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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2022

Ultraviolet Spectropolarimetry Conservative and Nonconservative Mass Transfer in OB Interacting Binaries

The current consensus is that at least half of the OB stars are formed in binary or multiple star systems. The evolution of OB stars is greatly influenced by whether the stars begin as close binaries, and the evolution of the binary systems depend on whether the mass transfer is conservative or nonconservative. FUV/NUV spectropolarimetry is poised to answer the latter question. This paper discusses how the Polstar spectropolarimetry mission can characterize the degree of nonconservative mass transfer that occurs at various stages of binary evolution, from the initial mass reversal to the late Algol phase, and quantify its amount. The proposed instrument combines spectroscopic and polarimetric capabilities, where the spectroscopy can resolve Doppler shifts in UV resonance lines with 10 km/s precision, and polarimetry can resolve linear polarization with 10 −3 precision or better. The spectroscopy will identify absorption by mass streams and other plasmas seen in projection against the stellar disk as a function of orbital phase, as well as scattering from extended splash structures, including jets. The polarimetry tracks the light coming from material not seen against the stellar disk, allowing the geometry of the scattering to be tracked, resolving ambiguities left by the spectroscopy and light-curve information. For example, nonconservative mass streams ejected in the polar direction will produce polarization of the opposite sign from conservative transfer accreting in the orbital plane. Time domain coverage over a range of phases of the binary orbit are well supported by the Polstar observing strategy. Special attention will be given to the epochs of enhanced systemic mass loss that have been identified from IUE observations (pre-mass reversal and tangential gas stream impact). We show how the history of systemic mass and angular momentum loss/gain episodes can be inferred via ensemble evolution through the r–q diagram. Combining the above elements will significantly improve our understanding of the mass transfer process and the amount of mass that can escape from the system, an important channel for changing the final mass and ultimate supernova of a large number of massive stars found in binaries at close enough separation to undergo interaction.

Geraldine J. Peters↗
DOE OSTI2026

Selectivity in gas–liquid interactions: Molecular beam scattering of CD 4 and ND 3 from an aqueous flat liquid jet

The dynamics of polar and nonpolar molecules colliding with an aqueous surface are characterized by scattering molecular beams of deuterated methane and ammonia, CD 4 and ND 3 (E i = 28.9 and 30.3 kJ mol −1 , respectively), from a flat liquid jet of cold salty water (8 m LiBr, 230 K). Translational energy distributions of scattered species collected as a function of collision geometry probe both impulsive scattering (IS) and thermal desorption (TD) mechanisms. Here, we find that CD 4 scattering is dominated by IS and exhibits a super-specular angular distribution. The fraction of TD scattering events is notably smaller for cold salty water than for dodecane, consistent with a higher free energy of solvation for CD 4 in the water jet. In contrast, no scattering signal is seen for ND 3 from the water jet, a result attributed to the high solubility and efficient protonation of ND 3 in liquid water. The IS channel for CD 4 was analyzed using a soft-sphere model, yielding a higher internal energy (E int ) and lower effective surface mass (m eff ) than was seen for Ne/water; the higher value of E int is attributed to rotational excitation of the scattered CD 4 . These findings demonstrate that the outcomes of a gas–liquid collision—scattering trajectory, surface adherence, and energy transfer—are directed at the molecular level by both the gaseous scatterer and liquid surface.

Foreman, Madison M. [University of California, Ber↗
DOE OSTI2022

Mutual spin-phonon driving effects and phonon eigenvector renormalization in nickel (II) oxide

The physics of mutual interaction of phonon quasiparticles with electronic spin degrees of freedom, leading to unusual transport phenomena of spin and heat, has been a subject of continuing interests for decades. Despite its pivotal role in transport processes, the effect of spin-phonon coupling on the phonon system, especially acoustic phonon properties, has so far been elusive. By means of inelastic neutron scattering and first-principles calculations, anomalous scattering spectral intensity from acoustic phonons was identified in the exemplary collinear antiferromagnetic nickel (II) oxide, unveiling strong spin-lattice correlations that renormalize the polarization of acoustic phonon. In particular, a clear magnetic scattering signature of the measured neutron scattering intensity from acoustic phonons is demonstrated by its momentum transfer and temperature dependences. The anomalous scattering intensity is successfully modeled with a modified magneto-vibrational scattering cross-section, suggesting the presence of spin precession driven by phonon. The renormalization of phonon eigenvector is indicated by the observed “geometry-forbidden” neutron scattering intensity from transverse acoustic phonon. Importantly, the eigenvector renormalization cannot be explained by magnetostriction but instead, it could result from the coupling between phonon and local magnetization of ions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1993

