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At least 1,153 records · Page 64

The structure and dynamics of Bok globule B335

Results are reported from mm-wave observations CO isotopes and other molecules in the Bok globule B335 (Lynd L663). The data cover the C-12O, C-13O, C-18O, and H-12CO(+) J = 1 yields of 0 rotational transition. Spectral data were also obtained for the preceding molecules and C-17O, H-13CO(+) and DCO(+). The data were used to calculate quantitative density and mass relationships and distributions, determine the rotational parameters, and characterize the force balance within the cloud for inclusion in a spherically averaged cloud model. A nonspherical cloud model which considers magnetic fields is presented. B335 has a dense core within a moderately dense cylindrically shaped envelope, which in turn is surrounded by a more diffuse elliptical envelope. The object is 250 pc from the earth.

Frerking, Margaret A.↗

The physics of interstellar shock waves

This review discusses the observations and theoretical models of interstellar shock waves, in both diffuse cloud and molecular cloud environments. It summarizes the relevant gas dynamics, atomic, molecular and grain processes, radiative transfer, and physics of radiative and magnetic precursors in shock models. It then describes the importance of shocks for observations, diagnostics, and global interstellar dynamics. It concludes with current research problems and data needs for atomic, molecular and grain physics.

Shull, J. Michael↗

Energization and transport of ions of ionospheric origin in the terrestrial magnetosphere

The work of this grant has been predominantly focused on ion outflows from two data sets: Prognoz 7 and Dynamics Explorer. The Prognoz analysis studied ion densities, temperatures, and flow velocities in the magnetotail. The work performed under this contract consisted of developing a program to load the raw data, computing the background subtraction of a strong sun pulse, and using the net count to calculate the low order moments of the distribution function. The study confirms the results of ISEE with regard to the supply of plasma from the cusp as a major source of plasmasheet plasma and goes beyond this to discuss the use of ion velocities as a way to examine the motions of the magnetotail. The abstract of the work to be reported is included as an appendix. The work on the DE/Retarding Ion Mass Spectrometer is separated into two categories: (1) classification of low-energy ion flows from high-latitudes, and (2) studies of the polar wind. Major publications resulting from this work are also included as an appendix to this report. The polar wind is in a category by itself as a result of the thermal escape of hydrogen and helium because of ambipolar diffusion through the heavier, oxygen-dominated topside ionosphere. The analysis of the polar wind reports the flux variability as a function of season, magnetic activity, etc. Much effort has been expended under this grant to complete a follow on study of the thermal structure of the polar wind. Extensive display tools and analysis software have been developed and used in an attempt to carry out this thermal analysis. The present work uses a constrained fit scheme that combines the ion densities and flow velocities derived from Chandler et al. and a spacecraft potential derived from an empirical relation to the total ion density to determine the remaining fit parameter, the ion temperature, via a least squares fit to the RIMS data.

Waite, J. Hunter JR.↗

The Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope for Gamma-Ray Polarimetry

The Advanced Energetic Pair Telescope (AdEPT), a future NASA/GSFC MIDEX mission, is being developed to perform high-sensitivity medium-energy (5-200 MeV) astronomy and revolutionary gamma-ray polarization measurements. The enabling technology for AdEPT is the Three- Dimensional Track Imager (3-DTI), a large volume gaseous time projection chamber with 2- dimentional micro-well detector (MWD) readout. The low density and high spatial resolution of the 3-DTI allows AdEPT to achieve high angular resolution (~0.5 at 67.5 MeV) and, for the first time, exceptional gamma-ray polarization sensitivity. These capabilities enable a wide range of scientific discovery potential for AdEPT. The key science goals of the AdEPT mission include: 1) Explore fundamental processes of particle acceleration in active astrophysical objects, 2) Reveal the magnetic field configuration of the most energetic accelerators in the Universe, 3) Explore the origins and acceleration of cosmic rays and the Galactic MeV diffuse emission, 4) Search for dark matter in the Galactic center, and 5) Test relativity with polarization measurements. We report on the latest developments of the MWDs for the 3-DTI.

