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At least 1,567 records · Page 87
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

A robust quantification of galaxy cluster morphology using asymmetry and central concentration

We present a novel quantitative scheme of cluster classification based on the morphological properties that are manifested in X-ray images. We use a conventional radial surface brightness concentration parameter (c {sub SB}) as defined previously by others and a new asymmetry parameter, which we define in this paper. Our asymmetry parameter, which we refer to as photon asymmetry (A {sub phot}), was developed as a robust substructure statistic for cluster observations with only a few thousand counts. To demonstrate that photon asymmetry exhibits better stability than currently popular power ratios and centroid shifts, we artificially degrade the X-ray image quality by (1) adding extra background counts, (2) eliminating a fraction of the counts, (3) increasing the width of the smoothing kernel, and (4) simulating cluster observations at higher redshift. The asymmetry statistic presented here has a smaller statistical uncertainty than competing substructure parameters, allowing for low levels of substructure to be measured with confidence. A {sub phot} is less sensitive to the total number of counts than competing substructure statistics, making it an ideal candidate for quantifying substructure in samples of distant clusters covering a wide range of observational signal-to-noise ratios. Additionally, we show that the asymmetry-concentration classification separates relaxed, cool-core clusters from morphologically disturbed mergers, in agreement with by-eye classifications. Our algorithms, freely available as Python scripts (https://github.com/ndaniyar/aphot), are completely automatic and can be used to rapidly classify galaxy cluster morphology for large numbers of clusters without human intervention.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

KEPLER FLARES. II. THE TEMPORAL MORPHOLOGY OF WHITE-LIGHT FLARES ON GJ 1243

We present the largest sample of flares ever compiled for a single M dwarf, the active M4 star GJ 1243. Over 6100 individual flare events, with energies ranging from 10{sup 29} to 10{sup 33} erg, are found in 11 months of 1 minute cadence data from Kepler. This sample is unique for its completeness and dynamic range. We have developed automated tools for finding flares in short-cadence Kepler light curves, and performed extensive validation and classification of the sample by eye. From this pristine sample of flares we generate a median flare template. This template shows that two exponential cooling phases are present during the white-light flare decay, providing fundamental constraints for models of flare physics. The template is also used as a basis function to decompose complex multi-peaked flares, allowing us to study the energy distribution of these events. Only a small number of flare events are not well fit by our template. We find that complex, multi-peaked flares occur in over 80% of flares with a duration of 50 minutes or greater. The underlying distribution of flare durations for events 10 minutes and longer appears to follow a broken power law. Our results support the idea that sympathetic flaring may be responsible for some complex flare events.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

ECO and resolve: Galaxy disk growth in environmental context

We study the relationships between galaxy environments and galaxy properties related to disk (re)growth, considering two highly complete samples that are approximately baryonic mass limited into the high-mass dwarf galaxy regime, the Environmental COntext catalog (data release herein) and the B-semester region of the REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE survey. We quantify galaxy environments using both group identification and smoothed galaxy density field methods. We use by-eye and quantitative morphological classifications plus atomic gas content measurements and estimates. We find that blue early-type (E/S0) galaxies, gas-dominated galaxies, and UV-bright disk host galaxies all become distinctly more common below group halo mass ∼10{sup 11.5} M{sub ⊙}, implying that this low group halo mass regime may be a preferred regime for significant disk growth activity. We also find that blue early-type and blue late-type galaxies inhabit environments of similar group halo mass at fixed baryonic mass, consistent with a scenario in which blue early-types can regrow late-type disks. In fact, we find that the only significant difference in the typical group halo mass inhabited by different galaxy classes is for satellite galaxies with different colors, where at fixed baryonic mass red early- and late-types have higher typical group halo masses than blue early- and late-types. More generally, we argue that the traditional morphology–environment relation (i.e., that denser environments tend to have more early-types) can be largely attributed to the morphology-galaxy mass relation for centrals and the color–environment relation for satellites.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