Groundbased monitoring of Martian atmospheric opacity

The amount of dust in the Martian atmosphere is variable in both space and time. The presence of aerosols in the Mars atmosphere complicates quantitative analysis of Martian surface properties. We have developed a model for Mars surface and atmospheric scattering based on equations in Hillier et al (1991). This formulation was chosen for its speed of computation and because it accounts for the spherical geometry of atmospheric scattering at high mission angles, i.e., near the planetary limb.

Herkenhoff, K. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Remote sensing of Earth terrain

The layered random medium model is used to investigate the fully polarimetric scattering of electromagnetic waves from vegetation. The vegetation canopy is modeled as an anisotropic random medium containing nonspherical scatterers with preferred alignment. The underlying medium is considered as a homogeneous half space. The scattering effect of the vegetation canopy are characterized by 3-D correlation functions with variances and correlation lengths respectively corresponding to the fluctuation strengths and the physical geometries of the scatterers. The strong fluctuation theory is used to calculate the anisotropic effective permittivity tensor of the random medium and the distorted Born approximation is then applied to obtain the covariance matrix which describes the fully polarimetric scattering properties of the vegetation field. This model accounts for all the interaction processes between the boundaries and the scatterers and includes all the coherent effects due to wave propagation in different directions such as the constructive and destructive interferences. For a vegetation canopy with low attenuation, the boundary between the vegetation and the underlying medium can give rise to significant coherent effects.

Kong, Jin AU↗
NASA NTRS1979

Experimental and numerical results of sound scattering by a body

The interaction of aerodynamic noise with a fuselage shaped body is discussed. A numerical technique is presented which permits the computation of the scattering of an acoustic source by a body at rest for frequencies of aeroacoustic interest. A parallel experiment is described which confirms the results of the computations. A numerical study of varying the geometry of the scattering is presented. In addition, the effect of forward motion on the mean velocity and static pressure profiles in the wake of such a body with a jet exiting from it is simulated. Experimental results are presented and a similarity law is given.

Maestrello, L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Predictions for arc polarization

Maps for the prediction of the polarization of light echo arcs are presented. It is noted that the results can be compared with observations in order to test the light-echo model of Katz (1987) and Milgrom (1987) and to determine its parameters. As long as the model assumptions of single scattering and planar geometry remain valid, the polarization is shown to be independent of the geometrical thickness and the optical depth of the dust layer. Cases such as the light source being in the plane of scatterers and arcs consisting of nearly forward scattered light are considered.

Katz, J. I.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Time-domain robotic vision application

The quest for the highest resolution microwaves imaging and the principle of time-domain imaging is the primary motivation for recent developments in time-domain techniques. With the present technology fast time varying signals can now be measured and recorded both in magnitude and in phase. It has also enhanced the ability to extract relevant details concerning the scattering object. In the past, the inference of object geometry or shape from scattered signals has received substantial attention in radar technology. Various inverse scattering theories were proposed to develop analytical solutions to this problem. Furthermore, the random inversion, frequenty swept holography, and the synthetic radar imaging, all of which have two things in common: the physical optic far-field approximation and the utilization of the channels as an extra physical dimension, were also advanced significantly. Despite the inherent vectorial nature of electromagnetic waves, these scalar treatments have brought forth some promising results in practice with notable examples in subsurface and structure sounding. The use of time-domain imaging for space robotic vision applications was proposed. A multisensor approach to vision was shown to have several advantages over the video-only approach.

