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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 145 records · Page 8

COSMIC SHEAR RESULTS FROM THE DEEP LENS SURVEY. I. JOINT CONSTRAINTS ON {Omega} {sub M} AND {sigma}{sub 8} WITH A TWO-DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

We present a cosmic shear study from the Deep Lens Survey (DLS), a deep BVRz multi-band imaging survey of five 4 deg{sup 2} fields with two National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) 4 m telescopes at Kitt Peak and Cerro Tololo. For both telescopes, the change of the point-spread-function (PSF) shape across the focal plane is complicated, and the exposure-to-exposure variation of this position-dependent PSF change is significant. We overcome this challenge by modeling the PSF separately for individual exposures and CCDs with principal component analysis (PCA). We find that stacking these PSFs reproduces the final PSF pattern on the mosaic image with high fidelity, and the method successfully separates PSF-induced systematics from gravitational lensing effects. We calibrate our shears and estimate the errors, utilizing an image simulator, which generates sheared ground-based galaxy images from deep Hubble Space Telescope archival data with a realistic atmospheric turbulence model. For cosmological parameter constraints, we marginalize over shear calibration error, photometric redshift uncertainty, and the Hubble constant. We use cosmology-dependent covariances for the Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis and find that the role of this varying covariance is critical in our parameter estimation. Our current non-tomographic analysis alone constrains the {Omega} {sub M}-{sigma}{sub 8} likelihood contour tightly, providing a joint constraint of {Omega} {sub M} = 0.262 {+-} 0.051 and {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.868 {+-} 0.071. We expect that a future DLS weak-lensing tomographic study will further tighten these constraints because explicit treatment of the redshift dependence of cosmic shear more efficiently breaks the {Omega} {sub M}-{sigma}{sub 8} degeneracy. Combining the current results with the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe 7 year (WMAP7) likelihood data, we obtain {Omega} {sub M} = 0.278 {+-} 0.018 and {sigma}{sub 8} = 0.815 {+-} 0.020.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Dual-band GPS antenna with horizontal polarization

An antenna array is described herein that is suitable for dual-band GPS reception. The antenna array includes a plurality of dipole antennas arranged in a circular pattern. The antenna array further includes a feed network, separated from the dipole antennas by an insulating plate, and that passes electrical signals output by the dipole antennas to a feed line. The feed network comprises a central plate in contact with the feed line, and a plurality of arms aligned with the dipoles and extending from the center plate toward the outer edges of the circular pattern. The arms cross over slots in each of the dipole antennas. Electromagnetic waves that impinge on the dipoles induce signals that travel down the slots in the dipoles and couple to the arms of the feed network where the arms cross over the slots. The signals then travel along the feed network to the feed line.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Moiré pattern of interference dislocations in condensate of indirect excitons

Interference patterns provide direct measurement of coherent propagation of matter waves in quantum systems. Superfluidity in Bose–Einstein condensates of excitons can enable long-range ballistic exciton propagation and can lead to emerging long-scale interference patterns. Indirect excitons (IXs) are formed by electrons and holes in separated layers. The theory predicts that the reduced IX recombination enables IX superfluid propagation over macroscopic distances. Here, we present dislocation-like phase singularities in interference patterns produced by condensate of IXs. We analyze how exciton vortices and skyrmions should appear in the interference experiments and show that the observed interference dislocations are not associated with these phase defects. We show that the observed interference dislocations originate from the moiré effect in combined interference patterns of propagating condensate matter waves. The interference dislocations are formed by the IX matter waves ballistically propagating over macroscopic distances. The long-range ballistic IX propagation is the evidence for IX condensate superfluidity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Base changes in tumour DNA have the power to reveal the causes and evolution of cancer

