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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 1,621 records · Page 90
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Preparation for a Measurement of Charge Asymmetry in the Bethe-Heitler Process

We have prepared a measurement of the energy asymmetry in wide- and medium-angle electron/positron pair production off protons and heavy targets. This asymmetry is caused by the interference between the first- and second-order Born diagrams and the Compton scattering diagram. It directly probes aspects of QED, as well as providing a direct measurement of the real part of the Compton amplitude. It will be conducted at the HI??S facility at Duke University, using a 60 MeV photon beam. This dissertation serves as documentation of the preparation stage of the Bethe-Heitler experiment. The major was the recommissioning of the vertical drift chambers previously used in the Q-weak experiment at the Jefferson Lab. Cosmic test runs were conducted, drift time data were collected and efficiency plateaus were measured. We made modifications to the JLAB Hall A analyzer to suit the geometry and drift characteristics of these wire chambers. The analyzer was used for the reconstruction of the trajectories of cosmic ray test runs with the results confirmed by direct measurement of trigger geometry. Spatial and angular resolution is estimated to ~300?? and 0.17° respectively. Geant 4 simulations with generated Bethe-Heitler pairs satisfying theoretical differential cross sections. It was used to check detector acceptance, optimize apparatus layout, and estimate measurable energy asymmetry. The measurable asymmetries from electron/positron pairs with polar angles around between approximately 5° and 8°, azimuthal angles differing by 180°, and energy differing by approximately 9 MeV to 15 MeV are predicted to be above 10%. The kinematics of primary vertices are reconstructed using the data from wire chambers in the simulation. The energy resolution is determined to be better than 1MeV.

Chen, Haoyu↗
DOE OSTI2017

Study of the grazing-incidence X-ray scattering of strongly disturbed fractal surfaces

The applicability of different approaches to the description of hard X-ray scattering from rough surfaces is generally limited by a maximum surface roughness height of no more than 1 nm. Meanwhile, this value is several times larger for the surfaces of different materials subjected to treatment, especially in the initial treatment stages. To control the roughness parameters in all stages of surface treatment, a new approach has been developed, which is based on a series expansion of wavefield over the plane eigenstate-function waves describing the small-angle scattering of incident X-rays in terms of plane q-waves propagating through the interface between two media with a random function of relief heights. To determine the amplitudes of reflected and transmitted plane q-waves, a system of two linked integral equations was derived. The solutions to these equations correspond (in zero order) to the well-known Fresnel expressions for a smooth plane interface. Based on these solutions, a statistical fractal model of an isotropic rough interface is built in terms of root-mean-square roughness σ, two-point correlation length l, and fractal surface index h. The model is used to interpret X-ray scattering data for polished surfaces of single-crystal cadmium telluride samples.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

THE KEY ROLE OF SOLAR DYNAMICS IN THE CHROMOSPHERIC HANLE POLARIZATION

The quantum theory of polarized light allows one to model scattering in the solar atmosphere for inferring its properties. This powerful approach has revealed two key long-standing problems in solar physics: the puzzling dilemmas between theory and observations in several anomalously polarized spectral lines and the need for inferring the ubiquitous weak chromospheric magnetic fields, which requires discriminating the Hanle effect in dynamic optically thick plasmas. However, the ever-present dynamics, i.e., the temporal evolution of heatings and macroscopic motions, has been widely disregarded when modeling and interpreting the scattering polarization. This has hindered a consistent theoretical solution to the puzzle while falsifying the Hanle diagnosis. Here, we show that the dynamical evolution is a keystone for solving both problems because its systematic impact allows an explanation of the observations from “anomalous” instantaneous polarization signals. Evolution accounted for, we reproduce amplitudes and (spectral and spatial) shapes of the Ca i 4227 Å polarization at solar disk center, identifying a restrictive arrangement of magnetic fields, kinematics, heatings, and spatio-temporal resolution. We find that the joint action of dynamics, Hanle effect, and low temporal resolutions mimics Zeeman linear polarization profiles, the true weak-field Zeeman signals being negligible. Our results allow reinterpretation of many polarization signals of the solar spectra and support time-dependent scattering polarization as a powerful tool for deciphering the spatio-temporal distribution of chromospheric heatings and fields. This approach may be a key aid in developing the Hanle diagnosis for the solar atmosphere.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Measurement of the partial cross sections {sigma}{sub TT}, {sigma}{sub LT}, and ({sigma}{sub T} + {epsilon}{sigma}{sub L}) of the {sup 1}H(e, e{sup '{pi}+})n reaction in the {Delta}(1232) resonance

