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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF GRB PROMPT EMISSION MECHANISM. I. THE ORIGIN OF SPECTRAL LAGS

Despite decades of investigations, the physical mechanism that powers the bright prompt γ -ray emission from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is still not identified. One important observational clue that still has not been properly interpreted is the existence of time lags of broad light curve pulses in different energy bands, referred to as “spectral lags.” Here, we show that the traditional view invoking the high-latitude emission “curvature effect” of a relativistic jet cannot account for spectral lags. Rather, the observed spectral lags demand the sweep of a spectral peak across the observing energy band in a specific manner. The duration of the broad pulses and inferred typical Lorentz factor of GRBs require that the emission region be in an optically thin emission region far from the GRB central engine. We construct a simple physical model invoking synchrotron radiation from a rapidly expanding outflow. We show that the observed spectral lags appear naturally in our model light curves given that (1) the gamma-ray photon spectrum is curved (as observed), (2) the magnetic field strength in the emitting region decreases with radius as the region expands in space, and (3) the emission region itself undergoes rapid bulk acceleration as the prompt γ -rays are produced. These requirements are consistent with a Poynting-flux-dominated jet abruptly dissipating magnetic energy at a large distance from the engine.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

BASS. XXXIII. Swift-BAT Blazars and Their Jets through Cosmic Time

We derive the most up-to-date Swift-Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) blazar luminosity function in the 14–195 keV range, making use of a clean sample of 118 blazars detected in the BAT 105 month survey catalog, with newly obtained redshifts from the BAT Active Galatic Nucleus Spectroscopic Survey. We determine the best-fit X-ray luminosity function for the whole blazar population, as well as for flat-spectrum radio quasars (FSRQs) alone. The main results are: (1) at any redshift, BAT detects the most luminous blazars, above any possible break in their luminosity distribution, which means we cannot differentiate between density and luminosity evolution; (2) the whole blazar population, dominated by FSRQs, evolves positively up to redshift z ~ 4.3, confirming earlier results and implying lower number densities of blazars at higher redshifts than previously estimated. The contribution of this source class to the cosmic X-ray background at 14–195 keV can range from 5%–18%, while possibly accounting for 100% of the MeV background. We also derived the average 14 keV–10 GeV spectral energy distribution for BAT blazars, which allows us to predict the number counts of sources in the MeV range, as well as the expected number of high-energy (>100 TeV) neutrinos. A mission like COSI will detect 40 MeV blazars, of which two may have coincident neutrino detections. Finally, taking into account beaming selection effects, the distribution and properties of the parent population of these extragalactic jets are derived. We find that the distribution of viewing angles is quite narrow, with most sources aligned within <5° of the line of sight. Moreover, the average Lorentz factor, $\langle$Γ$\rangle$ = 8–12, is lower than previously suggested for these powerful sources.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1985

Signal processing in SETI

It is believed that the Galaxy might contain ten billion potential life sites. In view of the physical inaccessibility of extraterrestrial life on account of the vast distances involved, a logical first step in a search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) appears to be an attempt to detect signals already being radiated. The characteristics of the signals to be expected are discussed together with the search strategy of a NASA program. It is pointed out that all presently planned searches will use existing radio-astronomy antennas. If no extraterrestrial intelligence signals are discovered, society will have to decide whether SETI justifies a dedicated facility of much greater collecting area. Attention is given to a multichannel spectrum analyzer, CW signal detection, pulse detection, the pattern detector, and details of SETI system operation.

