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At least 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Studies of Quark Transport and Hadronization in Nuclei

In this project, we conducted the first measurement of di‑hadron azimuthal correlations in deep inelastic scattering (DIS) off nuclei using the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab. Using 5 GeV electron‑beam data collected on deuterium, carbon, iron, and lead targets, we extracted di‑pion correlation functions over a broad kinematic range. The results show a monotonic broadening of the correlation peak with increasing nuclear mass, along with pronounced dependencies on the pions’ kinematics. Separately, we implemented an algorithm based on the Kalman filter that achieved the first complete alignment of the CLAS12 central tracking system. In parallel, we developed simulations, algorithms, and performance studies that informed the conceptual designs of the forward hadronic calorimeter Insert and the Zero Degree Calorimeter, both of which are now included in the ePIC detector baseline for the forthcoming Electron Ion Collider.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Reassessment of Dose Contributions from the Paducah Cask Special Waste Form Buried in the E-Area Low-Level Waste Facility

During a recent revision to the groundwater and inadvertent human intruder screening analysis report (Aleman and Hamm, 2023), weaknesses within the screening logic were observed resulting in the addition of U-235 being brought back into the list of radionuclides requiring inventory limits within the Paducah Cask special waste form (SWF). In addition, while reviewing the earlier vadose zone transport analysis efforts, an inconsistency was observed in the initial U-235P inventory that was supplied to the Consolidated Waste Tracking System (CWTS) back in 2009.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2025

Neutrally-buoyant balloons experiment – EMRTC 2025

This memo announces the successful execution of the neutrally-buoyant balloon experiment (EMRTC 2025), conducted at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology’s Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center (EMRTC) in Socorro, NM between April 3 and May 9, 2025. The experiment aimed to build on EMRTC 2022 balloon experiment through testing the effects of lateral and vertical displacement of release locations in a different terrain than EMRTC 2022. EMRTC 2025 employed dual GPS trackers on each balloon to provide both detailed near-source motion tracking in addition to the low-frequency long-distance trackers used in EMRTC 2022. A total of 156 neutrally-buoyant balloons were released over the week of May 5-9, which was approximately 2.5 times the number released in the EMRTC 2022 campaign. The dual tracking system will allow characterizing complex three-dimensional wind structures close to terrain features and diurnal wind patterns to validate wind and plume dispersion models for treaty verification.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Towards High-Efficiency Particle Detection Using Superconducting Microwire Arrays

We present a detailed study of an 8-channel $1\times1$~mm$^{2}$ WSi superconducting microwire single photon detector (SMSPD) array exposed to 120~GeV hadron beam and 120~GeV muon beam at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron H6 beamline. Following up on our first detailed characterization of the efficiency and response of an SMSPD fabricated on a 3~nm WSi film, we report measurements of enhanced particle detection efficiency using a sensor fabricated from a thicker 4.7~nm-thick WSi film. We also report the first SMSPD detection efficiency measurement made for muons. Measurements are enabled by a silicon tracking telescope providing 10~$\mu$m in situ spatial resolution. The results show a detection efficiency of 75\% and a time resolution of about 130~ps across pixels. These findings represent a significant advancement toward developing high-efficiency SMSPD charged particle tracking systems with simultaneous precision timing, with potential applications in future accelerator-based experiments such as the FCC-ee and Muon Collider.

Wang, Christina [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Bayesian Optimization of The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider Luminosity via s * Control

A state-of-the-art jet detector named sPHENIX was proposed, commissioned, and operated at the Rel ativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) from 2023 to 2025. This detector featured precision tracking and calorime try that enable high-statistics studies of the Quark Gluon Plasma through jet modification, upsilon suppres sion, and open heavy flavor production. The innermost component of the three sPHENIX tracking systems is the Monolithic-Active-Pixel-Sensor-based Vertex Detec tor (MVTX) (Fig. 1), which has an acceptance within | s | < 0.1m of the interaction point (IP).