We report precision {sup 1}H(e, e{sup '{pi}+})n measurements in the {Delta}(1232) resonance at Q{sup 2}=0.127(GeV/c){sup 2} obtained at the MIT-Bates out-of-plane scattering facility. These are the lowest, but nonzero, Q{sup 2} measurements in the {pi}{sup +} channel. The data offer tests of the theoretical calculations, particularly of the background amplitude contributions. The chiral effective field theory and Sato-Lee model calculations are not in agreement with this experiment.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1975

Flow tracing fidelity of scattering aerosol in laser Doppler velocimetry

An experimental method for the determination of the flow-tracing fidelity of a scattering aerosol used in laser Doppler velocimeters was developed with particular reference to the subsonic turbulence measurements. The method employs the measurement of the dynamic response of a flow-seeding aerosol excited by acoustic waves. The amplitude and frequency of excitation were controlled in order to simulate the corresponding values of fluid turbulence components. Experimental results are presented on the dynamic response of aerosols over the size range from 0.1 to 2.0 microns in diam and over the frequency range 100 Hz to 100 kHz. It was observed that unit-density spherical scatterers with diameters of 0.2 micron followed subsonic air turbulence frequency components up to 100 kHz with 98% fidelity.

Mazumder, M. K.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Deducing Phonon Scattering from Normal Mode Excitations

While the quantum scattering theory has provided the theoretical underpinning for phonon interactions, the correspondence between the phonon modes and normal modes of vibrations has never been fully established; for example, the nature of energy exchange during elementary normal mode interactions remains largely unknown. In this work, by adopting a set of real asymmetric normal mode amplitudes, we first discriminate the normal and Umklapp processes directly from atomistic dynamics. We then demonstrate that the undulating harmonic and anharmonic potentials, which allow a number of interaction pathways, generate several total-energy-conserving forward and backward scattering events including those which are traditionally considered as quantum-forbidden. Although the normal mode energy is proportional to the square of the eigen-frequency, we deduce that the energy exchanged from one mode to another in each elementary interaction is proportional to the frequency – a quantum-like restriction. We anticipate that the current approach can be utilized profitably to discover unbiased scattering channels, many traditionally quantum forbidden, with complex anharmonicities. Our discovery will aid in the development of next-generation Peierls-Boltzmann transport simulations that access normal mode scattering pathways from finite temperature ab initio simulations.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1992

The discovery of an extremely low amplitude Cepheid?

Extremely low amplitude periodic radial velocity variations are found for HR 7796 (F8 Ib), thought to be a non-Cepheid in (or near) the instability strip. Two and one-half complete cycles have been monitored over three observing runs. The period is found to be 11.874 +/- 0.02 days. Observations of the reference star HR 509 (G8 V) taken on the same nights show no periodicities and a scatter of just 20 m/s. A first-order approximation shows that HR 7796 does appear to follow the Cepheid period-luminosity relation. If HR 7796 is a Cepheid, it is the smallest amplitude Cepheid by more than an order of magnitude.

Butler, R. P.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Complex magnetic order in nickelate slabs

Here, magnetic ordering phenomena have a profound influence on the macroscopic properties of correlated-electron materials, but their realistic prediction remains a formidable challenge. An archetypical example is the ternary nickel oxide system RNiO 3 (R = rare earth), where the period-four magnetic order with proposals of collinear and non-collinear structures and the amplitude of magnetic moments on different Ni sublattices have been subjects of debate for decades. Here we introduce an elementary model system—NdNiO 3 slabs embedded in a non-magnetic NdGaO 3 matrix—and use polarized resonant X-ray scattering (RXS) to show that both collinear and non-collinear magnetic structures can be realized, depending on the slab thickness. The crossover between both spin structures is correctly predicted by density functional theory and can be qualitatively understood in a low-energy spin model. We further demonstrate that the amplitude ratio of magnetic moments in neighbouring NiO 6 octahedra can be accurately determined by RXS in combination with a correlated double cluster model. Targeted synthesis of model systems with controlled thickness and synergistic application of polarized RXS and ab initio theory thus provide new perspectives for research on complex magnetism, in analogy to two-dimensional materials created by exfoliation.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Crossed excitons in a semiconductor nanostructure of mixed dimensionality

Semiconductor systems of reduced dimensionality, e.g., quantum dots or quantum wells, display a characteristic spectrum of confined excitons. Combining several of these systems may lead to the formation of “crossed” excitons, and thus new equilibrium states and scattering channels. We derive gain excitation spectra from two-color pump-probe experiments on an In(Ga)As based quantum dot semiconductor optical amplifier by analyzing the amplitudes of the traces. This grants access to the quantum dot response, even in the presence of strong absorption by the surroundings at the excitation energy. The gain excitation spectra yield evidence of crossed quantum dot-bulk states.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Pitch angle scattering of an energetic magnetized particle by a circularly polarized electromagnetic wave