Cullers, D. K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A tool for manual endmember selection and spectral unmixing

Sampling a continuous radiance spectrum in many narrow contiguous spectral bands results in a high covariance between the bands. Hence, the true dimensionality of imaging spectrometer data is not determined by the number of spectral bands, but by the number of spectrally unique signatures whose mixtures reproduce the spectral variance observed in an image. Methods to unmix high dimensional multispectral data use principal components analysis to reduce the dimensionality. The variance of the spectral data is modeled as a linear combination of a finite set of endmembers in the space of the eigen-vectors that account for most of the variance. The number and characteristics of these endmembers are determined not only by the number and characteristics of the spectrally unique materials on the surface but also by processes (e.g., illumination, atmospheric scattering and absorption) affecting the signal received by the sensor. Selection of endmember spectra has typically been from a library. However, since most libraries are incomplete and do not account for the processes mentioned above, we have devised a computer display that allows researchers to explore interactively the eigenvector space of a representative and mean-corrected subset of the image data in search of extreme spectra to designate as endmembers. This display, which is based on parallel coordinates, is unique in the area of multidimensional visualization in that it includes not only a passive view of higher dimensional data but also the capability to interact and move geometrical objects in higher dimensional spaces.

Bateson, C. Ann↗
DOE OSTI2016

A non-LTE analysis of high energy density Kr plasmas on Z and NIF

We report that multi-keV X-ray radiation sources have a wide range of applications, from biomedical studies and research on thermonuclear fusion to materials science and astrophysics. The refurbished Z pulsed power machine at the Sandia National Laboratories produces intense multi-keV X-rays from argon Z-pinches, but for a krypton Z-pinch, the yield decreases much faster with atomic number Z A than similar sources on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. To investigate whether fundamental energy deposition differences between pulsed power and lasers could account for the yield differences, we consider the Kr plasma on the two machines. The analysis assumes the plasma not in local thermodynamic equilibrium, with a detailed coupling between the hydrodynamics, the radiation field, and the ionization physics. While for the plasma parameters of interest the details of krypton’s M-shell are not crucial, both the L-shell and the K-shell must be modeled in reasonable detail, including the state-specific dielectronic recombination processes that significantly affect Kr’s ionization balance and the resulting X-ray spectrum. We present a detailed description of the atomic model, provide synthetic K- and L-shell spectra, and compare these with the available experimental data from the Z-machine and from NIF to show that the K-shell yield behavior versus Z A is indeed related to the energy input characteristics. In conclusion, this work aims at understanding the probable causes that might explain the differences in the X-ray conversion efficiencies of several radiation sources on Z and

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

A fully Bayesian method for jointly fitting instrumental calibration and X-ray spectral models

Owing to a lack of robust principled methods, systematic instrumental uncertainties have generally been ignored in astrophysical data analysis despite wide recognition of the importance of including them. Ignoring calibration uncertainty can cause bias in the estimation of source model parameters and can lead to underestimation of the variance of these estimates. We previously introduced a pragmatic Bayesian method to address this problem. The method is 'pragmatic' in that it introduced an ad hoc technique that simplified computation by neglecting the potential information in the data for narrowing the uncertainty for the calibration product. Following that work, we use a principal component analysis to efficiently represent the uncertainty of the effective area of an X-ray (or γ-ray) telescope. Here, however, we leverage this representation to enable a principled, fully Bayesian method that coherently accounts for the calibration uncertainty in high-energy spectral analysis. In this setting, the method is compared with standard analysis techniques and the pragmatic Bayesian method. The advantage of the fully Bayesian method is that it allows the data to provide information not only for estimation of the source parameters but also for the calibration product—here the effective area, conditional on the adopted spectral model. In this way, it can yield more accurate and efficient estimates of the source parameters along with valid estimates of their uncertainty. Provided that the source spectrum can be accurately described by a parameterized model, this method allows rigorous inference about the effective area by quantifying which possible curves are most consistent with the data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Impact of a large density gradient on linear and nonlinear edge-localized mode simulations

Here, the impact of a large density gradient on edge-localized modes (ELMs) is studied linearly and nonlinearly by employing both two-fluid and gyro-fluid simulations. In two-fluid simulations, the ion diamagnetic stabilization on high-n modes disappears when the large density gradient is taken into account. But gyro-fluid simulations show that the finite Larmor radius (FLR) effect can effectively stabilize high-n modes, so the ion diamagnetic effect alone is not sufficient to represent the FLR stabilizing effect. We further demonstrate that additional gyroviscous terms must be kept in the two-fluid model to recover the linear results from the gyro-fluid model. Nonlinear simulations show that the density variation significantly weakens the E × B shearing at the top of the pedestal and thus leads to more energy loss during ELMs. The turbulence spectrum after an ELM crash is measured and has the relation of $P(k_{z})\propto k_{z}^{-3.3}$ .