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

A High-Field Polarized 3 He Target for Jefferson Lab’s CLAS12 Spectrometer

Polarized 3He nuclear targets are invaluable surrogates for polarized neutron targets in spin-dependent scattering studies of the structure of matter. Traditional polarized 3He targets have seen steady improvements and active use over the last three decades, however they have been limited to operation in low magnetic fields. This has precluded their use in spectrometers that utilize high-magnetic-field tracking systems, such as Jefferson Lab's CLAS12 spectrometer. Developments in high-magnetic-field metastability exchange optical pumping of 3He, recently incorporated into the design of a polarized 3He ion source for RHIC and the EIC, could enable a new, polarized 3He fixed target to operate within high fields. Combining high-field techniques with the double-cell cryogenic target design used for the MIT-Bates 88-02 experiment, polarization and target density comparable to traditional polarized 3He targets could be reached while within a high magnetic field environment. We discuss the conceptual design for such a target, show our progress in this target's development, and outline plans for in-beams tests in Jefferson Lab's Hall B.

Maxwell, James↗
DOE OSTI2025

Intelligent experiments through real-time AI: Fast Data Processing and Autonomous Detector Control for sPHENIX and future EIC detectors

This R&D project, initiated by the DOE Nuclear Physics AI-Machine Learning initiative in 2022, leverages AI to address data processing challenges in high-energy nuclear experiments (RHIC, LHC, and future EIC). Our focus is on developing a demonstrator for real-time processing of high-rate data streams from sPHENIX experiment tracking detectors. The limitations of a 15 kHz maximum trigger rate imposed by the calorimeters can be negated by intelligent use of streaming technology in the tracking system. The approach efficiently identifies low momentum rare heavy flavor events in high-rate p+p collisions (3MHz), using Graph Neural Network (GNN) and High Level Synthesis for Machine Learning (hls4ml). Success at sPHENIX promises immediate benefits, minimizing resources and accelerating the heavy-flavor measurements. The approach is transferable to other fields. For the EIC, we develop a DIS-electron tagger using Artificial Intelligence - Machine Learning (AI-ML) algorithms for real-time identification, showcasing the transformative potential of AI and FPGA technologies in high-energy nuclear and particle experiments real-time data processing pipelines.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2023

Recognizability of Demographically Altered Computerized Facial Approximations in an Automated Facial Recognition Context for Potential Application in Unidentified Persons Data Repositories

This study examined the recognizability of demographically altered facial approximations for potential utility in unidentified persons tracking systems. Five computer-generated approximations were generated for each of 26 African male participants using the following demographic parameters: (i) African male (true demographics), (ii) African female, (iii) Caucasian male, (iv) Asian male, and (v) Hispanic male. Overall, 62% of the true demographic facial approximations for the 26 African male participants examined were matched to a corresponding life photo within the top 50 images of a candidate list generated from an automated blind search of an optimally standardized gallery of 6159 photographs. When the African male participants were processed as African females, the identification rate was 50%. In contrast, less congruent identification rates were observed when the African male participants were processed as Caucasian (42%), Asian (35%), and Hispanic (27%) males. The observed results suggest that approximations generated using the opposite sex may be operationally informative if sex is unknown. The performance of approximations generated using alternative ancestry assignments, however, was less congruent with the performance of the true demographic approximation (African male) and may not yield as operationally constructive data as sex-altered approximations.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Sheaf Theoretical Approach to Uncertainty Quantification of Heterogeneous Geolocation Information

