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At least 1,783 records · Page 99
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

MCP-enabled agentic AI workflow for building energy modelling: framework and use cases

Traditional building energy modelling workflows remain labor-intensive and error-prone, requiring specialized expertise that limits broader adoption. This paper introduces a novel Model Context Protocol (MCP)-enabled framework that connects AI assistants to EnergyPlus through MCP, a standardized interface for tool invocation and context management. Two complementary integration paradigms are presented and compared: conversational integration, where users interact through natural language while an AI assistant orchestrates MCP tools on demand, and agentic workflow integration, where specialized agents coordinate autonomously to complete multi-step tasks. Using an experimental testbed for residential buildings, the end-to-end workflows are demonstrated. The conversational approach reduced typical inspection and modification tasks from 1-2 h to under 15 min, while maintaining full transparency through visible tool invocations. The agentic approach automated parametric analysis. These demonstrations establish MCP as a foundational layer for AI-assisted building energy modelling, enabling natural language interactions with simulation tools while preserving professional oversight and decision-making authority.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

Simulation-based assessment on stochastic load scheduling for building cooling systems

Here, to fill knowledge gaps related to stochastic load scheduling, we performed a comprehensive evaluation of the stochastic load scheduling for building cooling systems. Specifically, we studied the common uncertain variables in the load scheduling process for building cooling systems and categorized those variables based on their dynamic patterns. We then developed a generic stochastic load scheduling framework and applied it to building cooling systems that served a simulated community. This community consists of 100 heterogeneous houses and serves as a virtual testbed for evaluating the performance of stochastic load scheduling. In this evaluation, we considered representatives of uncertain variables with different dynamic patterns and included 100 realizations of the considered uncertainty in the evaluation to better catch the probability distribution of the control performance. The evaluation results suggest that deterministic load scheduling can reduce the operating energy cost by 18% but its performance can be affected by uncertainty. Stochastic load scheduling can further decrease the operating energy cost under uncertainty compared to deterministic load scheduling. We also found that the effectiveness of stochastic load scheduling in handling uncertainty is not directly associated with the number of uncertainty scenarios that are considered in its formulation.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Experimental characterization of turbulence properties in negative triangularity DIII-D plasmas

Negative Triangularity (NT) plasmas have demonstrated robustly ELM-free high-performance operation and provide a unique testbed to study how plasma shaping affects turbulent transport. The Beam Emission Spectroscopy (BES) diagnostic provides localized 2D measurements of low-k ($k_{\theta} \rho_s < 1$) density fluctuations. In a sweep of upper triangularity at fixed power, H-mode access is suppressed and an NT-edge is observed. The turbulence amplitude ($\tilde{n}/n$) is shown to decrease by $\sim50\%$ for $\rho<0.9$ in the NT-edge phase as compared to the H-mode phase. Additionally, low-velocity edge modes below 70 kHz are suppressed by triangularity and the dominant mode propagating in the electron diamagnetic direction is seen to broaden in wavenumber space in the NT-edge phase. In a strong NT plasma ($\delta_{avg}\sim-0.5$), low amplitude modes ($\tilde{n}/n <0.5\%$) propagating in the ion-diamagnetic direction with radially-poloidally symmetric eddy structure are identified for $\rho \sim 0.65-0.83$ consistent with Ion Temperature Gradient (ITG) turbulence. Modes consistent with Trapped Electron Mode (TEM) turbulence are observed propagating in the electron-diamagnetic direction for $\rho\gtrsim0.83$ with poloidally extended eddy structure and reduced amplitudes observed at the separatrix. The turbulence properties presented in this paper help validate our understanding of NT turbulence and help explain the improved confinement and unique edge features of NT plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

High-speed Focal Plane Wave Front Sensing with an Optical Chopper

Focal plane wave front sensing and control is a critical approach to reducing noncommon path errors between a conventional astronomical adaptive optics (AO) wave front sensor (WFS) detector and a science camera. However, in addition to mitigating noncommon path errors, recent focal plane wave front sensing techniques have been developed to operate at speeds fast enough to enable "multi-WFS" AO, where residual atmospheric errors are further corrected by a focal plane WFS. Although a number of such techniques have been recently developed for coronagraphic imaging, here we present one designed for noncoronagraphic imaging. Utilizing conventional AO system components, this concept additionally requires (1) a detector imaging the focal plane of the WFS light source and (2) a pupil plane optical chopper device that is the noncommon path to the first WFS and is synchronized to the focal plane imager readout. These minimal hardware requirements enable the temporal amplitude modulation to resolve the sine ambiguity of even wave-front modes for low, mid, and high wave front spatial frequencies. Similar capabilities have been demonstrated with classical phase diversity by defocusing the detector, but such techniques are incompatible with simultaneous science observations. This optical chopping technique, however, enables science imaging at up to 50% duty cycle. In conclusion, we present both simulations and laboratory validation of this concept on SEAL, the Santa Cruz Extreme AO Laboratory testbed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Validation of an integrated modeling framework for investigating 3D plasma responses in tokamak plasmas