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1975

The low energy cosmic ray H-2 and He-3 spectra and the anomalous He-4 component

Measurements of the 1974 low-energy spectra of H-2, He-3, and He-4 with the IMP-8 satellite reveal the continued presence of the anomalous flat He-4 spectrum first reported in 1972 for roughly below 50 MeV/nucleon. Measurements of the isotope quartet H-1, H-2, He-3, He-4 are reported and compared, for 1974 quiet time, and are compared to 1965 observations at near solar minimum. Comparison of H-3 and He-3 data with accepted models of interstellar propagation and solar modulation supports a galactic origin for these isotopes down to about 10 MeV/nucleon. No evidence is found for a low-energy breakdown or other anomalous behavior of galactic propagation or solar modulation models capable of accounting for the anomalous He-4 component.

Garcia-Munoz, M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Growth rate of loudness, annoyance, and noisiness as a function of tone location within the noise spectrum

Absolute magnitude estimation methods were used to investigate the relation between the overall perceived magnitude of noise tone complexes and the location of the tone within the spectrum. In contrast to 'noisiness', loudness and annoyance growth behavior depends on the relationship of the single tones added to low- and high-pass noises in these tests, and to the spectral shape of the noise. Tones centered in noise produce nonmonotonic loudness and annoyance growth functions, while those added to the noise skirt produce power functions. Although a tone correction for annoyance is warranted for certain noise-tone configurations, none of the calculation procedures proposed can take all of the variables relevant to the perceived annoyance of tonal components into account. Complex auditory interactions generated by the simultaneous presentation of noise and tone can substantially account for the effects observed.

Hellman, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Annual and interannual variations of earth-emitted radiation based on a 10-year data set

The method of empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) was applied to a 10-yr data set of outgoing longwave radiation. Spherical harmonic functions are used as a basis set for producing equal area map results. The first EOF accounts for 66 percent of the variance. After that, each EOF accounts for only a small variance, forming a slowly converging series. The first two EOFs describe mainly the annual cycle. The third EOF is primarily the semiannual cycle although many other EOFs also contain significant semiannual parts. These results reaffirm those based on a shorter data set. In addition, a much stronger spring/fall mode was found in the central equatorial Pacific Ocean for the second EOF than was found earlier. The fourth EOF describes much of the 1976 to 1977 and 1982 to 1983 ENSO phenomena. There is typically a gap in the spectrum between a semiannual peak and the annual cycle for all but the first EOF. A semiannual OLR dipole straddles the Asian-Australian monsoon track.

Bess, T. D.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Fatigue Analyses Under Constant- and Variable-Amplitude Loading Using Small-Crack Theory

Studies on the growth of small cracks have led to the observation that fatigue life of many engineering materials is primarily "crack growth" from micro-structural features, such as inclusion particles, voids, slip-bands or from manufacturing defects. This paper reviews the capabilities of a plasticity-induced crack-closure model to predict fatigue lives of metallic materials using "small-crack theory" under various loading conditions. Constraint factors, to account for three-dimensional effects, were selected to correlate large-crack growth rate data as a function of the effective stress-intensity factor range (delta-Keff) under constant-amplitude loading. Modifications to the delta-Keff-rate relations in the near-threshold regime were needed to fit measured small-crack growth rate behavior. The model was then used to calculate small-and large-crack growth rates, and to predict total fatigue lives, for notched and un-notched specimens under constant-amplitude and spectrum loading. Fatigue lives were predicted using crack-growth relations and micro-structural features like those that initiated cracks in the fatigue specimens for most of the materials analyzed. Results from the tests and analyses agreed well.

