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At least 145 records · Page 8

Single-String Integration Test Measurements of the NEXT Ion Engine Plume

Measurements were made of a 40 cm ion-thruster plume as part of the single-string-integration-test (SSIT) activity of Phase I of the NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) project. The NEXT ion engine incorporates design improvements that extend NSTAR power levels and efficiencies. During SSIT, an engineering model (EM2) 40 cm engine was operated using an advanced xenon propellant system in combination with either a GRC power console or advanced power processing unit. Integral goals of the single-string phase were to characterize engine performance over the full input power range and to detail thruster operation within the specification of the NEXT throttle table. Plume diagnostics measurements of relative Xe(+) and Xe(++) currents were made using near-field and far-field ExB probes. Planar geometry faraday probes were used to obtain beam current density profiles. This paper reports on the characterization of the EM2 plume over a range of SSIT operating conditions, first with the advanced propellant management system teamed with the GRC power console and then with the power-processing unit.

Snyder, Aaron↗

Deciding Termination for Ancestor Match- Bounded String Rewriting Systems

Termination of a string rewriting system can be characterized by termination on suitable recursively defined languages. This kind of termination criteria has been criticized for its lack of automation. In an earlier paper we have shown how to construct an automated termination criterion if the recursion is aligned with the rewrite relation. We have demonstrated the technique with Dershowitz's forward closure criterion. In this paper we show that a different approach is suitable when the recursion is aligned with the inverse of the rewrite relation. We apply this idea to Kurth's ancestor graphs and obtain ancestor match-bounded string rewriting systems. Termination is shown to be decidable for this class. The resulting method improves upon those based on match-boundedness or inverse match-boundedness.

Geser, Alfons↗

Modeling Regular Replacement for String Constraint Solving

Bugs in user input sanitation of software systems often lead to vulnerabilities. Among them many are caused by improper use of regular replacement. This paper presents a precise modeling of various semantics of regular substitution, such as the declarative, finite, greedy, and reluctant, using finite state transducers (FST). By projecting an FST to its input/output tapes, we are able to solve atomic string constraints, which can be applied to both the forward and backward image computation in model checking and symbolic execution of text processing programs. We report several interesting discoveries, e.g., certain fragments of the general problem can be handled using less expressive deterministic FST. A compact representation of FST is implemented in SUSHI, a string constraint solver. It is applied to detecting vulnerabilities in web applications

Fu, Xiang↗

Playing a 3-Stringed Violin: Innovation via the Joint Evolution of People, Process, and Knowledge Management System

Users continuously evaluate the value and performance of their Knowledge Management Systems (KMS). As suggested by a punctuated socio-technical system process model, today's success can quickly become tomorrow's failure should the KMS fail to meet evolving needs and expectations. The more deeply a tool is embedded in the actual work process, the more vulnerable it is to emergent changes and perturbations. This paper uses the metaphor of a "3-stringed violin" to explore how differing levels of user knowledge about tools and processes can lead to system perturbations and how the active involvement of other actors can dampen the impact of perturbations, i.e., help the system survive the operational equivalent of a broken string. Recommendations suggest ways to increase system resiliency and contribute to incremental innovation.

Socio-technical systems↗

Comparing Interval Management Control Laws for Steady-State Errors and String Stability

Interval Management (IM) is a future airborne spacing concept that leverages avionics to provide speed guidance to an aircraft to achieve and maintain a specified spacing interval from another aircraft. The design of a speed control law to achieve the spacing goal is a key aspect in the research and development of the IM concept. In this paper, two control laws that are used in much of the contemporary IM research are analyzed and compared to characterize steady-state errors and string stability. Numerical results are used to illustrate how the choice of control laws gains impacts the size of steady-state errors and string performance and the potential trade-offs between those performance characteristics.