STRUCTURE AND FEEDBACK IN 30 DORADUS. I. OBSERVATIONS

We have completed a new optical imaging and spectrophotometric survey of a 140 x 80 pc{sup 2} region of 30 Doradus centered on R136, covering key optical diagnostic emission lines including H{alpha}, H{beta}, H{gamma}, [O III] {lambda}{lambda}4363, 4959, 5007, [N II] {lambda}{lambda}6548, 6584, [S II] {lambda}{lambda}6717, 6731 [S III] {lambda}6312, and in some locations [S III] {lambda}9069. We present maps of fluxes and intensity ratios for these lines, and catalogs of isolated ionizing stars, elephant-trunk pillars, and edge-on ionization fronts. The final science-quality spectroscopic data products are available to the public. Our analysis of the new data finds that, while stellar winds and supernovae undoubtedly produce shocks and are responsible for shaping the nebula, there are no global spectral signatures to indicate that shocks are currently an important source of ionization. We conclude that the considerable region covered by our survey is well described by photoionization from the central cluster where the ionizing continuum is dominated by the most massive O stars. We show that if 30 Dor were viewed at a cosmological distance, its integrated light would be dominated by its extensive regions of lower surface brightness rather than by the bright, eye-catching arcs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

VERY WIDE BINARIES AND OTHER COMOVING STELLAR COMPANIONS: A BAYESIAN ANALYSIS OF THE HIPPARCOS CATALOGUE

We develop Bayesian statistical methods for discovering and assigning probabilities to non-random (e.g., physical) stellar companions. These companions are either presently bound or were previously bound. The probabilities depend on similarities in corrected proper motion parallel and perpendicular to the brighter component's motion, parallax, and the local phase-space density of field stars. Control experiments are conducted to understand the behavior of false positives. The technique is applied to the Hipparcos Catalogue within 100 pc. This is the first all-sky survey to locate escaped companions still drifting along with each other. In the <100 pc distance range, {approx}220 high probability companions with separations between 0.01 and 1 pc are found. The first evidence for a population ({approx}300) of companions separated by 1-8 pc is found. We find these previously unnoticed naked-eye companions (both with V < 6th mag): Capella and 50 Per, {delta} Vel and HIP 43797, Alioth ({epsilon} UMa), Megrez ({delta} UMa) and Alcor, {gamma} and {tau} Cen, {phi} Eri and {eta} Hor, 62 and 63 Cnc, {gamma} and {tau} Per, {zeta} and {delta} Hya, {beta}{sup 01}, {beta}{sup 02} and {beta}{sup 03} Tuc, N Vel and HIP 47479, HIP 98174 and HIP 97646, and s Eri and HIP 14913. High probability fainter companions (>6th mag) of primaries with V < 4 are found for: Fomalhaut ({alpha} PsA), {gamma} UMa, {alpha} Lib, Alvahet ({iota} Cephi), {delta} Ara, {beta} Ser, {iota} Peg, {beta} Pic, {kappa} Phe, and {gamma} Tuc.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Relation of the runaway avalanche threshold to momentum space topology

Here, the underlying physics responsible for the formation of an avalanche instability due to the generation of secondary electrons is studied. A careful examination of the momentum space topology of the runaway electron population is carried out with an eye toward identifying how qualitative changes in the momentum space of the runaway electrons is correlated with the avalanche threshold. It is found that the avalanche threshold is tied to the merger of an O and X point in the momentum space of the primary runaway electron population. Such a change of the momentum space topology is shown to be accurately described by a simple analytic model, thus providing a powerful means of determining the avalanche threshold for a range of model assumptions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Electropolishing-induced topographic defects in niobium: insights and implications for superconducting radio frequency applications