Integration of multiple, heterogeneous sensors is a challenging problem across a range of applications. Prominent among these are multi-target tracking, where one must combine observations from different sensor types in a meaningful and efficient way to track multiple targets. Because different sensors have differing error models, we seek a theoretically justified quantification of the agreement among ensembles of sensors, both overall for a sensor collection, and also at a fine-grained level specifying pairwise and multi-way interactions among sensors. We demonstrate that the theory of mathematical sheaves provides a unified answer to this need, supporting both quantitative and qualitative data. Furthermore, the theory provides algorithms to globalize data across the network of deployed sensors, and to diagnose issues when the data do not globalize cleanly. We demonstrate and illustrate the utility of sheaf-based tracking models based on experimental data of a wild population of black bears in Asheville, North Carolina. A measurement model involving four sensors deployed among the bears and the team of scientists charged with tracking their location is deployed. This provides a sheaf-based integration model which is small enough to fully interpret, but of sufficient complexity to demonstrate the sheaf’s ability to recover a holistic picture of the locations and behaviors of both individual bears and the bear-human tracking system. A statistical approach was developed in parallel for comparison, a dynamic linear model which was estimated using a Kalman filter. This approach also recovered bear and human locations and sensor accuracies. When the observations are normalized into a common coordinate system, the structure of the dynamic linear observation model recapitulates the structure of the sheaf model, demonstrating the canonicity of the sheaf-based approach. However, when the observations are not so normalized, the sheaf model still remains valid.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nucleon structure studies: DVCS on polarised protons with the CLAS12 experiment, and development of Micromegas detectors for EIC

The quark and gluon structure of nucleons is crucial for understanding the origin of their mass and spin. This information is encoded in structure function such as Generalised Parton Distributions (GPDs), which provide a three-dimensional picture of the nucleon in terms of its constituents. Deeply Virtual Compton Scattering (DVCS) offers the most direct access to GPDs, but their extraction requires high-precision measurements of multiple observables over a wide kinematic range. In 2022 and 2023 the CLAS12 experiment at Jefferson Lab (JLab) collected data from polarised electron scattering on a longitudinally polarised proton target, enabling the first measurement of polarised DVCS asymmetries at JLab 12GeV kinematics. This thesis will present preliminary measurement of the beam, target and double spin DVCS asymmetries from the CLAS12 polarised proton target data. Nucleon structure studies will also constitute a major part of the physics program at the future Electron Ion Collider (EIC). The development of the first detector at the EIC is ongoing and it requires light Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGDs) for its tracking system. This thesis further reports initial tests of Micromegas MPGDs with a two-dimensional readout developed for EIC.

Polcher, Samy [Univ. Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette ↗
DOE OSTI2022

An Acoustic Transmitter with Intelligent ON/OFF Mechanisms and Quasi-location Awareness

We successfully demonstrated an acoustic transmitter with intelligent ON/OFF mechanisms and quasi-location awareness. The prototype transmitter has (1) the ability (radio frequency-enabled ON/OFF) to turn the tag on and off when it passes through a passive integrated transponder antenna and (2) the ability to detect significant salinity changes (i.e. from freshwater to sea water and vice versa) and turn itself off and on, respectively. Such a device would greatly enhance the capabilities of the acoustic telemetry-based fish tracking systems.

Deng, Zhiqun↗
DOE OSTI2024

Novel Instrumentation for Advanced Quantum Chromodynamics Studies with Flavor Sensitivity