Weitz, Lesley A.↗

String Potentiometers for Supersonic Split-Line Thrust Vector Amplification Factor Verification

The static fire of NASA’s Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) first stage Solid Rocket Motor (SRM1) Demonstration Motor-1 (DM-1) occurred at Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) on April 7, 2023. Among other objectives, this test successfully demonstrated the Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system, including the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the Supersonic Split-Line (SSSL) nozzle. An essential characteristic of the SSSL is the thrust vector amplification factor (TVAF) it exhibits; however, empirically quantifying this behavior is difficult due to the limitations of measuring the internal nozzle gas dynamics of a Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) during burn. Using four string potentiometers mounted inside the test chamber connected to the nozzle and motor case and a thrust measurement system (TMS), the TVAF can be derived from the known nozzle and motor geometry. Increasing the accuracy of the TVAF is essential for certain groups working on the MAV including the Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GN&C) group, who prior to DM-1, solely relied on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data in their Monte Carlo simulations for TVAF. The methodology shown in this paper can be generally applied to any test article implementing a SSSL nozzle, presuming string potentiometers are a viable option and the facility is conducive of their implementation.

Supersonic Split-Line↗

Loop-string-hadron approach to SU(3) lattice Yang-Mills theory: Hilbert space of a trivalent vertex

The construction of gauge-invariant states of SU(3) lattice gauge theories has garnered new interest in recent years, but implementing them is complicated by the need for SU(3) Clebsch-Gordon coefficients. In the loop-string-hadron (LSH) approach to lattice gauge theories, the elementary excitations are strictly gauge invariant, and constructing the basis requires no knowledge of Clebsch-Gordon coefficients. Originally developed for SU(2), the LSH formulation was recently generalized to SU(3), but limited to one spatial dimension. In this work, we generalize the LSH approach to constructing the basis of SU(3) gauge-invariant states at a trivalent vertex—the essential building block to multidimensional space. A direct generalization from the SU(2) vertex yields a legitimate basis; however, in certain sectors of the Hilbert space, the naive LSH basis vectors so defined suffer from being nonorthogonal. The issues with orthogonality are directly related to the “missing label” or “outer multiplicity” problem associated with SU(3) tensor products and may also be phrased in terms of Littlewood-Richardson coefficients or the need for a “seventh Casimir” operator. The states that are unaffected by the problem are orthonormalized in closed form. For the sectors that are afflicted, we discuss the nonorthogonal bases and their orthogonalization. A few candidates for seventh Casimir operators are readily constructed from the suite of LSH gauge-singlet operators. The diagonalization of a seventh Casimir represents one prescriptive solution toward obtaining a complete orthonormal basis, but a closed-form general solution remains to be found. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A T-duality of non-supersymmetric heterotic strings and an implication for Topological Modular Forms

Abstract Motivated by recent developments connecting non-supersymmetric heterotic string theory to the theory of Topological Modular Forms (TMF), we show that the worldsheet theory with central charge (17,$$ \frac{3}{2} $$ 3 2 ) obtained by fibering the (E 8 ) 1 × (E 8 ) 1 current algebra over the two$$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = (0, 1) sigma model onS 1 with antiperiodic spin structure (such that theE 8 factors are exchanged as we go around the circle), is continuously connected to the (E 8 ) 2 theory in the Gaiotto Johnson-Freyd Witten sense of going “up and down the RG trajectories”. Combined with the work of Tachikawa and Yamashita, this furnishes a physical derivation of the fact that the (E 8 ) 2 theory corresponds to the unique nontrivial torsion element [(E 8 ) 2 ] of TMF 31 with zero mod-2 elliptic genus.

Physics↗

Gauge loop-string-hadron formulation on general graphs and applications to fully gauge fixed Hamiltonian lattice gauge theory

We develop a gauge invariant, Loop-String-Hadron (LSH) based representation of SU(2) Yang-Mills theory defined on a general graph consisting of vertices and half-links. Inspired by weak coupling studies, we apply this technique to maximal tree gauge fixing. This allows us to develop a fully gauge-fixed representation of the theory in terms of LSH quantum numbers. We explicitly show how the quantum numbers in this formulation directly relate to the variables in the magnetic description. In doing so, we will also explain in detail how the Kogut-Susskind formulation, prepotentials, and point splitting work for general graphs. In the appendix of this work, we provide a self-contained exposition of the mathematical details of Hamiltonian pure gauge theories defined on general graphs.