Electropolishing (EP) is the premier surface preparation method for high-Q, high-gradient superconducting RF cavities made of Nb. This leaves behind an apparently smooth surface, yet the achievable peak magnetic fields fall well below the superheating field of Nb, in most cases. Here, in this work, the ultimate surface finish of EP was investigated by studying its effect on highly polished Nb samples. EP introduces high slope angle sloped-steps at grain boundaries. The magnetic field enhancement and superheating field suppression factors associated with such a geometry are calculated in the London theory. Despite the by-eye smoothness of electropolished Nb, such defects compromise the stability of the low-loss Meissner state, likely limiting the achievable peak accelerating fields in superconducting RF cavities. Finally, the impact of surface roughness on impurity diffusion is investigated which can link surface roughness to the effectiveness of heat treatments like low-temperature baking or nitrogen infusion in the vortex nucleation or hydride hypotheses. Surface roughness tends to decrease the effective dose of impurities as a result of the expansion of impurities into regions with greater internal angle. The effective dose of impurities can be protected by minimizing slope angles and step heights, ensuring uniformity.

Hryhorenko, Oleksandr [Thomas Jefferson National A↗
DOE OSTI2014

Pre-inflationary clues from String Theory?

''Brane supersymmetry breaking'' occurs in String Theory when the only available combinations of D-branes and orientifolds are not mutually BPS and yet do not introduce tree-level tachyon instabilities. It is characterized by the emergence of a steep exponential potential, and thus by the absence of maximally symmetric vacua. The corresponding low-energy supergravity admits intriguing spatially-flat cosmological solutions where a scalar field is forced to climb up toward the steep potential after an initial singularity, and additional milder terms can inject an inflationary phase during the ensuing descent. We show that, in the resulting power spectra of scalar perturbations, an infrared suppression is typically followed by a pre-inflationary peak that reflects the end of the climbing phase and can lie well apart from the approximately scale invariant profile. A first look at WMAP9 raw data shows that, while the χ{sup 2} fits for the low-ℓ CMB angular power spectrum are clearly compatible with an almost scale invariant behavior, they display nonetheless an eye-catching preference for this type of setting within a perturbative string regime.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Shadow casted by a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr black hole

We have investigated the shadow of a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr black hole with an extra deformation parameter. The spacetime structure arising from the deformed parameter affects sharply the black hole shadow. With the increase of the deformation parameter, the size of the shadow of black hole increase and its shape becomes more rounded for arbitrary rotation parameter. The D-shape shadow of black hole emerges only in the case a <2√3/3\, M with the proper deformation parameter. Especially, the black hole shadow possesses a cusp shape with small eye lashes in the cases with a >M, and the shadow becomes less cuspidal with the increase of the deformation parameter. Our result show that the presence of the deformation parameter yields a series of significant patterns for the shadow casted by a Konoplya-Zhidenko rotating non-Kerr black hole.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

The SNS/HFIR Web Portal System for SANS

In a busy world, continuing with the status-quo, to do things the way we are already familiar, often seems to be the most efficient way to conduct our work. We look for the value-add to decide if investing in a new method is worth the effort. How shall we evaluate if we have reached this tipping point for change? For contemporary researchers, understanding the properties of the data is a good starting point. The new generation of neutron scattering instruments being built are higher resolution and produce one or more orders of magnitude larger data than the previous generation of instruments. For instance, we have grown out of being able to perform some important tasks with our laptops – the data are too big and the computations would simply take too long. These large datasets can be problematic as facility users now begin to grapple with many of the same issues faced by more established computing communities. These issues include data access, management, and movement, data format standards, distributed computing, and collaboration among others. The Neutron Science Portal has been architected, designed, and implemented to provide users with an easy-to-use interface for managing and processing data, while also keeping an eye on meeting modern cybersecurity requirements imposed on institutions. The cost of entry for users has been lowered by utilizing a web interface providing access to backend portal resources. Users can browse or search for data which they are allowed to see, data reduction applications can be run without having to load the software, sample activation calculations can be performed for SNS and HFIR beamlines, McStas simulations can be run on TeraGrid and ORNL computers, and advanced analysis applications such as those being produced by the DANSE project can be run. Behind the scenes is a “live cataloging” system which automatically catalogs and archives experiment data via the data management system, and provides proposal team members access to their experiment data. The complexity of data movement and utilizing distributed computing resources has been taken care on behalf of users. Collaboration is facilitated by providing users a read/writeable common area, shared across all experiment team members. To date, these shared areas are the fastest growing data spaces. The portal currently has over 370 registered users, almost 7TB of experiment and user data, approximately 1,000,000 files cataloged, and had almost 10,000 unique visits last year. Future directions for enhancing portal robustness include examining how to mirror data and portal services, better facilitation of collaborations via virtual organizations, enhancing disconnected service via “thick client” applications, and better inter-facility connectivity to support cross-cutting research. The portal has established itself in the SNS/HFIR user community, and the development team strives to continue to improve the quality of features and services provided in order to better serve the community.