Hunter, Stanley D.↗

A Data-driven, Physics-based Transport Model of Solar Energetic Particles Accelerated by Coronal Mass Ejection Shocks Propagating through the Solar Coronal and Heliospheric Magnetic Fields

In an effort to develop computational tools for predicting radiation hazards from solar energetic particles (SEPs), we have created a data-driven physics-based particle transport model to calculate the injection, acceleration, and propagation of SEPs from coronal mass ejection (CME) shocks traversing through the solar corona and interplanetary magnetic fields. The model runs on an input of corona and heliospheric plasma and magnetic field configuration from a magnetohydrodynamic model driven by solar photospheric magnetic field measurements superposed with observed CME shocks determined from coronagraph images. SEP source particles are injected at the shock using the result of diffusive shock acceleration formulation from a characteristic obliquity-dependent injection from a heated solar wind thermal tail population. With several advanced computation techniques involving stochastic simulation and integration, the model obtains the particle intensity at any location in interplanetary space through the rigorous solution to the time-dependent 5D focus transport equation in the phase space that includes perpendicular diffusion. We apply the model to the 2011 November 3 CME event. The calculation results reproduce multispacecraft SEP observations at Earth and STEREO-B reasonably well without normalization of particle flux. The observations at STEREO-A can be reproduced by rescaling particle energy or modified energy dependence of particle diffusion coefficients. This circumsolar SEP event seen by spacecraft at Earth, STEREO-A, and STEREO-B at widely separated longitudes can be explained by diffusive shock acceleration by a single CME shock with a moderate speed.

Solar energetic particles↗

Stacking disorder in α – RuCl 3 investigated via x-ray three-dimensional difference pair distribution function analysis

The van der Waals layered magnet α-RuCl 3 offers tantalizing prospects for the realization of Majorana quasiparticles. Efforts to understand this are, however, hampered by inconsistent magnetic and thermal transport properties likely coming from the formation of structural disorder during crystal growth, postgrowth processing, or upon cooling through the first order structural transition. Here, we investigate structural disorder in α-RuCl 3 using x-ray diffuse scattering and three-dimensional difference pair distribution function (3D-ΔPDF) analysis. We develop a quantitative model that describes disorder in α-RuCl 3 in terms of rotational twinning and intermixing of the high and low-temperature structural layer stacking. As a result, this disorder may be important to consider when investigating the detailed magnetic and electronic properties of this widely studied material.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Effects of particle drift on the transport of cosmic rays. IV - More realistic diffusion coefficients

Results from numerical simulations of cosmic-ray modulations by the solar wind are presented which show that the scattering mean free path should be larger than the particle gyroradius in the average magnetic field. It is found that the difference between drift and no-drift solutions is not as great as in previous simulations, which violated the mean free path constraint stated. Profound effects are still noted for the drifts, which determine the origin of the bulk of the cosmic rays seen at any given time in the inner solar system. Accordingly, during the 1975 solar minimum, the positively charged cosmic rays seen in the inner solar system came primarily from the outer boundary near the heliospheric poles while negative particles came from the equatorial regions of the boundary.

Jokipii, J. R.↗

The rotation of photospheric magnetic fields: A random walk transport model

In an earlier study of solar differential rotation, we showed that the transport of magnetic flux across latitudes acts to establish quasi-stationary patterns, therby accounting for the observed rigid rotation of the large-scale photospheric field. In that paper, the effect of supergranular convection was represented by a continuum diffusion, limiting the applicability of the calculations to large spatial scales. Here we extend the model to scales comparable to that of the supergranulation itself by replacing the diffusive transport with a discrete random walk process. Rotation curves are derived by cross-correlating the simulated photospheric field maps for a variety of time lags and spatial resolutions. When the lag between maps is relatively short less than or approximately = 15 days), the midlatitude correlation functions show two distinct components: a broad feature associated with the large-scale unipolar patterns and a narrow feature originating from small magnetic structures encompossing from one to several supergranular cells. By fitting the broad component we obtain the rigid rotation profile of the patterns, whereas by fitting the narrow component, we recover the differential rate of the photospheric plasma itself. For time lags of 1 month or greater, only the broad feature associated with the long-lived patterns remains clearly identifiable in the simulations.

Wang, Y. -M.↗

Sodium Hydrogen Sensor and Acoustic Flow Sensor Development

This report documents the development of diffusion-type hydrogen meters (DTHMs) as part of a steam generator leak detection system (SGLDS) of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFR) and the demonstration of the capabilities of acoustic flowmeters, including a commercial UTFM (Flexim FLUXUS F721) and an Argonne HT acoustic flowmeter running on shear-to-longitudinal mode. It also evaluates two Argonne permanent magnet flowmeters (PMFMs).

