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At least 145 records · Page 8

Method of Green’s Potentials for Elliptic PDEs in Domains with Random Apertures

Problems with topological uncertainties appear in many fields ranging from nano-device engineering to the design of bridges. In many of such problems, a part of the domains boundaries is subjected to random perturbations making inefficient conventional schemes that rely on discretization of the whole domain. Here, we study elliptic PDEs in domains with boundaries comprised of a deterministic part and random apertures, and apply the method of modified potentials with Green’s kernels defined on the deterministic part of the domain. This approach allows to reduce the dimension of the original differential problem by reformulating it as a boundary integral equation posed on the random apertures only. The multilevel Monte Carlo method is then applied to this modified integral equation and its optimal ϵ -2 asymptotical complexity is shown. Finally, we provide the qualitative analysis of the proposed technique and support it with numerical results.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Rapid Commissioning of Large Machine Tools Using Finite Element-Based Correction of Geometric Errors

Large computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools derive their stiffness from monolithic cast iron bases or weldments that are sometimes integral to machine motion systems like box ways or guideways. However, the sheer size of castings and even floor flatness deviations result in dimensional errors in these systems, which manifest as machine motion errors. Typical geometric alignment processes rely on an iterative approach, where measurements are taken to assess alignment (straightness, squareness, and parallelism), followed by adjustment of the machine supports (fixators or leveling pads), which can take weeks even for an experienced operator. Conversely, a novel method is proposed to shorten the correction time by eliminating the trial-and-error process in favor of a more deterministic approach guided by a finite element (FE) method. A feasibility study is conducted on a CNC polymer hybrid machine, with a steel weldment frame, supported by six leveling pads. An FE model of the frame is utilized to obtain recommended leveling pad adjustments, based on measurement of machine errors taken using a laser tracker. After a single adjustment cycle, measurements reveal that geometric errors of the machine tool are reduced from 2.22 mm of flatness deviation to 0.32 mm, achieving an 85.6% reduction. Furthermore, the entire process including measurement, adjustment, and assessment is completed in just 6 h by two operators who are not professional service engineers. In conclusion, this methodology demonstrates feasibility for scaling up, especially to large, high-precision CNC machine tools with bases mounted by fixators, offering the capability for bidirectional adjustment.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Deep Reinforcement Learning From Demonstrations to Assist Service Restoration in Islanded Microgrids

Microgrids can be operated in island mode during utility grid outages to support service restoration and improve system resilience. To schedule and dispatch distributed energy resources (DERs) in an islanded microgrid, conventional model-based methods rely on accurate distribution network models and lack generalization and adaptability. Data-driven methods are promising for DER coordination but face practical challenges such as potential hazards to microgrids during online training and insufficient online training opportunities due to low outage rates. This paper presents a novel two-stage learning framework that builds on the deep deterministic policy gradient from demonstrations to identify an optimal restoration strategy. At the pre-training stage, imitation learning is applied to equip the control agent with expert experiences to guarantee acceptable initial performance. At the online training stage, action clipping, reward shaping, and expert demonstrations are leveraged to ensure safe exploration while accelerating the training process. In conclusion, the proposed method is illustrated using the IEEE 123-node system and compared with a representative model-based method and the standard deep deterministic policy gradient method to prove solution accuracy and demonstrate increased computational efficiency.

Du, Yan↗

On the Lebesgue constant of weighted Leja points for Lagrange interpolation on unbounded domains

Here, this work focuses on weighted Lagrange interpolation on an unbounded domain and analyzes the Lebesgue constant for a sequence of weighted Leja points. The standard Leja points are a nested sequence of points defined on a compact subset of the real line and can be extended to unbounded domains with the introduction of a weight function w:R → [0,1]. Due to a simple recursive formulation in one dimension, such abscissas provide a foundation for high-dimensional approximation methods such as sparse grid collocation, deterministic least squares and compressed sensing. Just as in the unweighted case of interpolation on a compact domain, we use results from potential theory to prove that the Lebesgue constant for the Leja points grows subexponentially with the number of interpolation nodes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fermionic Partial Tomography via Classical Shadows

Here we propose a tomographic protocol for estimating any k-body reduced density matrix (k-RDM) of an n-mode fermionic state, a ubiquitous step in near-term quantum algorithms for simulating many-body physics, chemistry, and materials. Our approach extends the framework of classical shadows, a randomized approach to learning a collection of quantum-state properties, to the fermionic setting. Our sampling protocol uses randomized measurement settings generated by a discrete group of fermionic Gaussian unitaries, implementable with linear-depth circuits. We prove that estimating all k-RDM elements to additive precision ϵ requires on the order of ($^{n}_{k}$)k 3/2 log(n)/ϵ 2 repeated state preparations, which is optimal up to the logarithmic factor. Furthermore, numerical calculations show that our protocol offers a substantial improvement in constant overheads for k ≥ 2, as compared to prior deterministic strategies. We also adapt our method to particle-number symmetry, wherein the additional circuit depth may be halved at the cost of roughly 2–5 times more repetitions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Neural MUSE Analysis