data↗
DOE OSTI2012

The design and performance of the electromagnetic calorimeters in Hall C at Jefferson Lab

The design and performance of the electromagnetic calorimeters in the magnetic spectrometers in Hall C at Jefferson Lab are presented. For the existing HMS and SOS spectrometers, construction information and comparisons of simulated and experimental results are presented. The design and simulated performance for a new calorimeter to be used in the new SHMS spectrometer is also presented. We have developed and constructed electromagnetic calorimeters from TF-1 type lead-glass blocks for the HMS and SOS magnetic spectrometers at JLab Hall C. The HMS/SOS calorimeters are of identical design and construction except for their total size. Blocks of dimension 10 cm × 10 cm × 70 cm are arranged in four planes and stacked 13 and 11 blocks high in the HMS and SOS respectively. The energy resolution of these calorimeters is better than 6%/√E, and pion/electron (π/e) separation of about 100:1 has been achieved in energy range 1–5 GeV. Good agreement has been observed between the experimental and GEANT4 simulated energy resolutions. The HMS/SOS calorimeters have been used nearly in all Hall C experiments, providing good energy resolution and a high pion suppression factor. No significant deterioration in their performance has been observed in the course of use since 1994. For the SHMS spectrometer, presently under construction, details on the calorimeter design and accompanying GEANT4 simulation efforts are given. A Preshower+Shower design was selected as the most cost-effective among several design choices. The preshower will consist of a layer of 28 modules with TF-1 type lead glass radiators, stacked in two columns. The shower part will consist of 224 modules with F-101 type lead glass radiators, stacked in a “fly&#x27;s eye” configuration of 14 columns and 16 rows. The active area of 120 × 130 cm(2) will encompass the beam envelope at the calorimeter. The anticipated performance of the new calorimeter is simulated over the full momentum range of the SHMS, predicting resolution and yields similar to the HMS calorimeter. Good electron/hadron separation can be achieved by using energy deposition in the Preshower along with total energy deposition in the calorimeter. In this case the PID capability is similar to or better than that attainable with HMS calorimeter, with a pion suppression factor of a few hundreds predicted for 99% electron detection efficiency.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Development of a test system for data links of the ATLAS Inner Tracker (ITk) upgrade silicon pixel detector

This contribution introduces a novel test system developed to evaluate the signal transmission quality in high-speed data links for the 2026 Inner Tracker (ITk) upgrade of the ATLAS experiment. Using an FPGA-based data acquisition (DAQ) framework, the setup can run simultaneous Bit Error Rate (BER) tests for up to 64 channels and generate virtual eye diagrams, for qualifying the ∼26k electrical links at the ATLAS ITk data rate of 1.28 Gb/s. The paper includes results from system calibration, yielding its contribution to the measured losses, and preliminary results from tests of prototype and pre-production assemblies of on-detector links of the three ATLAS ITk Pixel subsystems.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2023