The interaction between a circularly polarized wave and an energetic gyrating particle is described using a relativistic pseudo-potential that is a function of the frequency mismatch. Analysis of the pseudo-potential provides a means for interpreting numerical results. The pseudo-potential profile depends on the initial mismatch, the normalized wave amplitude, and the initial angle between the wave magnetic field and the particle perpendicular velocity. For zero initial mismatch, the pseudo-potential consists of only one valley, but for finite mismatch, there can be two valleys separated by a hill. A large pitch angle scattering of the energetic electron can occur in the two-valley situation but fast scattering can also occur in a single valley. Examples relevant to magnetospheric whistler waves show that the energetic electron pitch angle can be deflected 5 Degree-Sign towards the loss cone when transiting a 10 ms long coherent wave packet having realistic parameters.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electronic superlattice revealed by resonant scattering from random impurities in Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7

Resonant elastic x-ray scattering (REXS) is an exquisite element-sensitive tool for the study of subtle charge, orbital, and spin superlattice orders driven by the valence electrons, which therefore escape detection in conventional x-ray diffraction (XRD). Although the power of REXS has been demonstrated by numerous studies of complex oxides performed in the soft x-ray regime, the cross section and photon wavelength of the material-specific elemental absorption edges ultimately set the limit to the smallest superlattice amplitude and periodicity one can probe. Here we show – with simulations and REXS on Mn-substituted Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 – that these limitations can be overcome by performing resonant scattering experiments at the absorption edge of a suitably-chosen, dilute impurity. This establishes that – in analogy with impurity-based methods used in electron-spin-resonance, nuclear-magnetic resonance, and Mössbauer spectroscopy – randomly distributed impurities can serve as a non-invasive, but now momentum-dependent probe, greatly extending the applicability of resonant x-ray scattering techniques.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Elementary wideband timing of radio pulsars

We present an algorithm for the simultaneous measurement of a pulse time-of-arrival (TOA) and dispersion measure (DM) from folded wideband pulsar data. We extend the prescription from Taylor's 1992 work to accommodate a general two-dimensional template 'portrait', the alignment of which can be used to measure a pulse phase and DM. We show that there is a dedispersion reference frequency that removes the covariance between these two quantities and note that the recovered pulse profile scaling amplitudes can provide useful information. We experiment with pulse modeling by using a Gaussian-component scheme that allows for independent component evolution with frequency, a 'fiducial component', and the inclusion of scattering. We showcase the algorithm using our publicly available code on three years of wideband data from the bright millisecond pulsar J1824–2452A (M28A) from the Green Bank Telescope, and a suite of Monte Carlo analyses validates the algorithm. By using a simple model portrait of M28A, we obtain DM trends comparable to those measured by more standard methods, with improved TOA and DM precisions by factors of a few. Measurements from our algorithm will yield precisions at least as good as those from traditional techniques, but is prone to fewer systematic effects and is without ad hoc parameters. A broad application of this new method for dispersion measure tracking with modern large-bandwidth observing systems should improve the timing residuals for pulsar timing array experiments, such as the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Incoherent Scattering of Electromagnetic Waves by Langmuir Fluctuations Trapped in a Plasma Density Well

Incoherent scattering of a probing wave by Langmuir fluctuations trapped and enhanced near a local minimum of the electron density (plasma density well) in plasma with a parabolic density profile is considered. Steady-state amplitudes of fluctuations are calculated for arbitrary velocity distribution functions of plasma particles with allowance for electron collisions. It is shown that quasi-periodic oscillations with two characteristic scales can be present in the spectrum of the plasma line. The smaller scale is due to the wellknown effect of discretization of the spectrum of Langmuir fluctuations in a plasma density well. The larger scale is associated with the generation of scattered waves in two spatial regions and subsequent interference of these waves at the exit from the density well. Oscillations with this scale are more stable under unsteady plasma conditions and can be more often observed in experiments. The results of this work can be used to experimentally determine the plasma parameters, such as the electron collision frequency and the size and lifetime of the plasma density well.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

A complete basis of helicity operators for subleading factorization

Factorization theorems underly our ability to make predictions for many processes involving the strong interaction. Although typically formulated at leading power, the study of factorization at subleading power is of interest both for improving the precision of calculations, as well as for understanding the all orders structure of QCD. We use the SCET helicity operator formalism to construct a complete power suppressed basis of hard scattering operators for e + e - → dijets, e - p → e - jet, and constrained Drell-Yan, including the first two subleading orders in the amplitude level power expansion. We analyze the field content of the jet and soft function contributions to the power suppressed cross section for e + e - → dijet event shapes, and give results for the lowest order matching to the contributing operators. These results will be useful for studies of power corrections both in fixed order and resummed perturbation theory.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2018