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) created data as part of the MUSE (Multi-Agency Urban Search Experiment Detector and Algorithm Test Bed) project simulating illicit nuclear materials located in various buildings along a road. In the simulation, a truck containing a radiation detector drives down the road gathering listmode data (counting the and energy of incident gamma radiation). Building materials, source shielding, driving speed, truck direction, truck location on the road, source type, and source placement are all varied between runs of the data set. This data was created using deterministic neutron transport and Monte Carlo methods through a combination of SCALE, MAVRIC, MCNP, and GADRAS. As part of a follow-on NA-22 project, two Kaggle competitions were created to determine the best algorithms for finding and identifying gamma sources in this simulated urban environment. The winning algorithm was neural network-based and had a test accuracy of 76.4% accuracy for source identification. This work seeks to build upon this work and improve the results through the application of novel machine learning techniques. As a first step, the data was classified by a simple Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) To accomplish this, the data was first preprocessed into “waterfall plots.” These plots are composed of energy vs count plots that are stacked vertically to show progression in time. The horizontal axis indicating the particle energy incorporated user defined bin spacing with options for in linear-, logarithmic-, square root-, and user-spaced bins. The z or color dimension showed the number of counts corresponding the energy-time combination. This data was then used to generate more data, by generating a local estimate of the mean of the distribution for a bin and then randomly re-sampling that bin from a Poisson distribution. Once all of this data was generated, it was fed into a well-known CNN architecture, ResNet50. The output layer of this model was removed and replaced with layers corresponding to the shape desired isotope outputs. The provided training data was used to train the classifier and the remaining testing data was used to evaluate the model. Results are soon to be forthcoming.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗

Latency considerations for stochastic optimizers in variational quantum algorithms

Variational quantum algorithms, which have risen to prominence in the noisy intermediate-scale quantum setting, require the implementation of a stochastic optimizer on classical hardware. To date, most research has employed algorithms based on the stochastic gradient iteration as the stochastic classical optimizer. In this work we propose instead using stochastic optimization algorithms that yield stochastic processes emulating the dynamics of classical deterministic algorithms. This approach results in methods with theoretically superior worst-case iteration complexities, at the expense of greater per-iteration sample (shot) complexities. We investigate this trade-off both theoretically and empirically and conclude that preferences for a choice of stochastic optimizer should explicitly depend on a function of both latency and shot execution times.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Qualifying nuclear graphite components using ASME guidelines

Qualifying nuclear graphite components using ASME guidelines, including Semi-probabilistic, probabilistic, and deterministic approaches to design, theory of methods, pre-assessment analysis inputs, post assessment analysis outputs, simplified assessment, full assessment, and application.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Approximating Nash Equilibrium in Day-ahead Electricity Market Bidding with Multi-agent Deep Reinforcement Learning

In this paper, a day-ahead electricity market bidding problem with multiple strategic generation company (GEN-CO) bidders is studied. The problem is formulated as a Markov game model, where GENCO bidders interact with each other todevelop their optimal day-ahead bidding strategies. Considering unobservable information in the problem, a model-free and data-driven approach, known as multi-agent deep deterministic policy gradient (MADDPG), is applied for approximating the Nash equilibrium (NE) in the above Markov game. The MADDPG algorithm has the advantage of generalization due to the automatic feature extraction ability of the deep neural networks. The algorithm is tested on an IEEE 30-bus system with three competitive GENCO bidders in both an uncongested caseand a congested case. Comparisons with a truthful bidding strategy and state-of-the-art deep reinforcement learning methods including deep Q network and deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) demonstrate that the applied MADDPG algorithm can find a superior bidding strategy for all the market participants with increased profit gains. In addition, the comparison with a conventional model-based method shows that the MADDPG algorithm has higher computational efficiency, which is feasible for real-world applications.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Operating Dynamic Reserve Dimensioning Using Probabilistic Forecasts

