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

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At least 163 records · Page 9

RHIC and the QGP at 10: from the 'age of discovery' to the 'age of exploration'

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the beginning of RHIC operations. Soon after collisions began it was shown that the temperatures and densities reached in Au+Au collisions of 200 GeV per nucleon are vastly above those where hadrons can exist. A new state-of-matter is created - the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). We now know the QGP is strongly interacting and essentially opaque to gluons and quarks passing through it and that it flows like an almost perfect fluid. There is, however, much still to be learned about the QGP's properties and how the transition from quarks and gluons to hadrons occurs. These issues are the focus of the ongoing research at RHIC and the LHC, where first Pb-Pb collisions are expected at the end of this year. A new project at RHIC is the beam energy scan. The goal of this endeavor is a more detailed study of the phase diagram of nuclear matter, with the exciting prospect of locating predicted key features such as the critical point - where the phase boundary between the hadronic gas and the QGP ends.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Influence of oxygen pressure and aging on LaAlO{sub 3} films grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO{sub 3} substrates

The crystal structures of LaAlO{sub 3} films grown by pulsed laser deposition on SrTiO{sub 3} substrates at oxygen pressure of 10{sup −3} millibars or 10{sup −5} millibars, where kinetics of ablated species hardly depend on oxygen background pressure, are compared. Our results show that the interface between LaAlO{sub 3} and SrTiO{sub 3} is sharper when the oxygen pressure is lower. Over time, the formation of various crystalline phases is observed while the crystalline thickness of the LaAlO{sub 3} layer remains unchanged. X-ray scattering as well as atomic force microscopy measurements indicate three-dimensional growth of such phases, which appear to be fed from an amorphous capping layer present in as-grown samples.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

VERY HIGH ENERGY γ-RAYS FROM THE UNIVERSE’S MIDDLE AGE: DETECTION OF THE z = 0.940 BLAZAR PKS 1441+25 WITH MAGIC

The flat-spectrum radio quasar PKS 1441+25 at a redshift of z = 0.940 is detected between 40 and 250 GeV with a significance of 25.5σ using the MAGIC telescopes. Together with the gravitationally lensed blazar QSO B0218+357 (z = 0.944), PKS 1441+25 is the most distant very high energy (VHE) blazar detected to date. The observations were triggered by an outburst in 2015 April seen at GeV energies with the Large Area Telescope on board Fermi. Multi-wavelength observations suggest a subdivision of the high state into two distinct flux states. In the band covered by MAGIC, the variability timescale is estimated to be 6.4 ± 1.9 days. Modeling the broadband spectral energy distribution with an external Compton model, the location of the emitting region is understood as originating in the jet outside the broad-line region (BLR) during the period of high activity, while being partially within the BLR during the period of low (typical) activity. The observed VHE spectrum during the highest activity is used to probe the extragalactic background light at an unprecedented distance scale for ground-based gamma-ray astronomy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The Abrasion of Photovoltaic Glass: A Comparison of the Effects of Natural and Artificial Aging

Natural soiling and the subsequent requisite cleaning of photovoltaic (PV) modules result in abrasion damage to the cover glass. The durability of the front glass has important economic consequences, including determining the use of antireflective and/or antisoiling coatings as well as the method and frequency of operating maintenance (cleaning). The abrasion of coatings and glass has been explored in a field study, including the soiling-prone locations of Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Kuwait City (Kuwait), Mesa (Arizona), Mumbai (India), and Sacramento (California). Dry-brush-cleaned specimens will be compared to those subjected to artificial-brush testing. The characteristics of material integrity, surface energy, optical transmittance, surface roughness, and scratch size were examined using an optical microscope, contact goniometer (for water), spectrophotometer, interferometer, and atomic force microscope (AFM), respectively. The findings of this study will be used to provide feedback regarding the cleaning equipment, cleaning methods, and coatings used in the PV industry. The study here will also be used to aid in developing an abrasion standard for the PV industry.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