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At least 1,549 records · Page 86
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DOE OSTI2014

QUANTITATIVE EVALUATION OF THE HYPOTHESIS THAT BL LACERTAE OBJECTS ARE QSO REMNANTS

We evaluate with numerical simulations the hypothesis that BL Lacertae objects (BLLs) are the remnants of quasi-stellar objects. This hypothesis is based on their highly peculiar redshift evolution. They have a comoving space density that increases with decreasing redshift, contrary to all other active galactic nuclei. We assume that relativistic jets are below detection in young radio-quiet quasars and increase in strength with cosmic time so that they eventually are detected as BLLs. Our numerical simulations fit very well the observed redshift distributions of BLLs. There are strong indications that only the high-synchrotron-peaked BLLs could be QSO remnants.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Spin-to-orbital momentum conversion via electro-optic Pockels effect in crystals

In the present work we have demonstrated a possibility for operation by orbital angular momentum (OAM) of optical beams via the Pockels effect in solid-crystalline materials. Based on the analysis of an optical Fresnel ellipsoid perturbed by a conically shaped electric field, we have shown that the point groups of crystals convenient for the conversion of spin angular momentum (SAM) to OAM should contain a threefold symmetry axis or a sixfold inversion axis. The results of our experimental studies and theoretical simulations of the SAM-to-OAM conversion efficiency carried out for LiNbO{sub 3} crystals agree well with each other.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Melting scenarios for three-dimensional dusty plasma clusters

The melting transition of finite three-dimensional dust clouds (Yukawa balls) from a solid-like to a liquid-like state is systematically studied with high spatial and temporal resolution of the individual grains by means of stereoscopy. Two different melting scenarios are reported: Melting is induced first by an increase of plasma power, and second by laser-induced heating. The experiments confirm that melting starts with a loss of orientational correlation, followed by a loss of the radial order upon further heating. While the plasma-power melting is driven via the ion wakefield, laser heating provides a more equilibrium scenario. The internal loss of correlations is well captured by the triple correlation function (TCF) which is insensitive to particle exchanges and the rotation of the cluster as a whole. The critical Coulomb coupling parameter for N=35 is determined as {Gamma}{sub crit}{approx_equal}570. The experimental findings are in good agreement with thermodynamic Monte Carlo simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

MO-E-18C-04: Advanced Computer Simulation and Visualization Tools for Enhanced Understanding of Core Medical Physics Concepts

Purpose: Most medical physics programs emphasize proficiency in routine clinical calculations and QA. The formulaic aspect of these calculations and prescriptive nature of measurement protocols obviate the need to frequently apply basic physical principles, which, therefore, gradually decay away from memory. E.g. few students appreciate the role of electron transport in photon dose, making it difficult to understand key concepts such as dose buildup, electronic disequilibrium effects and Bragg-Gray theory. These conceptual deficiencies manifest when the physicist encounters a new system, requiring knowledge beyond routine activities. Methods: Two interactive computer simulation tools are developed to facilitate deeper learning of physical principles. One is a Monte Carlo code written with a strong educational aspect. The code can “label” regions and interactions to highlight specific aspects of the physics, e.g., certain regions can be designated as “starters” or “crossers,” and any interaction type can be turned on and off. Full 3D tracks with specific portions highlighted further enhance the visualization of radiation transport problems. The second code calculates and displays trajectories of a collection electrons under arbitrary space/time dependent Lorentz force using relativistic kinematics. Results: Using the Monte Carlo code, the student can interactively study photon and electron transport through visualization of dose components, particle tracks, and interaction types. The code can, for instance, be used to study kerma-dose relationship, explore electronic disequilibrium near interfaces, or visualize kernels by using interaction forcing. The electromagnetic simulator enables the student to explore accelerating mechanisms and particle optics in devices such as cyclotrons and linacs. Conclusion: The proposed tools are designed to enhance understanding of abstract concepts by highlighting various aspects of the physics. The simulations serve as virtual experiments that give deeper and long lasting understanding of core principles. The student can then make sound judgements in novel situations encountered beyond routine clinical activities.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Fast multipurpose Monte Carlo simulation for proton therapy using multi- and many-core CPU architectures