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has demonstrated that the cancer genomes are peppered with mutations. Although most somatic tumour mutations are unlikely to have any role in the cancer process per se, the spectra of DNA sequence changes in tumour mutation catalogues have the potential to identify the mutagens, and to reveal the mutagenic processes responsible for human cancer. Very recently, a novel approach for data mining of the vast compilations of tumour NGS data succeeded in separating and precisely defining at least 30 distinct patterns of sequence change hidden in mutation databases. At least half of these mutational signatures can be readily assigned to known human carcinogenic exposures or endogenous mechanisms of mutagenesis. A quantum leap in our knowledge of mutagenesis in human cancers has resulted, stimulating a flurry of research activity. We trace here the major findings leading first to the hypothesis that carcinogenic insults leave characteristic imprints on the DNA sequence of tumours, and culminating in empirical evidence from NGS data that well-defined carcinogen mutational signatures are indeed present in tumour genomic DNA from a variety of cancer types. The notion that tumour DNAs can divulge environmental sources of mutation is now a well-accepted fact. This approach to cancer aetiology has also incriminated various endogenous, enzyme-driven processes that increase the somatic mutation load in sporadic cancers. The tasks now confronting the field of molecular epidemiology are to assign mutagenic processes to orphan and newly discovered tumour mutation patterns, and to determine whether avoidable cancer risk factors influence signatures produced by endogenous enzymatic mechanisms. As a result, innovative research with experimental models and exploitation of the geographical heterogeneity in cancer incidence can address these challenges.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Nonstationary oscillation of gyrotron backward wave oscillators with cylindrical interaction structure

The nonstationary oscillation of the gyrotron backward wave oscillator (gyro-BWO) with cylindrical interaction structure was studied utilizing both steady-state analyses and time-dependent simulations. Comparisons of the numerical results reveal that the gyro-BWO becomes nonstationary when the trailing field structure completely forms due to the dephasing energetic electrons. The backward propagation of radiated waves with a lower resonant frequency from the trailing field structure interferes with the main internal feedback loop, thereby inducing the nonstationary oscillation of the gyro-BWO. The nonstationary gyro-BWO exhibits the same spectral pattern of modulated oscillations with a constant frequency separation between the central frequency and sidebands throughout the whole system. The frequency separation is found to be scaled with the square root of the maximum field amplitude, thus further demonstrating that the nonstationary oscillation of the gyro-BWO is associated with the beam-wave resonance detuning.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Final Report, DOE grant DE-FG02-99ER45780, "Indirect Excitons in Coupled Quantum Wells"

The is the final technical report for this project, which was funded by the DOE from 1999 to 2012. The project focused on experimental studies of spatially indirect excitons in coupled quantum wells, with the aim of understanding the quantum physics of these particles, including such effects as pattern formation due to electron-hole charge separation, the Mott plasma-insulator transition, luminescence up-conversion through field-assisted tunneling, luminescence line shifts due to many-body renormalization and magnetic field effects on tunneling, and proposed effects such as Bose-Einstein condensation of indirect excitons and phase separation of bright and dark indirect excitons. Significant results are summarized here and the relation to other work is discussed.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

NREL's HydroGEN Photoreactor Platform Design and Characterization

This technical report details the design, fabrication, and construction of a flow-through photoreactor developed at The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The photoreactor is designed to facilitate indoor or outdoor testing on photoelectrochemical or integrated solar water splitting devices. The photoreactor design described here is based on a previous demonstration. The photoreactor version described herein contains several advanced design features that include: 1) Chassis-chuck two-part design, 2) Separable counter electrode compartments (here, the counter electrodes are anodes), 3) Reduced electrode separation to reduce electrolyte resistance, 4) Improved flow pattern for bubble removal, 5) Mounting for spectroradiometer receptor, 6) Fresnel lens and collimating tube attachments. The photoreactor presented here was designed primarily to accommodate photocathode materials in an illuminated compartment and a dark anode as the oxygen evolution catalyst. The build materials were thus chosen to for acid electrolyte compatibility. Other embodiments could accommodate a photoanode with dark hydrogen evolution catalyst and other build materials for alkaline compatibility.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Flight Considerations and Hyperspectral Image Classifications for Dryland Vegetation Management from a Fixed-wing UAS

Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)-based hyperspectral remote sensing capabilities developed by the Idaho National Lab and Boise Center Aerospace Lab were tested via demonstration flights that explored the influence of altitude on geometric error, image mosaicking, and dryland vegetation classification. The motivation for this study was to better understand the challenges associated with UAS-based hyperspectral data for distinguishing native grasses such as Sandberg bluegrass ( Poa secunda ) from invasives such as burr buttercup ( Ranunculus testiculatus) in a shrubland environment. The test flights successfully acquired usable flightline data capable of supporting classifiable composite images. Unsupervised classification results support vegetation management objectives that rely on mapping shrub cover and distribution patterns. However, supervised classifications performed poorly despite spectral separability in the image-derived endmember pixels. In many cases, the supervised classifications accentuated noise or features in the mosaic that were artifacts of color balancing and feathering in areas of flightline overlap. Future UAS flight missions that optimize flight planning; minimize illumination differences between flightlines; and leverage ground reference data and time series analysis should be able to effectively distinguish native grasses such as Sandberg bluegrass from burr buttercup.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Coherence Properties of Individual Femtosecond Pulses of an X-ray Free-Electron Laser