As contemporary experimental tokamaks are pushed toward reactor-relevant operation, they provide essential testbeds for demonstrating and exploring ELM control strategies for deployment in future fusion pilot plants. Accurate predictions of full plasma responses are essential to guide and optimize these demonstrations. This paper introduces and validates an integrated modeling framework over a historical range of DIII-D operational space. The integrated modeling framework uses only scalar plasma parameters and optional reference boundary to self-consistently and flexibly scan through tokamak operational space and estimate the corresponding ELM-suppression relevant plasma response over 3D coil phase space. The framework generates tightly converged equilibria that satisfy a target set of plasma parameters (I p , β N , l i ), with kinetic profiles constrained by an EPED(NN)-computed pedestal and empirical core model. The plasma response of these modeled equilibria is calculated with GPEC. Validated against 55 distinct DIII-D equilibria, the framework consistently reproduces experimentally constrained equilibrium pressure, q, and other representative profiles using the time-varying information from only evolving scalar plasma parameters; plasma response validation is performed for the n=3 perturbation. In particular, the plasma response of a DIII-D discharge scanning q 95 in search of ELM suppression windows is quantitatively reproduced. By accurately reproducing experimental equilibria and plasma responses across wide parameter variation, the framework supports potential for synthetic parameter scans in key operational, stability, and plasma response dimensions to investigate RMP ELM-suppression experiments and inform predictive RMP scenario optimization.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Application of Portable Parallelization Strategies for GPUs on track reconstruction kernels

Utilizing the computational power of GPUs is one of the key ingredients to meet the computing challenges presented to the next generation of High-Energy Physics (HEP) experiments. Unlike CPUs, developing software for GPUs often involves using architecturespecific programming languages promoted by the GPU vendors and hence limits the platform that the code can run on. Various portability solutions have been developed to achieve portable, performant software across different GPU vendors. Given the rapid evolution of these portability solutions, an early adoption of them in simple HEP testbed applications will help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of respective approaches.We apply several portability solutions, including Alpaka, Kokkos, SYCL and std::execution::par, on kernels for track propagation extracted from the mkFit project. We report on the development experience of the same application with different portability solutions, as well as their performance on GPUs, measured as the throughput of the kernels, from different manufacturers such as NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.

Kwok, Martin [Fermilab] (ORCID:0000000286936146)↗
DOE OSTI2017

Big Data in HEP: A comprehensive use case study

Experimental Particle Physics has been at the forefront of analyzing the worlds largest datasets for decades. The HEP community was the first to develop suitable software and computing tools for this task. In recent times, new toolkits and systems collectively called Big Data technologies have emerged to support the analysis of Petabyte and Exabyte datasets in industry. While the principles of data analysis in HEP have not changed (filtering and transforming experiment-specific data formats), these new technologies use different approaches and promise a fresh look at analysis of very large datasets and could potentially reduce the time-to-physics with increased interactivity. In this talk, we present an active LHC Run 2 analysis, searching for dark matter with the CMS detector, as a testbed for Big Data technologies. We directly compare the traditional NTuple-based analysis with an equivalent analysis using Apache Spark on the Hadoop ecosystem and beyond. In both cases, we start the analysis with the official experiment data formats and produce publication physics plots. Lastly, we will discuss advantages and disadvantages of each approach and give an outlook on further studies needed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of a tagged source of Pb-206 nuclei

There is a particular class of unavoidable backgrounds that plague low-background experiments and rare event searches, particularly those searching for nuclear recoil event signatures: decaying daughters of the 238 U nuclear decay chain, which result from radon plate-out on detector materials. One such daughter isotope, 210 Po, undergoes α-decay and produces a recoiling 103 keV 206 Pb nucleus. In this study, to characterize this important background in the context of noble element detectors, we have implemented a triggered source for these 206 Pb recoils in a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (Xe TPC) within the Davis Xenon R&D testbed system (DAX). By adhering 210 Po to the surface of a PIN diode and electrically floating the diode on the cathode of the TPC, we tag the α signals produced in the PIN diode and trigger on the correlated nuclear recoils in the liquid xenon (LXe). Lastly, we discuss our methods for 210 Po deposition, electronic readout of the PIN diode signals at high voltage, and analysis methods for event selection.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