Purpose: Accuracy in proton therapy treatment planning can be improved using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations. However the long computation time of such methods hinders their use in clinical routine. This work aims to develop a fast multipurpose Monte Carlo simulation tool for proton therapy using massively parallel central processing unit (CPU) architectures. Methods: A new Monte Carlo, called MCsquare (many-core Monte Carlo), has been designed and optimized for the last generation of Intel Xeon processors and Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors. These massively parallel architectures offer the flexibility and the computational power suitable to MC methods. The class-II condensed history algorithm of MCsquare provides a fast and yet accurate method of simulating heavy charged particles such as protons, deuterons, and alphas inside voxelized geometries. Hard ionizations, with energy losses above a user-specified threshold, are simulated individually while soft events are regrouped in a multiple scattering theory. Elastic and inelastic nuclear interactions are sampled from ICRU 63 differential cross sections, thereby allowing for the computation of prompt gamma emission profiles. MCsquare has been benchmarked with the GATE/GEANT4 Monte Carlo application for homogeneous and heterogeneous geometries. Results: Comparisons with GATE/GEANT4 for various geometries show deviations within 2%–1 mm. In spite of the limited memory bandwidth of the coprocessor simulation time is below 25 s for 10{sup 7} primary 200 MeV protons in average soft tissues using all Xeon Phi and CPU resources embedded in a single desktop unit. Conclusions: MCsquare exploits the flexibility of CPU architectures to provide a multipurpose MC simulation tool. Optimized code enables the use of accurate MC calculation within a reasonable computation time, adequate for clinical practice. MCsquare also simulates prompt gamma emission and can thus be used also for in vivo range verification.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Study of Lasing in Liquid-Crystal Systems with Microgratings

Waveguide lasing in a layer of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) doped with a dye has been experimentally observed. A chromium micrograting with a period of 1.76 μm has been deposited on the surface one of the cell substrates to provide a distributed feedback (DFB) and partially extract laser radiation to a quartz substrate. The DFB provides lasing in the ninth diffraction order for waveguide TM modes. Laser radiation is observed at the output of the substrate end face at an angle of 67.0° ± 1.5° with respect to the normal to the waveguide plane. An increase in voltage across the micrograting electrodes leads to red-shifted multimode lasing. A numerical simulation of a structure imitating the experimental cell has shown good agreement between the calculation results and experimental data.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

New solutions in the theory of self-focusing with saturating nonlinearity

On the basis of an approximate analytic solution of a Cauchy problem for a nonlinear Schroedinger (NLS) equation describing steady-state light beams in a medium with saturating nonlinearity by the method of renormgroup (RG) symmetries, a classification of self-focusing solutions is given depending on two control parameters: the relative contributions of diffraction and nonlinearity and the saturation strength of the nonlinearity. The existence of tube-type self-focusing solutions is proved for an entering beam with Gaussian radial distribution of intensity. Numerical simulation is carried out that allows one to verify the theory developed and to determine its applicability limits.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

THREE-DIMENSIONAL SIMULATIONS OF LONG DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURST JETS: TIMESCALES FROM VARIABLE ENGINES

Gamma-ray burst (GRB) light curves are characterized by marked variability, each showing unique properties. The origin of this variability, at least for a fraction of long GRBs, may be the result of an unsteady central engine. It is thus important to study the effects that an episodic central engine has on the jet propagation and, eventually, on the prompt emission within the collapsar scenario. Thus, in this study we follow the interaction of pulsed outflows with their progenitor stars with hydrodynamic numerical simulations in both two and three dimensions. We show that the propagation of unsteady jets is affected by the interaction with the progenitor material well after the break-out time, especially for jets with long quiescent times comparable to or larger than a second. We also show that this interaction can lead to an asymmetric behavior in which pulse durations and quiescent periods are systematically different. After the pulsed jets drill through the progenitor and the interstellar medium, we find that, on average, the quiescent epochs last longer than the pulses (even in simulations with symmetrical active and quiescent engine times). This could explain the asymmetry detected in the light curves of long quiescent time GRBs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Nonuniversal star formation efficiency in turbulent ISM