Measurements of the spatial and temporal coherence of single, femtosecond x-ray pulses generated by the first hard x-ray free-electron laser, the Linac Coherent Light Source, are presented. Single-shot measurements were performed at 780 eV x-ray photon energy using apertures containing double pinholes in 'diffract-and-destroy' mode. We determined a coherence length of 17 {micro}m in the vertical direction, which is approximately the size of the focused Linac Coherent Light Source beam in the same direction. The analysis of the diffraction patterns produced by the pinholes with the largest separation yields an estimate of the temporal coherence time of 0.55 fs. We find that the total degree of transverse coherence is 56% and that the x-ray pulses are adequately described by two transverse coherent modes in each direction. This leads us to the conclusion that 78% of the total power is contained in the dominant mode.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLE (UAV) HYPERSPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING FOR DRYLAND VEGETATION MONITORING

UAV-based hyperspectral remote sensing capabilities developed by the Idaho National Lab and Idaho State University, Boise Center Aerospace Lab, were recently tested via demonstration flights that explored the influence of altitude on geometric error, image mosaicking, and dryland vegetation classification. The test flights successfully acquired usable flightline data capable of supporting classifiable composite images. Unsupervised classification results support vegetation management objectives that rely on mapping shrub cover and distribution patterns. Overall, supervised classifications performed poorly despite spectral separability in the image-derived endmember pixels. Future mapping efforts that leverage ground reference data, ultra-high spatial resolution photos and time series analysis should be able to effectively distinguish native grasses such as Sandberg bluegrass (Poa secunda), from invasives such as burr buttercup (Ranunculus testiculatus) and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Element-resolved Kikuchi pattern measurements of non-centrosymmetric materials

Angle-resolved electron Rutherford backscattering (ERBS) measurements using an electrostatic electron energy analyser can provide unique access to element-resolved crystallographic information. We present Kikuchi pattern measurements of the non-centrosymmetric crystal GaP, separately resolving the contributions of electrons backscattered from Ga and P. In comparison to element-integrated measurements like in the method of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), the effect of the absence of a proper 4-fold rotation axis in the point group of GaP can be sensed with a much higher visibility via the element-resolved Ga to P intensity ratio. These element-resolved measurements make it possible to experimentally attribute the previously observed point-group dependent effect in element-integrated EBSD measurements to the larger contribution of electrons scattered from Ga compared to P. - Highlights: •Element specific Kikuchi patterns are presented for GaP. •Absence of a proper four-fold rotation axis is demonstrated. •Ga and P intensity variations after 90 degree rotation have opposite phase. •The asymmetry in the total intensity distribution resembles that of Ga.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

K-space algorithmic reconstruction (KAREN): a robust statistical methodology to separate Bragg and diffuse scattering

Diffuse scattering occurring in the Bragg diffraction pattern of a long-range-ordered structure represents local deviation from the governing regular lattice. However, interpreting the real-space structure from the diffraction pattern presents a significant challenge because of the dramatic difference in intensity between the Bragg and diffuse components of the total scattering function. In contrast to the sharp Bragg diffraction, the diffuse signal has generally been considered to be a weak expansive or continuous background signal. In this paper, using 1D and 2D models, it is demonstrated that diffuse scattering in fact consists of a complex array of high-frequency features that must not be averaged into a low-frequency background signal. To evaluate the actual diffuse scattering effectively, an algorithm has been developed that uses robust statistics and traditional signal processing techniques to identify Bragg peaks as signal outliers which can be removed from the overall scattering data and then replaced by statistically valid fill values. This method, described as a 'K-space algorithmic reconstruction' (KAREN), can identify Bragg reflections independent of prior knowledge of a system's unit cell. KAREN does not alter any data other than that in the immediate vicinity of the Bragg reflections, and reconstructs the diffuse component surrounding the Bragg peaks without introducing discontinuities which induce Fourier ripples or artifacts from underfilling `punched' voids. The KAREN algorithm for reconstructing diffuse scattering provides demonstrably better resolution than can be obtained from previously described punch-and-fill methods. The superior structural resolution obtained using the KAREN method is demonstrated by evaluating the complex ordered diffuse scattering observed from the neutron diffraction of a single plastic crystal of CBr 4 using pair distribution function analysis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Double diffraction imaging of x-ray induced structural dynamics in single free nanoparticles

