good agreement with experiment. Overall, an intriguing picture of the coupled nuclear-electronic dynamics is revealed by attosecond XUV wave-mixing spectroscopy, indicating that the decay dynamics are not a simple competition between isolated autoionization and predissociation processes.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Comparison of two HPGe counting system used in activation studies for nuclear astrophysics

The activation method is a widely used technique to measure charged-particle induced cross sections for astrophys-ical applications. This two step technique is used for example to measure alpha-induced cross sections in γ-process related studies. The first step – in which a target is irradiated with a proton/alpha beam – is followed by the determination of the produced activity. Especially in p-process related studies in the heavier mass range, the produced radioactive nuclei decays mainly with electron-capture, resulting intense x-rays. The activity of the reaction products hence can be determine via the counting of these x-rays, and not only by counting the usually much weaker γ-rays. In this paper we compare the minimum detectable activity (MDA) of two High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detectors used for x- and γ-ray counting in activation experiments.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

period -1 encodes an ATP-dependent RNA helicase that influences nutritional compensation of the Neurospora circadian clock

Mutants in the period -1 ( prd­ -1) gene, characterized by a recessive allele, display a reduced growth rate and period lengthening of the developmental cycle controlled by the circadian clock. We refined the genetic location of prd­ -1 and used whole genome sequencing to find the mutation defining it, confirming the identity of prd­ -1 by rescuing the mutant circadian phenotype via transformation. PRD-1 is an RNA helicase whose orthologs, DDX5 and DDX17 in humans and Dbp2p in yeast, are implicated in various processes including transcriptional regulation, elongation, and termination, 23 ribosome biogenesis, and RNA decay. Although prd­ -1smutantssiois an ATP-dependent RNA helicase, member of a sub-family display a long period (~25 hrs) circadian developmental cycle, they interestingly display a wild type period when the core circadian oscillator is tracked using a frq -luciferase transcriptional fusion under conditions of limiting nutritional carbon; the core oscillator runs with a long period under glucose-sufficient conditions. Furthermore PRD-1 clearly impacts the circadian oscillator and is not only part of a metabolic oscillator ancillary to the core clock. PRD-1 is an essential protein and its expression is neither light-regulated nor clock-regulated. However, it is transiently induced by glucose; in the presence of sufficient glucose PRD-1 is in the nucleus until glucose runs out which elicits its disappearance from the nucleus. Because circadian period length is carbon concentration-dependent, prd­ -1 may be formally viewed as clock mutant with defective nutritional compensation of circadian period length.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

The hadronic origin of the hard gamma-ray spectrum from blazar 1ES 1101-232

The very hard γ-ray spectrum from distant blazars challenges the traditional synchrotron self-Compton (SSC) model, which may indicate that there is a contribution from an additional high-energy component beyond the SSC emission. In this paper, we study the possible origin of the hard γ-ray spectrum from distant blazars. We develop a model to explain the hard γ-ray spectrum from blazar 1ES 1101-232. In the model, the optical and X-ray radiation would come from the synchrotron radiation of primary electrons and secondary pairs and the GeV emission would be produced by the SSC process, however, the hard γ-ray spectrum would originate from the decay of neutral pion produced through proton-photon interactions with the synchrotron radiation photons within the jet. Our model can explain the observed spectral energy distribution of 1ES 1101-232 well, especially the very hard γ-ray spectrum. However, our model requires a very large proton power to efficiently produce the γ-ray through proton-photon interactions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Effective action approach for preheating

Abstract We present a semiclassical non-perturbative approach for calculating the preheating process at the end of inflation. Our method involves integrating out the decayed particles within the path integral framework and subsequently determining world-line instanton solutions in the effective action. This enables us to obtain the effective action of the inflaton, with its imaginary part linked to the phenomenon of particle creation driven by coherent inflaton field oscillations. Additionally, we utilize the Bogoliubov transformation to investigate the evolution of particle density within the medium after multiple inflaton oscillations. We apply our approach to various final state particles, including scalar fields, tachyonic fields, and gauge fields. The non-perturbative approach provides analytical results for preheating that are in accord with previous methods.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2016

Measurement of scintillation and ionization yield with high-pressure gaseous mixtures of Xe and TMA for improved neutrinoless double beta decay and dark matter searches