The true nature of ordinary matter has always fascinated humankind, whose imagination has been pointed to the right direction since the 5th century BC with the first known atomic theory by Leucippus and Democritus. They described the matter as formed by small, invisible, indivisible, and eternal particles: the atoms. A long investigation followed them, including contributions from several of history?s greatest philosophers and scientists. The progress led to the understanding that atoms have an internal structure consisting of a central nucleus composed of protons and neutrons, surrounded by a cloud of electrons. About 50 years ago, scientists discovered that nucleons also have an internal structure. Through the Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) experiments, on which a lepton is scattered off a nucleon, it was possible to access the distribution of partons inside the nucleon along the longitudinal direction defined by the hard-scale probe. It was a crucial step in developing Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), currently the best theory describing the subatomic matter. Ultimately, DIS was recognized as a limited tool to investigate the nucleon structure because it is mainly sensitive to observables at the probe?s energy scale. In recent decades, theoretical developments have allowed defining soft-scale observables by measuring more complex processes. Reactions such as Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering (SIDIS) with single or di-hadron production, can provide information about the momentum of parton inside the nucleon. In particular, polarized SIDIS allows access to the Transverse-Momentum-Dependent (TMD) parton distributions describing the correlations of the quark and gluon degrees of freedom in transverse momentum and spin. This study can provide three-dimensional imaging of nucleon structure and inner dynamics, as long as the hadronic component in the final state can be measured. Identifying the species of the produced particles provides information on the quark flavor and assumes a crucial role in this context. The thesis describes the work carried out by the author in preparing novel instrumentation for particle identification in the final state of DIS experiments, to support modern analysis of the parton dynamics within the basic confined object (nucleon) with flavor sensitivity. The work has been focused on the CLAS12 spectrometer in operation at Jefferson Laboratory (JLab), Newport News, VA, USA, and the ePIC experiment in preparation for the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Long Island, NY, USA. CLAS12 is a fixed-target experiment using a 12 GeV beam of polarized electrons scattering off polarized nuclear targets. In 2018 and 2022, two Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector modules were installed to improve the ?±/K± separation in the high-momentum region (3÷8 GeV/c) of the experiment. The author contributed to the assembly, installation, and com- missioning of the second RICH module, to the efficiency studies of the first module, and to the first SIDIS analysis with high-momentum kaons identified by the RICH. These studies led to the observation of the first spin asymmetry with high-momentum kaons from the CLAS12 experiment, and an initial assessment of the systematic error associated with the hadron identification. ePIC will be the first experiment at the future EIC, the new collider designed to expand the frontiers of QCD. The author was involved in the development of the dual-radiator Ring Imaging Cherenkov (dRICH). This detector will interpolate the measurements of the Cherenkov angles of photons produced by relativistic particles crossing two different radiators to identify charged hadrons. The author contributed to the studies conducted with the dRICH prototype, developing the reconstruction and analysis software and simulations, characterizing the aerogel radiator samples, and being responsible for the tracking system used during the beam tests. The performance obtained by the prototype has been progressively improved and the results are now comparable with the expectation derived from the simulation and satisfy the requirements of the experiment. In Chapter 1, the SIDIS theory is briefly introduced, outlying the connection with the experimental measurement. Chapter 2 includes the description of the CLAS12 RICH, its assembly and installation, and the efficiency study. In Chapter 3, the analysis of the Beam-Spin Asymmetry associated with SIDIS kaons is described. Chapter 4 describes the contribution to the dRICH for EIC, starting from a description of the ePIC experiment and focusing on the studies performed for the dRICH prototype. The conclusions of this work are summarized at the end.

Vallarino, Simone↗
DOE OSTI2022

Robotic end effector system with surface tracking and methods for use

A non-destructive inspection system is presented. The non-destructive inspection system comprises a robotic end effector having an extendable actuator and a flange-mounted roller containing an ultrasonic sensor, the flange-mounted roller connected to the extendable actuator by a pivot connection, the extendable actuator configured to extend the flange-mounted roller until the flange-mounted roller contacts an inspection surface.

Troy, James J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Surface-wave tomography of the Emeishan large igneous province (China): Magma storage system, hidden hotspot track, and its impact on the Capitanian mass extinction