We present a study of a star formation prescription in which star formation efficiency (SFE) depends on local gas density and turbulent velocity dispersion, as suggested by direct simulations of SF in turbulent giant molecular clouds (GMCs). We test the model using a simulation of an isolated Milky-Way-sized galaxy with a self-consistent treatment of turbulence on unresolved scales. We show that this prescription predicts a wide variation of local SFE per free-fall time, ϵ{sub ff} ∼ 0.1%–10%, and gas depletion time, t{sub dep} ∼ 0.1–10 Gyr. In addition, it predicts an effective density threshold for star formation due to suppression of ϵ{sub ff} in warm diffuse gas stabilized by thermal pressure. We show that the model predicts star formation rates (SFRs) in agreement with observations from the scales of individual star-forming regions to the kiloparsec scales. This agreement is nontrivial, as the model was not tuned in any way and the predicted SFRs on all scales are determined by the distribution of the GMC-scale densities and turbulent velocities σ in the cold gas within the galaxy, which is shaped by galactic dynamics. The broad agreement of the star formation prescription calibrated in the GMC-scale simulations with observations both gives credence to such simulations and promises to put star formation modeling in galaxy formation simulations on a much firmer theoretical footing.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Common Envelope Light Curves. I. Grid-code Module Calibration

The common envelope (CE) binary interaction occurs when a star transfers mass onto a companion that cannot fully accrete it. The interaction can lead to a merger of the two objects or to a close binary. The CE interaction is the gateway of all evolved compact binaries, all stellar mergers, and likely many of the stellar transients witnessed to date. CE simulations are needed to understand this interaction and to interpret stars and binaries thought to be the byproduct of this stage. At this time, simulations are unable to reproduce the few observational data available and several ideas have been put forward to address their shortcomings. The need for more definitive simulation validation is pressing and is already being fulfilled by observations from time-domain surveys. In this article, we present an initial method and its implementation for post-processing grid-based CE simulations to produce the light curve so as to compare simulations with upcoming observations. Here we implemented a zeroth order method to calculate the light emitted from CE hydrodynamic simulations carried out with the 3D hydrodynamic code Enzo used in unigrid mode. The code implements an approach for the computation of luminosity in both optically thick and optically thin regimes and is tested using the first 135 days of the CE simulation of Passy et al., where a 0.8 M {sub ⊙} red giant branch star interacts with a 0.6 M {sub ⊙} companion. This code is used to highlight two large obstacles that need to be overcome before realistic light curves can be calculated. We explain the nature of these problems and the attempted solutions and approximations in full detail to enable the next step to be identified and implemented. We also discuss our simulation in relation to recent data of transients identified as CE interactions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Agni: Coupling Model Analysis Tools and High-Performance Subsurface Flow and Transport Simulators for Risk and Performance Assessments

Agni is open source /community /multi platform framework for model-based analyses (SA, UQ, PE, RA, DS). Agni can be applied independently from other Advanced Simulation Capability for Environmental Management (ASCEM) modules. Agni will be available as Mercurial repository (hg clone https://akuna.labworks.org/hg/Platform) including source code, manual, test and verification examples.

COMPUTER CODES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Optimization design of helium circulator diffuser in HTR-PM - 18488

Circulator is very important in HTR-PM. It needs to supply enough pressure rise to circulate cooled helium in the primary loop of HTR-PM to bring heat out. Its pressure rise requirement is the highest among the worldwide circulators. Diffuser is one main component to produce pressure rise for circulator. And the most particular for HTR-PM is that the helium must flow out from two round tubes after flowing through the diffuser, which is very different from other circulators. This special export structure increases flow loss and decreases diffuser efficiency. So it is necessary to optimize diffuser to satisfy high pressure rise requirement of HTR-PM circulator with the special export structure. Four geometrical variables of diffuser have been studied and optimized. Based on the flow and performance analysis, the optimum structure was chosen. Then the detailed simulation was done by combining it with impeller to obtain performance characteristics of the whole circulator. Finally, the simulation results were compared with experimental results. It was obtained that simulation pressure rise was 201 kPa and experimental result was 210 kPa, which verified that optimization design of diffuser was effective. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2016

A Neutron Streaming Problem to Test Rattlesnake Methods for TREAT

This work demonstrates the progress made at Idaho National Laboratory in the neutronic modeling of neutron streaming in the TREAT reactor core. The streaming in the slotted elements is important because of its effect on the axial distribution and energy deposition in the experiment vehicle. Two methods implemented in Rattlesnake: 1) tensor diffusion coefficients and, 2) super-homogenization, yield much improved power distributions using a diffusion solution with homogenized fuel elements. The RMS difference in the power distribution decreases below 0.661% compared to a reference Monte Carlo simulation. The maximum differences are within 1.5% of this reference. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Experimental and CFD Analysis of Condensation with Non-Condensable Gas in Multi-Tubes