The gaseous Xenon(Xe) time projection chamber (TPC) is an attractive detector technique for neutrinoless double beta decay and WIMP dark matter searches. While it is less dense compared to Liquid Xe detectors, it has intrinsic advantages in tracking capability and better energy resolution. The performance of gaseous Xe can be further improved by molecular additives such as trimethylamine(TMA), which is expected to (1) cool down the ionization electrons, (2) convert Xe excitation energy to TMA ionizations through Penning transfer, and (3) produce scintillation and electroluminescence light in a more easily detectable wavelength (300 nm). In order to test the feasibility of the performance improvements with TMA, in this paper we made the first direct measurement of Penning and fluorescence transfer efficiency with gaseous mixtures of Xe and TMA. While we observed a Penning transfer efficiency up to ~35%, we found strong suppression of primary scintillation light with TMA. We also found that the primary scintillation light with Xe and TMA mixture can be well characterized by ~3% fluorescence transfer from Xe to TMA, with further suppression due to TMA self-quenching. No evidence of the scintillation light produced by recombination of TMA ions was found. This strong suppression of scintillation light makes dark matter searches quite challenging, while the possibility of improved neutrinoless double beta decay searches remains open. Finally, this work has been carried out within the context of the NEXT collaboration.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantum speed limit for the out-of-time-ordered correlator from an open-system perspective

Scrambling, the delocalization of initially localized quantum information, is commonly characterized by the out-of-time-ordered correlator (OTOC). Employing the OTOC–Renyi-2 entropy theorem, we derive a quantum speed limit for the OTOC, which sets a lower bound for the rate with which information can be scrambled. This bound becomes particularly tractable by describing the scrambling of information in a closed quantum system as an effective decoherence process of an open system interacting with an environment. We prove that decay of the OTOC can be bounded by the strength of the system-environment coupling and two-point environmental correlation functions. We validate our analytic bound numerically using the nonintegrable transverse field Ising model. Furthermore, our results provide a universal and model-agnostic quantitative framework for understanding the dynamical limits of information spreading across quantum many-body physics, condensed matter systems, and engineered quantum platforms.

Fermions↗
DOE OSTI2014

Search for B 0 → p Λ ¯ π – γ at Belle

We search for the charmless B 0 decay with final state particles p¯Λπ – γ using the full data sample that contains 772 × 10 6 BB¯ pairs collected at the Υ(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e + e – collider. Here, this decay is predicted to proceed predominantly via the b → sγ radiative penguin process with a high energy photon. No significant signal is found. As a result, we set an upper limit of 6.5 × 10 –7 for the branching fraction of B 0 → p¯Λπ – γ at the 90% confidence level.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Origin of the tentative AMS antihelium events

We demonstrate that the tentative detection of a few antihelium events with the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on board the International Space Station can, in principle, be ascribed to the annihilation or decay of Galactic dark matter, when accounting for uncertainties in the coalescence process leading to the formation of antinuclei. We show that the predicted antiproton rate, assuming the antihelium events came from dark matter, is marginally consistent with AMS data, as is the antideuteron rate with current available constraints. We argue that a dark matter origin can be tested with better constraints on the coalescence process, better control of misidentified events, and with future antideuteron data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

TOF SIMS analysis and generation of white photoluminescence from strontium silicate codoped with europium and terbium

White light emitting terbium (Tb{sup 3+}) and europium (Eu{sup 3+}) codoped strontium silicate (Sr{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}) phosphors were prepared by a solid state reaction process. The structure, particle morphology, chemical composition, ion distribution, photoluminescence (PL), and decay characteristics of the phosphors were analyzed by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), and PL spectroscopy, respectively. The XRD data showed that our Sr{sub 2}SiO{sub 4} composed of two phases, namely, β-Sr{sub 2}SiO{sub 4} and α′-Sr{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}, and the α′-Sr{sub 2}SiO{sub 4} phase was more prominent than the β-Sr{sub 2}SiO{sub 4} phase. The SEM micrographs showed that the particles were agglomerated together and they did not have definite shapes. All ions (i.e., negative and positive) present in our materials were identified by TOF-SIMS. In addition, the chemical imaging performed with the TOF-SIMS demonstrated how the individual ions including the dopants (Eu{sup 3+} and Tb{sup 3+}) were distributed in the host lattice. White photoluminescence was observed when the Sr{sub 2}SiO{sub 4}:Tb{sup 3+}, Eu{sup 3+} phosphor was excited at 239 nm using a monochromatized xenon lamp as the excitation source. The phosphor exhibited fast decay lifetimes implying that it is not a good candidate for long afterglow applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Results of a higgs boson searches in the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the large hadron collider at energies 7 and 8 TeV