Roadmap on spatiotemporal light fields

Spatiotemporal sculpturing of light pulse with ultimately sophisticated structures represents a major goal of the everlasting pursue of ultra-fast information transmission and processing as well as ultra-intense energy concentration and extraction. It also holds the key to unlock new extraordinary fundamental physical effects. Traditionally, spatiotemporal light pulses are always treated as spatiotemporally separable wave packet as solution of the Maxwell’s equations. In the past decade, however, more generalized forms of spatiotemporally nonseparable solution started to emerge with growing importance for their striking physical effects. This roadmap intends to highlight the recent advances in the creation and control of increasingly complex spatiotemporally sculptured pulses, from spatiotemporally separable to complex nonseparable states, with diverse geometric and topological structures, presenting a bird’s eye viewpoint on the zoology of spatiotemporal light fields and the outlook of future trends and open challenges.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2010

TWO LENSED z {approx_equal} 3 LYMAN BREAK GALAXIES DISCOVERED IN THE SDSS GIANT ARCS SURVEY

We report the discovery of two strongly lensed z {approx} 3 Lyman break galaxies (LBGs) discovered as u-band dropouts as part of the SDSS Giant Arcs Survey (SGAS). The first, SGAS J122651.3+215220 at z = 2.9233, is lensed by one of several sub-clusters, SDSS J1226+2152, in a complex massive cluster at z = 0.43. Its (g, r, i) magnitudes are (21.14, 20.60, 20.51) which translate to surface brightnesses, {mu} {sub g,r,i}, of (23.78, 23.11, 22.81). The second, SGAS J152745.1+065219, is an LBG at z = 2.7593 lensed by the foreground SDSS J1527+0652 at z = 0.39, with (g, r, z) = (20.90, 20.52, 20.58) and {mu} {sub g,r,z} = (25.15, 24.52, 24.12). Moderate resolution spectroscopy confirms the redshifts suggested by photometric breaks and shows both absorption and emission features typical of LBGs. Lens mass models derived from combined imaging and spectroscopy reveal that SGAS J122651.3+215220 is a highly magnified source (M {approx_equal} 40), while SGAS J152745.1+065219 is magnified by no more than M {approx_equal} 15. Compared with LBG survey results, the luminosities and lensing-corrected magnitudes suggest that SGAS J122651.3+215220 is among the faintest {approx_equal}20% of LBGs in that sample. SGAS J152745.1+065219, on the other hand, has an unlensed r-band apparent magnitude similar to that of the 'Cosmic Eye', which places it near the mean of LBG survey results over similar redshifts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

PROMPT X-RAY AND OPTICAL EXCESS EMISSION DUE TO HADRONIC CASCADES IN GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

A fraction of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) exhibit distinct spectral features in their prompt emission below few tens of keV that exceed simple extrapolations of the low-energy power-law portion of the Band spectral model. This is also true for the prompt optical emission observed in several bursts. Through Monte Carlo simulations, we model such low-energy spectral excess components as hadronic cascade emission initiated by photomeson interactions of ultra-high-energy protons accelerated within GRB outflows. Synchrotron radiation from the cascading, secondary electron-positron pairs can naturally reproduce the observed soft spectra in the X-ray band, and in some cases the optical spectra as well. These components can be directly related to the higher energy radiation at GeV energies due to the hadronic cascades. Depending on the spectral shape, the total energy in protons is required to be comparable to or appreciably larger than the observed total photon energy. In particular, we apply our model to the excess X-ray and GeV emission of GRB 090902B, and the bright optical emission of the 'naked-eye' GRB 080319B. Besides the hard GeV components detected by Fermi, such X-ray or optical spectral excesses are further potential signatures of ultra-high-energy cosmic ray production in GRBs.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