Newman, J. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Impact of MIE-Resonances on the Atmospheric Absorption of Water Clouds

Clouds strongly modulate radiative transfer processes in the Earth's atmosphere. Studies, which simulate bulk properties of clouds, such as absorption, require methods that accurately account for multiple scattering among individual cloud particles. Multiple scattering processes are well described by MIE-theory, if interacting particles have a spherical shape. This is a good assumption for water droplets. Thus, simulations for water clouds (especially for interactions with solar radiation) usually apply readily available MIE-codes. The presence of different drop-sizes, however, necessitates repetitive calculations for many sizes. The usual representation by a few sizes is likely to miss contributions from densely distributed, sharp resonances. Despite their usually narrow width, integrated over the entire size-spectrum of a cloud droplet distribution, the impact of missed resonances could add up. The consideration of these resonances tends to increase cloud extinction and cloud absorption. This mechanism for a larger (than by MIE-methods predicted) solar absorption has the potential to explain observational evidence of larger than predicted cloud absorption at solar wavelengths. The presentation will address the absorption impact of added resonances for typical properties of water clouds (e.g. drop size distributions, drop concentrations and cloud geometry). Special attention will be given to scenarios with observational evidence of law than simulated solar absorption; particularly if simultaneous measurements of cloud micro- and macrophysical properties are available.

Wiscombe, W.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Planck 2015 results: III. LFI systematic uncertainties

In this paper, we present the current accounting of systematic effect uncertainties for the Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) that are relevant to the 2015 release of the Planck cosmological results, showing the robustness and consistency of our data set, especially for polarization analysis. We use two complementary approaches: (i) simulations based on measured data and physical models of the known systematic effects; and (ii) analysis of difference maps containing the same sky signal (“null-maps”). The LFI temperature data are limited by instrumental noise. At large angular scales the systematic effects are below the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature power spectrum by several orders of magnitude. In polarization the systematic uncertainties are dominated by calibration uncertainties and compete with the CMB E-modes in the multipole range 10–20. Based on our model of all known systematic effects, we show that these effects introduce a slight bias of around 0.2σ on the reionization optical depth derived from the 70GHz EE spectrum using the 30 and 353GHz channels as foreground templates. At 30GHz the systematic effects are smaller than the Galactic foreground at all scales in temperature and polarization, which allows us to consider this channel as a reliable template of synchrotron emission. We assess the residual uncertainties due to LFI effects on CMB maps and power spectra after component separation and show that these effects are smaller than the CMB amplitude at all scales. We also assess the impact on non-Gaussianity studies and find it to be negligible. Finally, some residuals still appear in null maps from particular sky survey pairs, particularly at 30 GHz, suggesting possible straylight contamination due to an imperfect knowledge of the beam far sidelobes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1972

Radiative pion capture by C12.

The energy spectrum of neutrons from radiative pion capture by carbon is investigated. Radiative pion capture is identified by coincidence of a stop signal and a signal from one of six lead-glass gamma detectors when negative pions traverse a beam telescope and are stopped in a carbon target. The energy of the neutrons is measured using the time interval between a stop signal coincident with a gamma-counter signal and a signal from a liquid-oscillator neutron counter. Asymmetry in the neutron-photon angular correlation increases with neutron energy and is accounted for by direct neutron emission.