The rapid integration of variable energy sources (VRES) into power grids increases variability and uncertainty of the net demand, making the power system operation challenging. Operating reserve is used by system operators to manage and hedge against such variability and uncertainty. Traditionally, reserve requirements are determined by rules-of-thumb (static reserve requirements, e.g., NERC Reliability Standards), and more recently, dynamic reserve requirements from tools and methods which are in the adoption process (e.g., DynADOR, DRD, and RESERVE, among others). While these methods/tools significantly improve the static rule-of-thumb approaches, they rely exclusively on deterministic data (i.e., best guess only). Consequently, these methods disregard the probabilistic uncertainty thresholds associated with specific days and their weather conditions (i.e., best guess plus probabilistic uncertainty). This work presents practical approaches to determine the operating reserve requirements leveraging the wealth information from probabilistic forecasts. Proposed approaches are validated and tested using actual data from the CAISO system. Furthermore, results show the benefits in terms of risk reduction of considering the probabilistic forecast information into the dimensioning process of operating reserve requirements.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Rotational symmetry relation for efficient response function generation in the coarse mesh transport method COMET

The coarse mesh transport code COMET is a continuous energy hybrid stochastic-deterministic neutronics solver with high fidelity and formidable computation speed in solving reactor core problems. Its method is based on the incident flux expansion theory. In this work, we take advantage of the local geometric symmetry in many reactor cores lattices (e.g., fuel lattices and reflector blocks) to develop relations among the flux response expansion coefficients for symmetric surfaces to further improve the computational efficiency of the COMET response function generation tool (method). This is done by a rigorous derivation of the transformation matrices for the angular and spatial expansion moments resulting from a rotation of a coarse mesh by an arbitrary angle. The relations for the response coefficients for the symmetric surfaces can be then written as the Kronecker product of those transformation matrices. The method is implemented into COMET and tested on two advanced high temperature reactor (AHTR) full-length single assembly benchmark problems. The COMET results using the response function library based on the symmetry relations were compared to those using the library directly generated by continuous energy Monte Carlo for all surfaces. It was found that the eigenvalues and stripe-wise fission densities using the two libraries are in statistical agreement as expected. This indicates that the new method maintains the high fidelity of the original COMET method while improving the computational efficiency in the response function generation by 270% to 400%, depending on the local geometric symmetry. This method also reduces the size of the response function library by the same magnitude (270% to 400%). (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Optimal Coordination of Distributed Energy Resources Using Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient

Recent studies showed that reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising approach for coordination and control of distributed energy resources (DER) under uncertainties. Many existing RL approaches, including Q-learning and approximate dynamic programming, are based on lookup table methods, which become inefficient when the problem size is large and infeasible when continuous states and actions are involved. In addition, when modeling battery energy storage system (BESS), the loss of life is not reasonably considered into the decision-making process. This paper proposes an innovative deep RL method for DER coordination considering BESS degradation. The proposed deep RL is designed based on an adaptive actor-critic architecture and employs an off-policy deterministic policy gradient method for determining the dispatch operation that minimizes the operation cost and BESS life loss. Case studies were performed to validate the proposed method and demonstrate the effects of incorporating degradation models into control design.

Das, Avijit↗

Comprehensive Margin Assessment of the ASME Section III, Division 5, Class A Primary Load Design Rules

This report provides a comprehensive margin assessment of the ASME Section III, Division 5, Subsection HB, Subpart B rules for the design of high temperature reactor components against load controlled stress limits. These rules, often called the Code primary load design rules, provide protection against creep rupture and plastic collapse under steady conditions. The method adopted here is to compare the deterministic ASME design life, according to the primary load design rules, against the expected, statistical service life of the component, considering creep rupture as the relevant failure mode. The report provides the design margin of the ASME rules in terms of the probability of premature failure -- the probability that the component fails in service before reaching the ASME design life. To complete this assessment, the report describes the development of a statistical creep life assessment procedure accounting for variations in the component loading, material creep rate, and the material rupture time. This includes a novel method for correlating creep rupture data using a Gaussian process accounting for heat-to-heat variation in the Larson-Miller time-temperature parameter. The report applies the complete margin assessment process to quantify the design margin inherent in the ASME primary load design rules as a function of temperature for relevant component geometries and materials. The overall conclusion is that the ASME rules are conservative, providing designs with very small probability of premature failure, but some optimization of the Code design rules is possible to provide a more uniform design margin.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Stochastic embedding DFT: Theory and application to p -nitroaniline in water

Over this past decade, we combined the idea of stochastic resolution of identity with a variety of electronic structure methods. In our stochastic Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) method, the density is an average over multiple stochastic samples, with stochastic errors that decrease as the inverse square root of the number of sampling orbitals. Here in this paper, we develop a stochastic embedding density functional theory method (se-DFT) that selectively reduces the stochastic error (specifically on the forces) for a selected subsystem(s). The motivation, similar to that of other quantum embedding methods, is that for many systems of practical interest, the properties are often determined by only a small subsystem. In stochastic embedding DFT, two sets of orbitals are used: a deterministic one associated with the embedded subspace and the rest, which is described by a stochastic set. The method agrees exactly with deterministic calculations in the limit of a large number of stochastic samples. We apply se-DFT to study a p-nitroaniline molecule in water, where the statistical errors in the forces on the system (the p-nitroaniline molecule) are reduced by an order of magnitude compared with nonembedding stochastic DFT.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Augmenting subspace optimization methods with linear bandits