LIMITS ON THE EVENT RATES OF FAST RADIO TRANSIENTS FROM THE V-FASTR EXPERIMENT

We present the first results from the V-FASTR experiment, a commensal search for fast transient radio bursts using the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). V-FASTR is unique in that the widely spaced VLBA antennas provide a discriminant against non-astronomical signals and a mechanism for the localization and identification of events that is not possible with single dishes or short baseline interferometers. Thus, far V-FASTR has accumulated over 1300 hr of observation time with the VLBA, between 90 cm and 3 mm wavelength (327 MHz-86 GHz), providing the first limits on fast transient event rates at high radio frequencies (>1.4 GHz). V-FASTR has blindly detected bright individual pulses from seven known pulsars but has not detected any single-pulse events that would indicate high-redshift impulsive bursts of radio emission. At 1.4 GHz, V-FASTR puts limits on fast transient event rates comparable with the PALFA survey at the Arecibo telescope, but generally at lower sensitivities, and comparable to the 'fly's eye' survey at the Allen Telescope Array, but with less sky coverage. We also illustrate the likely performance of the Phase 1 SKA dish array for an incoherent fast transient search fashioned on V-FASTR.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Roadmap on methods and software for electronic structure based simulations in chemistry and materials

This Roadmap article provides a succinct, comprehensive overview of the state of electronic structure methods and software for molecular and materials simulations. Seventeen distinct sections collect insights by 51 leading scientists in the field. Each contribution addresses the status of a particular area, as well as current challenges and anticipated future advances, with a particular eye towards software related aspects and providing key references for further reading. Foundational sections cover density functional theory and its implementation in real-world simulation frameworks, Green's function based many-body perturbation theory, wave-function based and stochastic electronic structure approaches, relativistic effects and semiempirical electronic structure theory approaches. Subsequent sections cover nuclear quantum effects, real-time propagation of the electronic structure, challenges for computational spectroscopy simulations, and exploration of complex potential energy surfaces. The final sections summarize practical aspects, including computational workflows for complex simulation tasks, the impact of current and future high-performance computing architectures, software engineering practices, education and training to maintain and broaden the community, as well as the status of and needs for electronic structure based modeling from the vantage point of industry environments. Overall, the field of electronic structure software and method development continues to unlock immense opportunities for future scientific discovery, based on the growing ability of computations to reveal complex phenomena, processes and properties that are determined by the make-up of matter at the atomic scale, with high precision.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Finding simplicity: unsupervised discovery of features, patterns, and order parameters via shift-invariant variational autoencoders *

Abstract Recent advances in scanning tunneling and transmission electron microscopies (STM and STEM) have allowed routine generation of large volumes of imaging data containing information on the structure and functionality of materials. The experimental data sets contain signatures of long-range phenomena such as physical order parameter fields, polarization, and strain gradients in STEM, or standing electronic waves and carrier-mediated exchange interactions in STM, all superimposed onto scanning system distortions and gradual changes of contrast due to drift and/or mis-tilt effects. Correspondingly, while the human eye can readily identify certain patterns in the images such as lattice periodicities, repeating structural elements, or microstructures, their automatic extraction and classification are highly non-trivial and universal pathways to accomplish such analyses are absent. We pose that the most distinctive elements of the patterns observed in STM and (S)TEM images are similarity and (almost-) periodicity, behaviors stemming directly from the parsimony of elementary atomic structures, superimposed on the gradual changes reflective of order parameter distributions. However, the discovery of these elements via global Fourier methods is non-trivial due to variability and lack of ideal discrete translation symmetry. To address this problem, we explore the shift-invariant variational autoencoders (shift-VAEs) that allow disentangling characteristic repeating features in the images, their variations, and shifts that inevitably occur when randomly sampling the image space. Shift-VAEs balance the uncertainty in the position of the object of interest with the uncertainty in shape reconstruction. This approach is illustrated for model 1D data, and further extended to synthetic and experimental STM and STEM 2D data. We further introduce an approach for training shift-VAEs that allows finding the latent variables that comport to known physical behavior. In this specific case, the condition is that the latent variable maps should be smooth on the length scale of the atomic lattice (as expected for physical order parameters), but other conditions can be imposed. The opportunities and limitations of the shift VAE analysis for pattern discovery are elucidated.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