Large igneous provinces (LIPs) are commonly associated with mass extinctions. However, the precise relations between LIPs and their impacts on biodiversity is enigmatic, given that they can be asynchronous. It has been proposed that the environmental impacts are primarily related to sill emplacement. Therefore, the structure of LIPs' magma storage system is critical because it dictates the occurrence and timing of mass extinction. We use surface-wave tomography to image the lithosphere under the Permian Emeishan large igneous province (ELIP) in southwestern China. We find a northeast-trending zone of high shear-wave velocity (Vs) and negative radial anisotropy (Vsv > Vsh; v and h are vertically and horizontally polarized S waves, respectively) in the crust and lithosphere. We rule out the possibilities of rifting or orogenesis to explain these seismic characteristics and interpret the seismic anomaly as a mafic-ultramafic, dike-dominated magma storage system of the ELIP. We further propose that the anomaly represents a hidden hotspot track that was emplaced before the ELIP eruption. A zone of higher velocity but less-negative radial anisotropy, on the hotspot track but to the northeast of the eruption center in the Panxi region, reflects an elevated proportion of sills emplaced at the incipient stage of the ELIP. Liberation of poisonous gases by the early sill intrusions explains why the mid-Capitanian global biota crisis preceded the peak ELIP eruption by 2–3 m.y.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Data collected using small uncrewed aircraft systems during the TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER)

Abstract. The main goal of the TRacking Aerosol Convection interactions ExpeRiment (TRACER) project was to further understand the role that regional circulations and aerosol loading play in the convective cloud life cycle across the greater Houston, Texas, area. To accomplish this goal, the United States Department of Energy and research partners collaborated to deploy atmospheric observing systems across the region. Cloud and precipitation radars, radiosondes, and air quality sensors captured atmospheric and cloud characteristics. A dense lower-atmospheric dataset was developed using ground-based remote sensors, a tethersonde, and uncrewed aerial systems (UASs). TRACER-UAS is a subproject that deployed two UAS platforms to gather high-resolution observations in the lower atmosphere between 1 June and 30 September 2022. The University of Oklahoma CopterSonde and the University of Colorado Boulder RAAVEN (Robust Autonomous Aerial Vehicle – Endurant Nimble) were flown at two coastal locations between the Gulf of Mexico and Houston. The University of Colorado Boulder RAAVEN gathered measurements of atmospheric thermodynamic state, winds and turbulence, and aerosol size distribution. Meanwhile, the University of Oklahoma CopterSonde system operated on a regular basis to resolve the vertical structure of the thermodynamic and kinematic state. Together, a complementary dataset of over 200 flight hours across 61 d was generated, and data from each platform proved to be in strong agreement. In this paper, the platforms and respective data collection and processing are described. The dataset described herein provides information on boundary layer evolution, the sea breeze circulation, conditions prior to and nearby deep convection, and the vertical structure and evolution of aerosols. The quality-controlled TRACER-UAS observations from the CopterSonde and RAAVEN can be found at https://doi.org/10.5439/1969004 (Lappin, 2023) and https://doi.org/10.5439/1985470 (de Boer, 2023), respectively.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Autonomous Acoustic Receiver System for 3D Tracking and Monitoring Real-Time Fish Survival (CRADA 448)

Develop technologies that reduce the delay between changing hydropower operations and the acquisition of knowledge regarding fish behavior and survival and to reduce the cost and effort to obtain behavioral information of fish that is both accurate and detailed. The technologies being proposed would allow hydropower operators to quickly understand the impact of operational changes on fish and allow fisheries researchers to study fish behavior in high resolution at locations that previously would have been unfeasible.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

The state of food systems worldwide in the countdown to 2030

This Analysis presents a recently developed food system indicator framework and holistic monitoring architecture to track food system transformation towards global development, health and sustainability goals. Five themes are considered: (1) diets, nutrition and health; (2) environment, natural resources and production; (3) livelihoods, poverty and equity; (4) governance; and (5) resilience. Each theme is divided into three to five indicator domains, and indicators were selected to reflect each domain through a consultative process. In total, 50 indicators were selected, with at least one indicator available for every domain. Harmonized data of these 50 indicators provide a baseline assessment of the world’s food systems. We show that every country can claim positive outcomes in some parts of food systems, but none are among the highest ranked across all domains. Furthermore, some indicators are independent of national income, and each highlights a specific aspiration for healthy, sustainable and just food systems. The Food Systems Countdown Initiative will track food systems annually to 2030, amending the framework as new indicators or better data emerge.

Schneider, Kate R.↗