Design, construction, and operation of a 1-ton Water-based Liquid scintillator detector at Brookhaven National Laboratory

Water-based liquid scintillators (WbLS) are a new class of detector materials that provide efficient and tunable detection of both Cherenkov and scintillation light. A massive WbLS neutrino detector with suitable photosensor coverage for low intensity light detection could therefore reconstruct the momentum of an energetic charged particle and also have enhanced low-energy sensitivity. These materials are also better suited for metal doping broadening the potential scientific utility. Here, we recently constructed and commissioned a 1-ton WbLS detector with good photosensor coverage and a capable data acquisition and calibration system. We intend to use this flexible detector system as a testbed for WbLS R&D. In this paper we give an overview of the 1-ton system and provide some early results.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2026

First light from beam neutrinos on an LAPPD in ANNIE

The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) is both a physics experiment and a technology testbed for next-generation light-based neutrino detection. In this paper, we report the first demonstration of a fully integrated Large Area Picosecond Photodetector (LAPPD) operating in a running neutrino beam experiment. Particular focus is given to the design, commissioning, and successful deployment of the Packaged ANNIE LAPPD (PAL), a waterproof, self-triggering module incorporating fast waveform digitization and precision timing synchronized to the ANNIE detector subsystems. We identify beam-correlated LAPPD data frames consistent with charged-current neutrino interactions observed in multiple detector subsystems, establishing the first detection of neutrino-induced Cherenkov light with an LAPPD. These results validate the system-level performance of LAPPDs under realistic experimental conditions — including long-term stability, timing synchronization, and event matching with conventional PMT and muon detector systems — marking a critical step toward their deployment in future large-scale neutrino and particle detectors.

Cherenkov detectors↗
DOE OSTI2026

Reconstruction of neutrino events in the Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment. Part I

The Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) was designed to reconstruct neutrino events from the Fermilab Booster Neutrino Beam (BNB) with the parallel goals of measuring neutron production in interactions with oxygen and serving as a testbed for new technology. The ANNIE detector consists of a 26-ton water Cherenkov target tank instrumented with conventional photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), a downstream tracking muon spectrometer, and an upstream double wall of plastic scintillator to serve to veto charged particles incoming from neutrino events that occur upstream of the experimental setup. ANNIE has also deployed multiple Large-Area Picosecond PhotoDetectors (LAPPDs) and a test vessel of water-based liquid scintillator (WbLS). This paper describes the event reconstruction performance of the detector before implementation of these novel technologies, which will serve as a baseline against which their impact can be measured. That said, even the techniques used for event reconstruction using only the conventional PMT array and muon spectrometer are significantly different than those used in other water Cherenkov detectors due to the small size of ANNIE (which makes nanosecond-scale timing not as useful as in a large detector) and the availability of reconstruction information from the tracking muon spectrometer. We demonstrate that combining the information from these two elements into a single fit using only pattern recognition yields a muon vertex uncertainty of 60 cm, a directional uncertainty of 13.2 degrees, and energy reconstruction uncertainty of about 10% for BNB muon neutrino Charged Current Zero Pion (CC0π) events.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

From legacy contamination to watershed systems science: a review of scientific insights and technologies developed through DOE-supported research in water and energy security

Abstract Water resources, including groundwater and prominent rivers worldwide, are under duress because of excessive contaminant and nutrient loads. To help mitigate this problem, the United States Department of Energy (DOE) has supported research since the late 1980s to improve our fundamental knowledge of processes that could be used to help clean up challenging subsurface problems. Problems of interest have included subsurface radioactive waste, heavy metals, and metalloids (e.g. uranium, mercury, arsenic). Research efforts have provided insights into detailed groundwater biogeochemical process coupling and the resulting geochemical exports of metals and nutrients to surrounding environments. Recently, an increased focus has been placed on constraining the exchanges and fates of carbon and nitrogen within and across bedrock to canopy compartments of a watershed and in river–floodplain settings, because of their important role in driving biogeochemical interactions with contaminants and the potential of increased fluxes under changing precipitation regimes, including extreme events. While reviewing the extensive research that has been conducted at DOE’s representative sites and testbeds (such as the Oyster Site in Virginia, Savannah River Site in South Carolina, Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee, Hanford in Washington, Nevada National Security Site in Nevada, Riverton in Wyoming, and Rifle and East River in Colorado), this review paper explores the nature and distribution of contaminants in the surface and shallow subsurface (i.e. the critical zone) and their interactions with carbon and nitrogen dynamics. We also describe state-of-the-art, scale-aware characterization approaches and models developed to predict contaminant fate and transport. The models take advantage of DOE leadership-class high-performance computers and are beginning to incorporate artificial intelligence approaches to tackle the extreme diversity of hydro-biogeochemical processes and measurements. Recognizing that the insights and capability developments are potentially transferable to many other sites, we also explore the scientific implications of these advances and recommend future research directions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Integrability breaking in the Rule 54 cellular automaton