Skyrmion Lattice Topological Hall Effect near Room Temperature

Magnetic skyrmions are stable nanosized spin structures that can be displaced at low electrical current densities. Because of these properties, they have been proposed as building blocks of future electronic devices with unprecedentedly high information density and low energy consumption. The electrical detection of an ordered skyrmion lattice via the Topological Hall Effect (THE) in a bulk crystal, has so far been demonstrated only at cryogenic temperatures in the MnSi family of compounds. Here, we report the observation of a skyrmion lattice Topological Hall Effect near room temperature (276 K) in a mesoscopic lamella carved from a bulk crystal of FeGe. This region coincides with the skyrmion lattice location revealed by neutron scattering. We provide clear evidence of a re-entrant helicoid magnetic phase adjacent to the skyrmion phase, and discuss the large THE amplitude (5 nΩ.cm) in view of the ordinary Hall Effect.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cosmology with stacked cluster weak lensing and cluster–galaxy cross-correlations

ABSTRACT Cluster weak lensing is a sensitive probe of cosmology, particularly the amplitude of matter clustering σ8 and matter density parameter Ωm. The main nuisance parameter in a cluster weak lensing cosmological analysis is the scatter between the true halo mass and the relevant cluster observable, denoted $\sigma _{\ln M_\mathrm{ c}}$. We show that combining the cluster weak lensing observable ΔΣ with the projected cluster–galaxy cross-correlation function wp,cg and galaxy autocorrelation function wp,gg can break the degeneracy between σ8 and $\sigma _{\ln M_\mathrm{ c}}$ to achieve tight, per cent-level constraints on σ8. Using a grid of cosmological N-body simulations, we compute derivatives of ΔΣ, wp,cg, and wp,gg with respect to σ8, Ωm, $\sigma _{\ln M_\mathrm{ c}}$, and halo occupation distribution (HOD) parameters describing the galaxy population. We also compute covariance matrices motivated by the properties of the Dark Energy Survey cluster and weak lensing survey and the BOSS CMASS galaxy redshift survey. For our fiducial scenario combining ΔΣ, wp,cg, and wp,gg measured over 0.3−30.0 h−1 Mpc, for clusters at z = 0.35−0.55 above a mass threshold Mc ≈ 2 × 1014 h−1 M⊙, we forecast a $1.4{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ constraint on σ8 while marginalizing over $\sigma _{\ln M_\mathrm{ c}}$ and all HOD parameters. Reducing the mass threshold to 1 × 1014 h−1 M⊙ and adding a z = 0.15−0.35 redshift bin sharpens this constraint to $0.8{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$. The small-scale (rp < 3.0 h−1 Mpc) ‘mass function’ and large-scale (rp > 3.0 h−1 Mpc) ‘halo-mass cross-correlation’ regimes of ΔΣ have comparable constraining power, allowing internal consistency tests from such an analysis.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Chiral extrapolations of the ρ ( 770 ) meson in N f = 2 + 1 lattice QCD simulations

Recent $N_f=2+1$ lattice data for meson-meson scattering in $p$-wave and isospin $I=1$ are analyzed using a unitarized model inspired by Chiral Perturbation Theory in the inverse-amplitude formulation for two and three flavors. We perform chiral extrapolations that postdict phase shifts extracted from experiment quite well. Additionally, the low-energy constants are compared to the ones from a recent analysis of $N_f=2$ lattice QCD simulations to check for the consistency of the hadronic model used here. Some inconsistencies are detected in the fits to $N_f=2+1$ data, in contrast to the previous analysis of $N_f=2$ data.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1975

The Forbush decrease of November 17, 1966

The Forbush decrease of November 17, 1966, takes place in two steps, a predecrease is followed by the main decrease. SSCs are observed on both occasions. The decrease is modest, short-lived, and is preceded and followed by an exceptionally steady level of the cosmic ray intensity. Preliminary results from a phenomenological study are presented. The observed changes in the cosmic ray intensity are correlated with interplanetary magnetic field direction at the onset of the predecrease and during part of the recovery phase. A simple explanation is given for the fact that the predecrease is not observed at the stations in the European-zone. It appears that a preferential recovery takes place from some directions in space, during the recovery phase of the Forbush decrease. Off-ecliptic scattering of lower energy cosmic rays is probably responsible for this. The same phenomena is probably also responsible for the difference between the amplitudes of the predecrease observed at different stations.

Ahluwalia, H. S.↗