Lam, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Evidence of Circumstellar Matter Surrounding the Hercules X-1 System

We analyze data from two eclipse ingresses of Her X-1 observed with Ginga on 1989 April 30 and May 19. These observations occur, respectively, during the MAIN HIGH and SHORT HIGH states in the 35 day modulation of Her X-1 intensity. We find significant residual X-ray flux during eclipse, with a gradual decrease in flux following the occultation of the neutron star by the atmosphere of HZ Her. During the central part of the eclipse the count rate becomes nearly constant, at 0.5 mcrab in the energy range 1.7-36.8 keV. From a spec- tral analysis of the residual emission during the total eclipse of the central source in the MAIN MGH state, we determine the energy spectral index, alpha = 0.8, similar to that before eclipse. A remarkable feature of the eclipse spectrum is that it does not show a significant iron line feature in contrast to massive wind-fed pulsars, such as Vela X-1 and Cen X-3. From a timing analysis of the same eclipse data, we show that there are no pulses. These results imply that the emission comes from the scattering of continuum X-rays by material in a region considerably larger than the companion star. An extended accretion disk corona may be responsible for this scattering. However, partial eclipse of an extended accretion disk corona is insufficient to account for the count rates in mid-eclipse, when known parameters of the binary system are used. Based on the present results, we suggest that scattering occurs not only in the accretion disk corona but also in the circumstellar matter surrounding the system of Her X-1/HZ Her.

Choi, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1998

The Role of Multiphysics Simulation in Multidisciplinary Analysis

This article describes the applications of the Spectrum(Tm) Solver in Multidisciplinary Analysis (MDA). Spectrum, a multiphysics simulation software based on the finite element method, addresses compressible and incompressible fluid flow, structural, and thermal modeling as well as the interaction between these disciplines. Multiphysics simulation is based on a single computational framework for the modeling of multiple interacting physical phenomena. Interaction constraints are enforced in a fully-coupled manner using the augmented-Lagrangian method. Within the multiphysics framework, the finite element treatment of fluids is based on Galerkin-Least-Squares (GLS) method with discontinuity capturing operators. The arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian method is utilized to account for deformable fluid domains. The finite element treatment of solids and structures is based on the Hu-Washizu variational principle. The multiphysics architecture lends itself naturally to high-performance parallel computing. Aeroelastic, propulsion, thermal management and manufacturing applications are presented.

Rifai, Steven M.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Analyses of Fatigue and Fatigue-Crack Growth under Constant- and Variable-Amplitude Loading

Studies on the growth of small cracks have led to the observation that fatigue life of many engineering materials is primarily crack growth from micro-structural features, such as inclusion particles, voids, slip-bands or from manufacturing defects. This paper reviews the capabilities of a plasticity-induced crack-closure model to predict fatigue lives of metallic materials using small-crack theory under various loading conditions. Constraint factors, to account for three-dimensional effects, were selected to correlate large-crack growth rate data as a function of the effective stress-intensity factor range (delta K(sub eff)) under constant-amplitude loading. Modifications to the delta K(sub eff)-rate relations in the near-threshold regime were needed to fit measured small-crack growth rate behavior. The model was then used to calculate small- and large-crack growth rates, and to predict total fatigue lives, for notched and un-notched specimens under constant-amplitude and spectrum loading. Fatigue lives were predicted using crack-growth relations and micro-structural features like those that initiated cracks in the fatigue specimens for most of the materials analyzed. Results from the tests and analyses agreed well.

Newman, J. C., Jr.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Longitudinal oscillations in a non-uniform spatially dispersive plasma

Longitudinal oscillations of the electron fluid in the hydrodynamic model of a metal are examined with pressure effects taken into account. It is well-known that this entails spatial dispersion. The equilibrium electron number density is taken to be non-uniform and a non-self-adjoint fourth order differential equation obeyed by the electric potential is derived. A velocity potential necessary for the description of sound waves is introduced in the standard fashion and the generalized version of Bloch orthogonality appropriate to a non-uniform background is deduced. We observe a duality between electric and velocity potentials in the sense that the respective differential operators are adjoint to each other. The spectrum is calculated in the special case of an exponential profile for the equilibrium electron number density. The surface plasmons are connected with the analytic properties of the scattering amplitude in the complex plane. The phase shift at threshold is expressed in terms of the number of surface plasmon modes via an expression reminiscent of Levinson’s statement in quantum mechanics.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