Algorithms and Theoretical Developments↗

Spatial String Tension and Its Effects on Screening Correlators in a Thermal QCD Plasma

We calculate the spatial Wilson line correlator for 2 +1 flavor QCD using highly improved staggered quark discretization for fermions and in quenched QCD for a wide range of temperatures, from the chiral crossover temperature 𝑇 pc ≃ 156 MeV or the deconfinement temperature ≃300 MeV, respectively, up to 2 GeV. Extracting the spatial string tension for different lattice cutoffs and by performing a continuum extrapolation of this observable, we show that the soft (magnetic) gluons interact nonperturbatively even at temperatures ≳1 GeV. We provide incriminating evidences to demonstrate that dimensionally reduced effective theories can describe these soft quark and gluon quasi-particles for both quenched and 2 +1 flavor QCD, at temperatures 𝑇 ≳ 5⁢𝑇 pc . We also show for the first time the imprints of the nonperturbative pseudopotential in the properties of mesonic screening masses for temperatures ranging from 0.8 to 164 GeV in the quark-gluon plasma.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

On a class of selection rules without group actions in field theory and string theory

We discuss a class of selection rules which i) do not come from group actions on fields, ii) are exact at tree level in perturbation theory, iii) are increasingly violated as the loop order is raised, and iv) eventually reduce to selection rules associated with an ordinary group symmetry. We start from basic field-theoretical examples in which fields are labeled by conjugacy classes rather than representations of a group, and discuss generalizations using fusion algebras or hypergroups. We also discuss how such selection rules arise naturally in string theory, such as for non-Abelian orbifolds or other cases with non-invertible worldsheet symmetries.

Kaidi, Justin (ORCID:0000000161440729)↗

Post-hoc reweighting of hadron production in the Lund string model

We present a method for reweighting flavor selection in the Lund string fragmentation model. This is the process of calculating and applying event weights enabling fast and exact variation of hadronization parameters on pre-generated event samples. The procedure is post hoc, requiring only a small amount of additional information stored per event, and allowing for efficient estimation of hadronization uncertainties without repeated simulation. Weight expressions are derived from the hadronization algorithm itself, and validated against direct simulation for a wide range of observables and parameter shifts. The hadronization algorithm can be viewed as a hierarchical Markov process with stochastic rejections, a structure common to many complex simulations outside of high-energy physics. This perspective makes the method modular, extensible, and potentially transferable to other domains. We demonstrate the approach in Pythia, including both coverage considerations and timing benefits. For the purpose of this paper, our goal is to develop and demonstrate the the formalism, and we therefore exclude several model variations for baryon production (popcorn model, junction production) needed for proton collisions. These will be the topic of a future paper.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Towards Field Emission Free Cavity Processing and String Assembly at Fermilab

Cavities and cryomodules assembled at Fermilab have demonstrated unprecedented field emission (FE) free gradients. However, consistent FE-free performance is not guaranteed. Many lessons were learned, and continued vigilance is a must. In addition, several improvements have been identified to further push the state-of-the-art low particulate cavity processing and assembly at Fermilab. Those included the optimization of nitrogen flow, robotic-assisted assembly, and low-particulate fasteners. We share our latest results and vision for the future clean assemblies of cavities and cryomodule strings.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Physical Yukawa couplings in heterotic string compactifications

One of the challenges of heterotic compactification on a CalabiYau threefold is to determine the physical (27) 3 Yukawa couplings of the resulting four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}$ = 1 theory. In general, the calculation necessitates knowledge of the Ricci-flat metric. However, in the standard embedding, which references the tangent bundle, we can compute normalized Yukawa couplings from the Weil-Petersson metric on the moduli space of complex structure deformations of the Calabi-Yau manifold. In various examples (the Fermat quintic, the intersection of two cubics in $\mathbb{P}$ 5 , and the TianYau manifold), we calculate the normalized Yukawa couplings for (2,1)-forms using the Weil-Petersson metric obtained from the Kodaira-Spencer map. In cases where $h^{1,1}$ = 1 , this is compared to a complementary calculation based on performing period integrals. A third expression for the normalized Yukawa couplings is obtained from a machine learned approximate Ricci-flat metric making use of explicit harmonic representatives. Finally, the excellent agreement between the different approaches opens the door to precision string phenomenology.

Butbaia, Giorgi↗