In this work, we consider the framework of methods for unconstrained minimization that are, in each iteration, restricted to a model that is only a valid approximation to the objective function on some affine subspace containing an incumbent point. These methods are of practical interest in computational settings where derivative information is either expensive or impossible to obtain. Recent attention has been paid in the literature to employing randomized matrix sketching for generating the affine subspaces within this framework. We consider a relatively straightforward, deterministic augmentation of such a generic subspace optimization method. In particular, we consider a sequential optimization framework where actions consist of one-dimensional linear subspaces and rewards consist of (approximations to) the magnitudes of directional derivatives computed in the direction of the action subspace. Reward maximization in this context is consistent with maximizing lower bounds on descent guaranteed by first-order Taylor models. This sequential optimization problem can be analysed through the lens of dynamic regret. We modify an existing linear upper confidence bound (UCB) bandit method and prove sublinear dynamic regret in the subspace optimization setting. We demonstrate the efficacy of employing this linear UCB method in a setting where forward-mode algorithmic differentiation can provide directional derivatives in arbitrary directions and in a derivative-free setting. For the derivative-free setting, we propose SS-POUNDers, an extension of the derivative-free optimization method POUNDers that employs the linear UCB mechanism to identify promising subspaces. Our numerical experiments suggest a preference, in either computational setting, for employing a linear UCB mechanism within a subspace optimization method.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Off-resonant detection of domain wall oscillations using deterministically placed nanodiamonds

Abstract Nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond offer a sensitive method of measuring the spatially localized dynamics of magnetization and associated spin textures in ferromagnetic materials. We use NV centers in a deterministically positioned nanodiamond to demonstrate off-resonant detection of microwave field-driven GHz-scale oscillations of a single domain wall (DW). The technique exploits the enhanced relaxation of NV center spins due to the broadband stray field noise generated by an oscillating DW pinned at an engineered defect in a lithographically patterned ferromagnetic nanowire. Discrepancies between the observed DW oscillation frequency and predictions from micromagnetic simulations suggest extreme sensitivity of DW dynamics to patterning imperfections such as edge roughness. These experiments and simulations identify potential pathways toward quantum spintronic devices that exploit current-driven DWs as nanoscale microwave generators for qubit control, greatly increasing the driving field at an NV center and thus drastically reducing the π pulse time.

Rable, Jeffrey↗

Stochastic evaluation of four-component relativistic second-order many-body perturbation energies: A potentially quadratic-scaling correlation method

A second-order many-body perturbation correction to the relativistic Dirac-Hartree-Fock energy is evaluated stochastically by integrating 13-dimensional products of four-component spinors and Coulomb potentials. The integration in the real space of electron coordinates is carried out by the Monte Carlo (MC) method with the Metropolis sampling, whereas the MC integration in the imaginary-time domain is performed by the inverse-CDF (cumulative distribution function) method. The computational cost to reach a given relative statistical error for spatially compact but heavy molecules is observed to be no worse than cubic and possibly quadratic with the number of electrons or basis functions. This is a vast improvement over the quintic scaling of the conventional, deterministic second-order many-body perturbation method. The algorithm is also easily and efficiently parallelized with demonstrated 92% strong scalability going from 64 to 4096 processors for a fixed job size.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Single photon sources with near unity collection efficiencies by deterministic placement of quantum dots in nanoantennas

Deterministic coupling between photonic nodes in a quantum network is an essential step toward implementing various quantum technologies. The omnidirectionality of free-standing emitters, however, makes this coupling highly inefficient, in particular if the distant nodes are coupled via low numerical aperture (NA) channels such as optical fibers. This limitation requires placing quantum emitters in nanoantennas that can direct the photons into the channels with very high efficiency. Moreover, to be able to scale such technologies to a large number of channels, the placing of the emitters should be deterministic. In this work, we present a method for directly locating single free-standing quantum emitters with high spatial accuracy at the center of highly directional bullseye metal–dielectric nanoantennas. We further employ non-blinking, high quantum yield colloidal quantum dots for on-demand single-photon emission that is uncompromised by instabilities or non-radiative exciton recombination processes. Taken together, this approach results in a record-high collection efficiency of 85% of the single photons into a low NA of 0.5, setting the stage for efficient coupling between on-chip, room temperature nanoantenna-emitter devices and a fiber or a remote free-space node without the need for additional optics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