Tolliver, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Time-domain imaging

The quest for the highest resolution microwave imaging and principle of time-domain imaging has been the primary motivation for recent developments in time-domain techniques. With the present technology, fast time varying signals can now be measured and recorded both in magnitude and in-phase. It has also enhanced our ability to extract relevant details concerning the scattering object. In the past, the interface of object geometry or shape for scattered signals has received substantial attention in radar technology. Various scattering theories were proposed to develop analytical solutions to this problem. Furthermore, the random inversion, frequency swept holography, and the synthetic radar imaging, have two things in common: (1) the physical optic far-field approximation, and (2) the utilization of channels as an extra physical dimension, were also advanced. Despite the inherent vectorial nature of electromagnetic waves, these scalar treatments have brought forth some promising results in practice with notable examples in subsurface and structure sounding. The development of time-domain techniques are studied through the theoretical aspects as well as experimental verification. The use of time-domain imaging for space robotic vision applications has been suggested.

Tolliver, C. L.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Stable and tunable MeV $$\gamma$$-ray generation via dual-laser inverse Thomson scattering from a laser-plasma accelerator

Abstract Inverse Thomson scattering from laser-plasma accelerators offers a pathway to compact, tunable MeV $$\gamma$$ -ray sources for reduced-dose radiography and enhanced performance in nuclear resonance fluorescence (NRF)-based isotope identification. However, photon yield and spectral quality are often limited by constraints on interaction geometry and scatter-laser tunability. Here we demonstrate a MeV $$\gamma$$ -ray source based on a dual-laser inverse Thomson scattering configuration driven by a 100-TW laser-plasma accelerator. Electron beams tunable from 122 to 204 MeV with $$<5$$ mrad divergence and $$<1$$ mrad pointing stability generate $$\gamma$$ rays with peak energies from 276 keV to 1.2 MeV and yields up to $$2\times 10^{7}$$ photons per shot. By independently controlling the interaction position and the scatter-pulse duration, we experimentally match the scatter pulse to the walk-off-limited interaction length. Extending the scatter pulse to 200 fs increases photon production by approximately $$15\%$$ while maintaining operation in the linear Thomson regime, thereby preserving narrow spectral bandwidth and controlled radiation divergence. Radiographic characterization demonstrates MeV-level penetration and $$\approx 0.1$$ mm spatial resolution, while stable operation is sustained over multi-hour timescales across multiple days. These results show that interaction-length optimization provides a scalable strategy for improving photon yield, spectral control, and operational stability in compact laser-plasma-accelerator-driven $$\gamma$$ -ray sources.

Tsai, Hai-En↗
NASA NTRS1999

A High-Order Method Using Unstructured Grids for the Aeroacoustic Analysis of Realistic Aircraft Configurations

A method for the prediction of acoustic scatter from complex geometries is presented. The discontinuous Galerkin method provides a framework for the development of a high-order method using unstructured grids. The method's compact form contributes to its accuracy and efficiency, and makes the method well suited for distributed memory parallel computing platforms. Mesh refinement studies are presented to validate the expected convergence properties of the method, and to establish the absolute levels of a error one can expect at a given level of resolution. For a two-dimensional shear layer instability wave and for three-dimensional wave propagation, the method is demonstrated to be insensitive to mesh smoothness. Simulations of scatter from a two-dimensional slat configuration and a three-dimensional blended-wing-body demonstrate the capability of the method to efficiently treat realistic geometries.

Atkins, Harold L.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Diffraction by Sharp Edges of Noncanonical Shape with Mean Flow and Surface Impedance

This paper presents a study on diffraction by sharp edges of noncanonical edge shape in the presence of mean flow and surface impedance, which are important features for aircraft noise but have not been accounted for in previous studies on sharp-edge diffraction. An analytical formula for the diffracted pressure is derived by applying asymptotic analysis to the integral representation of the total pressure scattered by a geometry that contains sharp edges. The asymptotic analysis is presented as a systematic process that can be carried out to any order, if needed. An illustration is given to use a higher-order result to eliminate the singularity in the first-order result to make the solution regular in the entire parameter domain. The formula for the diffracted pressure is validated by experimental data and is applied to parametric studies to reveal the effects of noncanonical edge shape, mean flow and surface impedance, as well as the impact of these effects on the total scattered pressure in the presence of other scattering components.