Cellular automata have recently attracted a lot of attention as testbeds to explore the emergence of many-body quantum chaos and hydrodynamics. We consider the Rule 54 model, one of the simplest interacting integrable models featuring two species of quasiparticles (solitons), in the presence of an integrability-breaking perturbation that allows solitons to backscatter. Here, we study the onset of thermalization and diffusive hydrodynamics in this model, compute perturbatively the diffusion constant of tracer particles, and comment on its relation to transport coefficients.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

2024 roadmap on 2D topological insulators

Abstract 2D topological insulators promise novel approaches towards electronic, spintronic, and quantum device applications. This is owing to unique features of their electronic band structure, in which bulk-boundary correspondences enforces the existence of 1D spin–momentum locked metallic edge states—both helical and chiral—surrounding an electrically insulating bulk. Forty years since the first discoveries of topological phases in condensed matter, the abstract concept of band topology has sprung into realization with several materials now available in which sizable bulk energy gaps—up to a few hundred meV—promise to enable topology for applications even at room-temperature. Further, the possibility of combining 2D TIs in heterostructures with functional materials such as multiferroics, ferromagnets, and superconductors, vastly extends the range of applicability beyond their intrinsic properties. While 2D TIs remain a unique testbed for questions of fundamental condensed matter physics, proposals seek to control the topologically protected bulk or boundary states electrically, or even induce topological phase transitions to engender switching functionality. Induction of superconducting pairing in 2D TIs strives to realize non-Abelian quasiparticles, promising avenues towards fault-tolerant topological quantum computing. This roadmap aims to present a status update of the field, reviewing recent advances and remaining challenges in theoretical understanding, materials synthesis, physical characterization and, ultimately, device perspectives.

Weber, Bent (ORCID:000000018586127X)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sr 1-x Ca x Fe 1-y Co y O 3-δ as facile and tunable oxygen sorbents for chemical looping air separation

Abstract Chemical looping air separation (CLAS) is a promising technology for oxygen generation with high efficiency. The key challenge for CLAS is to design robust oxygen sorbents with suitable redox properties and fast redox kinetics. In this work, perovskite-structured Sr 1-x Ca x Fe 1-y Co y O 3 oxygen sorbents were investigated and demonstrated for oxygen production with tunable redox properties, high redox rate, and excellent thermal/steam stability. Cobalt doping at B site was found to be highly effective, 33% improvement in oxygen productivity was observed at 500 °C. Moreover, it stabilizes the perovskite structure and prevents phase segregation under pressure swing conditions in the presence of steam. Scalable synthesis of Sr 0.8 Ca 0.2 Fe 0.4 Co 0.6 O 3 oxygen sorbents was carried out through solid state reaction, co-precipitation, and sol-gel methods. Both co-precipitation and sol-gel methods are capable of producing Sr 0.8 Ca 0.2 Fe 0.4 Co 0.6 O 3 sorbents with satisfactory phase purity, high oxygen capacity, and fast redox kinetics. Large scale evaluation of Sr 0.8 Ca 0.2 Fe 0.4 Co 0.6 O 3 , using an automated CLAS testbed with over 300 g sorbent loading, further demonstrated the effectiveness of the oxygen sorbent to produce 95% pure O 2 with a satisfactory productivity of 0.04 g O2 g sorbent −1 h −1 at 600 °C.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Reactive Transport Simulation of Fracture Channelization and Transmissivity Evolution