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Proximity-induced magnetism and the enhancement of damping in ferromagnetic/heavy metal systems

The relationship between proximity-induced magnetism (PIM) at the heavy metal/ferromagnet interface and spin-transport across such interfaces has generated significant debate. To investigate the link between the two, element specific x-ray magnetic circular dichroism and ferromagnetic resonance measurements were made on the same CoFe/Au/Pt and NiFe/Au/Pt thin film samples with varying Au thickness, with complementary SIMS analysis, which shows evidence of Ni diffusion from NiFe into the Pt. An approximately linear relationship is observed between the magnitude of Pt PIM and magnitude of damping enhancement in both systems. The results demonstrate that electronic hybridization of the heavy metal and ferromagnet is required for a full understanding of damping enhancement and interfacial spintransport for spintronic devices.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Lower‐Hybrid Wave Structures and Interactions With Electrons Observed in Magnetotail Reconnection Diffusion Regions

Abstract We investigate waves close to the lower‐hybrid frequency in 12 magnetotail reconnection electron diffusion region (EDR) events with guide field levels of near‐zero to 30%. In about half of the events, the wave vector has a small component along the current sheet normal, consistent with known lower‐hybrid drift wave properties, but the perpendicular magnetic field fluctuations can be comparable or greater than the parallel component, a feature unique to the waves inside and adjacent to EDRs. Another new wave property is that the wave vector has a significant component along the current sheet normal in some events and completely along the normal for one event. In 1/4 of the events, the term has a significant contribution to the wave electric field, possibly a feature of lower‐hybrid waves more likely to exist in the diffusion region than further away from the X‐line. Electron temperature variations are correlated with the wave potential, due to wave electric field acceleration and crossings at the corrugated separatrix region with different amounts of mixing between reconnection inflowing and outflowing populations. The latter also leads to the anti‐correlation between parallel and perpendicular temperature components. Using four‐spacecraft measurements, the magnetic field line twisting is demonstrated by the correlated fluctuations in and . The lower‐hybrid wave in the EDR of weak guide field reconnection may be generated near separatrices and penetrate to the mid‐plane or locally generated, and the latter possibility is beyond the prediction of previous reconnection simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A Quantum Monte Carlo Study of the Structural, Energetic, and Magnetic Properties of Two-Dimensional H and T Phase VSe 2

Previous works have controversially claimed near-room-temperature ferromagnetism in two-dimensional (2D) VSe 2 , with conflicting results throughout the literature. These discrepancies in magnetic properties between both phases (T and H) of 2D VSe 2 are most likely due to the structural parameters being coupled to the magnetic properties. Specifically, both phases have a close lattice match and similar total energies, which makes it difficult to determine which phase is being observed experimentally. Here, in this study, we used a combination of density functional theory, highly accurate diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC), and a surrogate Hessian line-search optimization technique to resolve the previously reported discrepancy in structural parameters and relative phase stability. With DMC accuracy, we determined the free-standing geometry of both phases and constructed a phase diagram. Our findings demonstrate the successes of the DMC method coupled with the surrogate Hessian structural optimization technique when applied to a 2D magnetic system.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Understanding and Tuning the Electronic Properties of Prussian Blue Analogues

Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) have attracted increasing interest owing to their potential applications in various fields such as energy storage and conversion, neuromorphic computing, and magnetic switching. With a general formula of A x M N [M C (CN) 6 ], they feature an open framework that provides abundant channels for diffusion of alkali metal ions A and allows flexible compositional control of transition metal ions M N and M C . The oxidation states of transition metal ions can be tuned by adjusting the amount (x) of alkali ions A. Here, we carried out density functional theory calculations combined with experimental measurements to investigate the effects of transition metal ions, alkali ions, and oxidation states on the electronic properties of PBAs. Our calculations found that the band gaps of PBAs can be tuned from close to 0 eV to more than 4 eV. Experimentally, we introduced the synthesis/characterization of five previously unreported PBAs (M N = Ru, Os; M C = Fe, Ru, and Os) to complete the nine stable M N :M C transition metal combinations in group VIII of the periodic table. The optically measured intervalence charge transfer excitation energies of group VIII PBAs are consistent with calculated band gaps. They demonstrate wide band gap tunability by adjusting transition metals and oxidation states, enabling semiconductor-to-metal transitions for memristor applications and enhancing electronic conductivity for battery applications. In conclusion, this work provides a computational/experimental database of electronic properties versus structural compositions for PBAs.