After the Fukushima accident, the importance of safety system that relies on passive cooling for decay heat removal has been reemphasized. The passive containment cooling system (PCCS) is the system for cooling down a containment and lowering a containment pressure even under the station blackout. In investigating a PCCS, steam condensation in the presence of non-condensable gas is the dominant heat and mass transfer phenomenon. The non-condensable gases degrade the heat removal performance through the PCCS heat exchangers (HXs) because they are accumulated near the cooling surface and deteriorate the approach of steam by diffusion to the surface. Therefore, in order to understand steam condensation phenomenon in the PCCS, we conducted multi-tube condensation experiment with air. And we also analyzed the results by CFD simulation for the CFD-based approach to condensation phenomena prediction. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Using the MCNP6.2 Correlated Fission Multiplicity Models, CGMF and FREYA

The culmination of a multi-year, collaborative effort by researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and the University of Michigan, led to the delivery of two new correlated fission multiplicity models available within the latest release of MCNP{sup R} version 6.2. The needs within the nuclear nonproliferation community, particularly in simulating and predicting the neutron and gamma-ray signatures of special nuclear materials (SNM), provided the motivation for this major collaborative effort. From LANL, the CGMF code has been implemented as an upgrade to the original Cascading Gamma-ray Multiplicity (CGM) code. Additionally, the LLNL Fission Library has been upgraded from the original implementation released in prior versions of MCNP6/X to include the LBNL/LLNL Fission Reaction Event Yield Algorithm (FREYA) code. Both new codes are capable of simulating fission events with correlated neutron and gamma-ray emissions. Due to the release of these new models within MCNP6.2, the purpose of this paper is to describe the differences between these new models and existing capabilities, demonstrate their use in the context of simulation inputs and outputs, and to discuss some of the ongoing work directed toward the next generation of these features.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Radiolytic Gas Bubbles' Model and its Application to AHR's Transient Neutronics Analysis

Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor (AHR) receives much attention recently because its advantages in medical isotopes production. Fissile material and moderator is mixed in the fuel solution, leads to big negative feedback and generation of radiolytic gas bubbles; the fluidity of fuel and movement of bubbles bring out big challenge of the neutronics analysis methods. This paper aims to establish a reliable and effective gas bubbles' model, firstly a coupled Neutronics-CFD method is introduced to recognize gas bubbles' behavior characteristics, then it is simplified into mathematical expression and applied to Transient Calculation Code of Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor (TCCAHR), finally a typical AHR's transient process is simulated and compared with the experiment.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of Low Temperature on a 4 W/60 K Pulse-Tube Cryocooler for Cooling HgCdTe Detector

Temperature is an extremely important parameter for the material of the space-borne infrared detector. To cool an HgCdTe-infrared detector, a Stirling-type pulse-tube cryocooler (PTC) has been developed based on a great deal of numerical simulations, which are performed to investigate the thermodynamic behaviors of the PTC. The effects of different low temperatures are presented to analyze different energy flows, losses, phase shifts, and impedance matching of the PTC at a temperature range of 40–120 K, where woven wire screens are used. Finally, a high-efficiency coaxial PTC has been designed, built, and tested, operating around 60 K after a number of theoretical and experimental studies. The PTC can offer a no-load refrigeration temperature of 40 K with an input electric power of 150 W, and a cooling power of 4 W at 60 K is obtained with Carnot efficiency of 12%. In addition, a comparative study of simulation and experiment has been carried out, and some studies on reject temperatures have been presented for a thorough understanding of the PTC system.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Capturing Hidden Geochemical Anomalies in Scarce Data by Fractal Analysis and Stochastic Modeling

Fractal/multifractal modeling is a widely used geomathematical approach to capturing different populations in geochemical mapping. The rationale of this methodology is based on empirical frequency density functions attained from global or local distributions. This approach is quite popular because of its simplicity and versatility; it accounts for the frequency and spatial distribution of geochemical data considering self-similarity across a range of scales. Using this technique for detection of geochemical anomalies in scarce data, however, is problematic and can lead to systematic bias in the characterization of the underlying populations. In this paper, an innovative technique is presented that provides good results without a priori assumptions. A simulation approach is adopted for fractal analysis by generating different possible distribution scenarios for the variable under study to reveal the underlying populations that are frequently hidden due to lack of data. The proposed technique is called the global simulated size–number method, and it is validated in a case study with two synthetic datasets and another case study with real dataset from the Ushtagan gold deposit in northeast Kazakhstan.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