Underground fractures serve as flow conduits, and they may produce unwanted migration of water and other fluids in the subsurface. An example is the migration and leakage of greenhouse gases in the context of geologic carbon sequestration. This study has generated new understanding about how acids erode carbonate fracture surfaces and the positive feedback between reaction and flow. A two-dimensional reactive transport model was developed and used to investigate the extent to which geochemical factors influence fracture permeability and transmissivity evolution in carbonate rocks. The only mineral modeled as reactive is calcite, a fast-reacting mineral that is abundant in subsurface formations. The X-ray computed tomography dataset from a previous experimental study of fractured cores exposed to carbonic acid served as a testbed to benchmark the model simulation results. The model was able to capture not only erosion of fracture surfaces but also the specific phenomenon of channelization, which produces accelerating transmissivity increase. Results corroborated experimental findings that higher reactivity of the influent solution leads to strong channelization without substantial mineral dissolution. Simulations using mineral maps of calcite in a specimen of Amherstburg limestone demonstrated that mineral heterogeneity can either facilitate or suppress the development of flow channels depending on the spatial patterns of reactive mineral. In these cases, fracture transmissivity may increase rapidly, increase slowly, or stay constant, and for all these possibilities, the calcite mineral continues to dissolve. Collectively, these results illustrate that fluid chemistry and mineral spatial patterns need to be considered in predictions of reaction-induced fracture alteration and risks of fluid migration.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Synthetic communities as a model for determining interactions between a biofertilizer chassis organism and native microbial consortia

Biofertilizers are critical for sustainable agriculture because they can replace ecologically disruptive chemical fertilizers while improving the trajectory of soil and plant health. However, for improving deployment, the persistence of biofertilizers within native soil consortia must be elucidated and enhanced. In this study we characterized a high-throughput, modular, and automation-friendly in vitro approach to screen for biofertilizer persistence within soil-derived consortia after co-cultivation with stable synthetic soil microbial communities (SynComs) obtained through a top-down cultivation process. Here, we profiled ~1200 SynComs isolated from various soil sources and cultivated in divergent media types, and we detected significant phylogenetic diversity (e.g. Shannon index >4) and richness (observed richness >400) across these communities. We observed high reproducibility in SynCom community structure from common soil and media types, which provided a testbed for assessing biofertilizer persistence within representative native consortia. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the screening method described herein can be coupled with microbial engineering to efficiently identify soil-derived SynComs in which an engineered biofertilizer organism (i.e. Bacillus subtilis) persists. Accordingly, we discovered that B. subtilis persisted in ~10% of SynComs that generally followed the diversity–invasion principle. Additionally, our approach enabled analysis of the ecological impact of B. subtilis inoculation on SynCom structure and profile alterations in community diversity and richness associated with the presence of a genetically modified model bacterium. Ultimately, this work has established a modular pipeline that could be integrated into a variety of microbiology/microbiome-relevant workflows or related applications that would benefit from assessment of the persistence of a specific organism of interest and its interaction with native consortia.

biofertilizers↗
DOE OSTI2025

Noise-aware circuit compilations for a continuously parameterized two-qubit gateset

State-of-the-art noisy-intermediate-scale quantum processors are currently implemented across a variety of hardware platforms, each with their own distinct gatesets. As such, circuit compilation should not only be aware of but also deeply connect to the native gateset and noise properties of each. Trapped-ion processors are one such platform that provides a gateset that can be continuously parameterized across both one- and two-qubit gates. Here we use the Quantum Scientific Computing Open User Testbed to study noise-aware compilations focused on continuously parameterized two-qubit 𝑍⁢𝑍 gates (based on the Mølmer-Sørensen interaction) using $\scriptsize{SUPERSTAQ}$, a quantum software platform for hardware-aware circuit compiler optimizations. We discuss the realization of 𝑍⁢𝑍 gates with arbitrary angle on the all-to-all connected trapped-ion system. Then we discuss a variety of different compiler optimizations that innately target these 𝑍⁢𝑍 gates and their noise properties. These optimizations include moving from a restricted maximally entangling gateset to a continuously parameterized one, swap mirroring to further reduce the total entangling angle of the operations, focusing the heaviest 𝑍⁢𝑍 angle participation on the best-performing gate pairs, and circuit approximation to remove the least impactful 𝑍⁢𝑍 gates. We demonstrate these compilation approaches on the hardware with randomized quantum volume circuits, observing the potential to realize a larger quantum volume as a result of these optimizations. Using differing yet complementary analysis techniques, we observe the distinct improvements in system performance provided by these noise-aware compilations and study the role of stochastic and coherent error channels for each compilation choice.

Noise↗