Electrical conductivity↗

Existence of La-site antisite defects in LaMO 3 (M = Mn, Fe, and Co) predicted with many-body diffusion quantum Monte Carlo

The properties of LaMO 3 (M: 3d transition metal) perovskite crystals are significantly dependent on point defects, whether introduced accidentally or intentionally. The most studied defects in La-based perovskites are the oxygen vacancies and doping impurities on the La and M sites. Here, we identify that intrinsic antisite defects, the replacement of La by the transition metal, M, can be formed under M-rich and O-poor growth conditions, based on results of an accurate many-body ab initio approach. Our fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo (FNDMC) calculations of LaMO 3 (M = Mn, Fe, and Co) find that such antisite defects can have low formation energies and are magnetized. Complementary density functional theory (DFT)-based calculations show that Mn antisite defects in LaMnO 3 may cause the p-type electronic conductivity. These features could affect spintronics, redox catalysis, and other broad applications. Our bulk validation studies establish that FNDMC reproduces the antiferromagnetic state of LaMnO 3 , whereas DFT with PBE (Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof), SCAN (strongly constrained and appropriately normed), and the LDA+U (local density approximation with Coulomb U) functionals all favor ferromagnetic states, at variance with experiment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Thermoelectric transport of the half-filled lowest Landau level in a p -type Ge/SiGe heterostructure

In this work, we investigate the thermoelectric transport properties of the half-filled lowest Landau level v = 1 / 2 in a gated two-dimensional hole system in a strained Ge/SiGe heterostructure. The electron-diffusion dominated regime is achieved below 600 mK, where the diffusion thermopower S x x d at v = 1 / 2 shows a linear temperature dependence. In contrast, the diffusion-dominated Nernst signal S x y d of v = 1 / 2 is found to approach zero, which is independent of the measurement configuration (sweeping magnetic field at a fixed hole density or sweeping the density by a gate at a fixed magnetic field).

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Impulsive solar X-ray bursts. III - Polarization, directivity, and spectrum of the reflected and total bremsstrahlung radiation from a beam of electrons directed toward the photosphere

The paper presents the spectrum, directivity, and state of polarization of the bremsstrahlung radiation expected from a beam of high-energy electrons spiraling along radial magnetic field lines toward the photosphere. A Monte Carlo method is then described for evaluation of the spectrum, directivity, and polarization of X-rays diffusely reflected from stellar photospheres. The accuracy of the technique is evaluated through comparison with analytic results. The calculated characteristics of the incident X-rays are used to evaluate the spectrum, directivity, and polarization of the reflected and total X-ray fluxes. The results are compared with observations.

Langer, S. H.↗

Association of low-frequency waves with suprathermal ions in the upstream solar wind

Observations obtained upstream of the earth's bowshock with the LASL/MPI plasma instruments and the UCLA magnetometers on ISEE-1 and 2 have revealed a striking relationship between the presence of low-frequency fluctuations in solar wind density and field strength and the different types of distribution functions of upstream ions. Waves are absent when the ions have the beamlike distribution of the 'reflected' ions. Large-amplitude waves are present only in conjunction with the 'diffuse' ions, which are characterized by flat energy spectra and broad angular distributions. The waves are largely compressive, showing very good correlation between oscillations in magnetic field strength and plasma density.

Paschmann, G.↗

Effects of drift on the transport of cosmic rays. VI - A three-dimensional model including diffusion

The first results are presented from a series of computer simulations of the solar modulation of galactic cosmic rays using a full three-dimensional model which incorporates all known important effects on particle transport, particle drifts, convection with the solar wind, energy loss, and anisotropic diffusion. The model is time-independent in the coordinate frame rotating with the sun, so corotating effects can be studied. Modulation in an interplanetary magnetic field model is considered in which the current sheet separating the northern and southern solar hemispheres is warped and corotating with the sun. The amplitude of the warp is varied to simulate possible solar cycle variation of the magnetic field. Substantial effects due to the warp of the current sheet are found. Comparison of the model results with various data is presented. Among other things, it is shown that the intensity may decrease away from the current sheet for both signs of the magnetic field, as suggested by recent observations, and in contrast with inferences from earlier, more approximate calculations.

Kota, J.↗