Abstract Because of their high photon flux, x-ray free-electron lasers (FEL) allow to resolve the structure of individual nanoparticles via coherent diffractive imaging (CDI) within a single x-ray pulse. Since the inevitable rapid destruction of the sample limits the achievable resolution, a thorough understanding of the spatiotemporal evolution of matter on the nanoscale following the irradiation is crucial. We present a technique to track x-ray induced structural changes in time and space by recording two consecutive diffraction patterns of the same single, free-flying nanoparticle, acquired separately on two large-area detectors opposite to each other, thus examining both the initial and evolved particle structure. We demonstrate the method at the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and soft x-ray Free-electron LASer in Hamburg (FLASH), investigating xenon clusters as model systems. By splitting a single XUV pulse, two diffraction patterns from the same particle can be obtained. For focus intensities of about 2 × 10 12 W cm −2 we observe still largely intact clusters even at the longest delays of up to 650 picoseconds of the second pulse, indicating that in the highly absorbing systems the damage remains confined to one side of the cluster. Instead, in case of five times higher flux, the diffraction patterns show clear signatures of disintegration, namely increased diameters and density fluctuations in the fragmenting clusters. Future improvements to the accessible range of dynamics and time resolution of the approach are discussed.

Sauppe, M. (ORCID:0000000163123102)↗

A multiscale design method using interpretable machine learning for phononic materials with closely interacting scales

Manipulating the dispersive characteristics of vibrational waves is beneficial for many applications, e.g., high-precision instruments. architected hierarchical phononic materials have sparked promise tunability of elastodynamic waves and vibrations over multiple frequency ranges. In this article, hierarchical unit-cells are obtained, where features at each length scale result in a band gap within a targeted frequency range. Our novel approach, the ‘‘hierarchical unit-cell template method,’’ is an interpretable machine-learning approach that uncovers global unit-cell shape/topology patterns corresponding to predefined band-gap objectives. A scale-separation effect is observed where the coarse-scale band-gap objective is mostly unaffected by the fine-scale features despite the closeness of their length scales, thus enabling an efficient hierarchical algorithm. Moreover, the hierarchical patterns revealed are not predefined or self-similar hierarchies as common in current hierarchical phononic materials. Furthermore, our approach offers a flexible and efficient method for the exploration of new regions in the hierarchical design space, extracting minimal effective patterns for inverse design in applications targeting multiple frequency ranges.

Architected materials↗

THE PRECESSION OF THE HERBIG-HARO 111 FLOW IN THE INFRARED

We present Spitzer Infrared Array Camera images of the Herbig-Haro (HH) 111 outflow that show a wealth of condensations/knots in both jet and counterjet. Studying the positional distribution of these knots, we find very suggestive evidence of a mirror symmetric pattern in the jet/counterjet flow. We model this pattern as the result of an orbital motion of the jet source around a binary companion. From a fit of an analytic, ballistic model to the observed path of the HH 111 system, we find that the motion in a binary with two {approx}1 M{sub sun} stars (one of them being the HH 111 source), in a circular orbit with a separation of {approx}186 AU, would produce the mirror symmetric pattern seen in the outflow.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Diagnostic-free onboard battery health assessment

Diverse usage patterns induce complex and variable aging behaviors in lithiumion batteries, complicating accurate health diagnosis and prognosis. Separate diagnostic cycles are often used to untangle the battery’s current state of health from prior complex aging patterns. However, these same diagnostic cycles alter the battery’s degradation trajectory, are time-intensive, and cannot be practically performed in onboard applications. Here, in this work, we leverage portions of operational measurements in combination with an interpretable machine learning model to enable rapid, onboard battery health diagnostics and prognostics without offline diagnostic testing and the requirement of historical data. We integrate mechanistic constraints within an encoder-decoder architecture to extract electrode states in a physically interpretable latent space and enable improved reconstruction of the degradation path. The health diagnosis model framework can be flexibly applied across diverse application interests with slight fine-tuning.

battery aging reconstruction↗