Yueping Guo↗
DOE OSTI2023

A flexible gyro-fluid system of equations

Gyro-fluid equations are velocity space moments of the gyrokinetic equations. Special gyro-Landau-fluid closures have been developed that include the damping due to kinetic resonances by fitting to the collisionless local plasma response functions. This damping allows for accurate linear eigenmodes to be computed with a relatively low number of velocity space moments compared to the number of velocity quadrature points in gyrokinetic codes. However, none of the published gyro-Landau-fluid closure schemes considers the Onsager symmetries of the resulting quasi-linear fluxes as a constraint. Onsager symmetry guarantees that the matrix of diffusivities is positive definite, an important property for the numerical stability of a transport solver. A two-parameter real closure for improving the accuracy of low-resolution gyro-fluid equations, which preserves the Onsager symmetry and allows higher velocity space moments, is presented in this paper. The new linear gyro-fluid system (GFS) is used to extend the TGLF quasi-linear transport model so that it can compute the energy and momentum fluxes due to parallel magnetic fluctuations, completing the transport matrix. The GFS equations do not use a bounce average approximation. The GFS equations are fully electromagnetic with general flux surface magnetic geometry, pitch angle scattering for electron collisions, and subsonic equilibrium toroidal rotation. Using GFS eigenmodes in the quasi-linear TGLF model will be shown to yield a more accurate match to fluxes computed by CGYRO turbulence simulations. In conclusion, prospects for future applications of a quasi-linear theory to new plasma transport regimes and magnetic confinement devices in addition to tokamaks are opened by the flexibility of the GFS eigensolver.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

3D Printing with Mixed Powders of Boron Carbide and Al Alloy

Laser additive manufacturing with mixed powders of boron carbide and aluminum alloy is investigated. Parameters such as laser power, scan speed, scan pattern, and hatching space are systematically evaluated and optimized to obtain the desired density and porosity. These results show that the AM part contains 20 wt% boron carbide and 80 wt% aluminum alloy, which are well mixed and synthesized during the melting process. Its mechanical properties are close to those of aluminum. A thin-wall structure based two dimensional and three dimensional radial collimators were fabricated with well-controlled geometry for neutron scattering measurement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1984

Bidirectional Spectral Reflectance of Earth Resources: Influence of Scene Complexity and Atmospheric Effects on Remote Sensing

Practical methods for remote sensing when scene complexity and atmospheric effects modify intrinsic reflective properties are developed. The radiation history from ground to space of light reflected from individual leaves is initially multiply scattered within the crop canopy, whose geometry provides a controlling influence, then scattered and attenuated as a result of transmission through the Earth's atmosphere. The experimental and theoretical tools for studying these effects quantitatively are under development. A new radiative transfer code which uses Fourier transforms to solve the 3-D equation of transfer was developed. The initial version permits inhomogeneous non-Lambertian surfaces but assumes horizontal uniformity for the atmosphere. The computational results are in excellent agreement with Monte Carlo calculations. Laboratory apparatus to study the variation of spectral reflectance of individual leaves as a function of illumination incidence angle and reflection angle was used. These data can then be used in models to determine canopy scattering effects. Stress tests by observing leaf reflectance at 0.9 microns as a function of time following clipping from the stem was performed. A reflectance increase due to loss of water has been observed.

Diner, D. J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

The utility of calibration - Landsat 4 TM simulator data, Patrick Draw, Wyoming

A novel calibration approach was used for Landsat 4 TM simulator data acquired at the Patrick Draw test site, Wyoming, where the 'true' reflectance spectrum for any pixel area cannot be practically determined because of mixing of spectral components. An empirically derived function was first applied to the scanner data to remove the brightness gradient due to directional scattering and surface geometry. Based on the observation that the distribution of scanner brightness values (DN) were Gaussian, the minimum, mean, and maximum DN for each band were extracted and plotted versus the similar percent reflectance values determined from a large representative collection of field reflectance data for the area. These plots provided linear transformations relating DN value to reflectance in each band.

Lang, H. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Modelling of vegetation volumes

The purpose is to describe work that is being done to find theoretical models to describe radar backscatter from vegetation layers. The geometry of the problem is shown. The information that one would like to find through the application of the results of these models would include: the thickness of the layer; the absorption in the layer (i.e., density, moisture content, and biomass); the geometry of the scatterers (i.e., shape and orientation); how much of the received power is due to volume scattering only; and a way to enhance the ratio of scattering that has some interaction with the ground surface. The proposed ways to find this information are discussed.

Vanzyl, J. J.↗