Recent achievements of the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider searching for a Higgs boson are summarized. A new particle with the mass of 125 GeV and properties expected for the Standard Model Higgs boson was discovered three years ago in these experiments in proton-proton collisions when analyzing part of the data taken at the centre-of-mass energies 7 TeV and 8 TeV in 2011 and 2012 year exposures. Today all the data are processed and fully analyzed. Experimental results of studies of individual Higgs boson decay channels as well as their combination to extract such properties as mass, signal strength, coupling constants, spin and parity are reviewed. All experimental results are found to be compatible with the Standard Model predictions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Beamdump facility at Jefferson Lab

The potential of the intense secondary muon, neutrino, and (hypothetical) light dark matter beams at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) is explored. These are produced in the high-power dumps with high-current electron beams. Light dark matter searches with the approved Beam Dump eXperiment (BDX) are driving the realization of a new underground vault behind Hall A that could be extended to a Beamdump Facility with little additional installations. High-energy muons created via the Bethe–Heitler process uniquely do not proceed through the more common pion production and decay channels. Several possible muon physics applications are highlighted. Neutrino detector technologies and experiments suitable for a beamdump facility are outlined.

Accelerator Physics↗
DOE OSTI2022

On the modeling of $t\bar{t}W^\pm$ signatures at the LHC

We discuss our recent progress on improving the theoretical description of the pp \to t\bar{t}W^\pm p p → t t ‾ W ± process with particular focus on fiducial signatures that include top-quark decays. We employ a wide range of techniques from parton shower matching, narrow width approximation to full off-shell computations to assess the importance of the different modeling approaches.

Kraus, Manfred↗
DOE OSTI2019

Development of a Liquid-Fueled Molten Salt Reactor Safeguards Model.

This work describes the ongoing work to develop a molten salt reactor (MSR) model and associated tools for safeguards analysis. A new flowsheet was developed in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for the Molten Salt Demonstration Reactor (MSDR). This design was chosen by ORNL as a generic baseline design that could be used for safeguards research. The model has simple chemical processing that is less extensive than the two-fluid flowsheet developed in the last year. A detailed TRITON reactor physics model, provided by ORNL, was implemented into the process model. The process model now includes reactor parameters such as K-eff and decay heat, which could be used as part of an advanced safeguards approach. Finally, a set of generic safeguards tools based on current safeguards approaches were developed. These tools are flexible and can be used with most MSR flowsheets. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work was funded by the Materials Protection Accounting and Control Technologies (MPACT) working group as part of the Fuel Cycle Technologies Program under the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy. The authors would also like to acknowledge Ben Betz ler for his work on the reactor physics models that were incorporated into the work and the continued collaboration with ORNL staff.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2023

DarkNESS Project Testing

This internship involved the design and assembly of a mechanical system for testing skipper-Charge Couple Devices (CCDs) for the DarkNESS project. Skipper-CCDs are highly-sensitive sensors with ultra-low readout noise that are deployed for direct detection of dark matter. DarkNESS is a CubeSat that aims to use skipper CCDs to search for dark matter decaying into X-rays. Currently, in the testing phase, the design process involved creating 3D models of mechanical adapters to operate a prototype space Multi Chip Module (sMCM) package in existing testing chambers in the CCD lab at Fermilab's IERC. The drawings were sent out to be machined, and while waiting to receive the finished adapters, we assembled a vacuum chamber for skipper-CCD testing and performed initial testing of a single CCD controlled by the space Low Threshold Acquisition (sLTA) board that will be employed on the CubeSat. The results showed that the testing conditions are optimal for data to start being taken and analyzed.

Akouedjinoude, Kodjo↗
NASA NTRS1972

Interstellar electron intensity

Two independent methods for measuring the electron intensity in interstellar space are proposed. The positron method involves the production of pions in proton-proton collisions, the decay of the pions into muons, and the subsequent decay of the muons into positrons. Results from detailed calculations of these processes are given in graphical form. The second method involves cosmic electron emitted synchrotron radiation in the interstellar magnetic field. These two methods are also used to analyze the spatial and temporal constancy of cosmic ray electrons in the galaxy.

Ramaty, R.↗
NASA NTRS1973

A component of primitive nuclear composition in carbonaceous meteorites

Oxygen isotope analysis of anhydrous high-temperature phases from carbonaceous meteorite chondrites indicates a high degree of O(17) and O(18) isotope depletion. The isotope decay is believed to be a result of nuclear rather than chemical processes caused by the admixture of a component consisting of almost pure O(16). It is theorized that this component may predate the solar system and may represent interstellar dust with a separate history of nucleosynthesis.

Clayton, R. N.↗