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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Topological contribution to the Bogoliubov coefficient for cosmological particle production

Particle production in cosmology is often efficiently computed in terms of Bogoliubov transforms. Restricting to a particular class of dispersion relationships, we identify a map between the number of particles produced in a special kinematic limit and a Stokes phenomena related topology of analytic continuation of the Bogoliubov coefficient functions. Intuitively, this kinematic limit corresponds to the long wavelength limit although a more precise description depends on the nature of the curved spacetime. To identify the topology, we reformulate the usual Bogoliubov computations as a type of SU(1, 1) gauged differential equation and utilize a special gauge together with a discrete symmetry that naturally characterizes the dispersion relationship. Using a dark matter model and a nonzero constant spatial curvature model, we estimate how such topological contributions will arise in physical applications. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Chung, Daniel J. H. (ORCID:0000000343998504)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Observation of Suppressed Charged-Particle Production in Ultrarelativistic Oxygen-Oxygen Collisions

A hot and dense state of nuclear matter, known as the quark-gluon plasma, is created in collisions of ultrarelativistic heavy nuclei. Highly energetic quarks and gluons, collectively referred to as partons, lose energy as they travel through this matter, leading to suppressed production of particles with large transverse momenta (𝑝 T ). Conversely, high-𝑝 T particle suppression has not been seen in proton-lead collisions, raising questions regarding the minimum system size required to observe parton energy loss. Oxygen-oxygen (OO) collisions examine a region of effective system size that lies between these two extreme cases. The CMS detector at the CERN LHC has been used to quantify charged-particle production in inclusive OO collisions for the first time via measurements of the nuclear modification factor (𝑅 AA ). The 𝑅 AA is derived by comparing particle production to expectations based on proton-proton (𝑝⁢𝑝) data and has a value of unity in the absence of nuclear effects. The data for OO and 𝑝⁢𝑝 collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 5.36 TeV correspond to integrated luminosities of 6.1 nb −1 and 1.02 pb −1 , respectively. The 𝑅 AA is below unity with a minimum of 0.69 ± 0.04 around 𝑝 T = 6 GeV. The data exhibit better agreement with theoretical models incorporating parton energy loss as compared to baseline models without energy loss.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cosmological gravitational particle production of massive spin-2 particles

The phenomenon of cosmological gravitational particle production (CGPP) is expected to occur during the period of inflation and the transition into a hot big bang cosmology. Particles may be produced even if they only couple directly to gravity, and so CGPP provides a natural explanation for the origin of dark matter. In this work we study the gravitational production of massive spin-2 particles assuming two different couplings to matter. We evaluate the full system of mode equations, including the helicity-0 modes, and by solving them numerically we calculate the spectrum and abundance of massive spin-2 particles that results from inflation on a hilltop potential. We conclude that CGPP might provide a viable mechanism for the generation of massive spin-2 particle dark matter during inflation, and we identify the favorable region of parameter space in terms of the spin-2 particle’s mass and the reheating temperature. As a secondary product of our work, we identify the conditions under which such theories admit ghost or gradient instabilities, and we thereby derive a generalization of the Higuchi bound to Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) spacetimes.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Quantum interference in gravitational particle production

Previous numerical investigations of gravitational particle production during the coherent oscillation period of inflation displayed unexplained fluctuations in the spectral density of the produced particles. We argue that these features are due to the quantum interference of the coherent scattering reactions that produce the particles. We provide accurate analytic formulae to compute the particle production amplitude for a conformally- coupled scalar field, including the interference effect in the kinematic region where the production can be interpreted as inflaton scattering into scalar final states via graviton exchange.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Particle production by a relativistic semitransparent mirror in (1+3)D Minkowski spacetime

Production of massless, scalar particles by a relativistic, semitransparent, plane mirror in (1+3)D Minkowski spacetime based on the Barton-Calogeracos (BC) action is investigated. The corresponding Bogoliubov coefficients are derived for a mirror with arbitrary, relativistic trajectories. We apply our derived formula to two specific trajectories. One is commonly used in the (1+1)D literature to mimic gravitational collapse theoretically, and the other is proposed to be realizable experimentally. In addition, we identify the relation between the particle spectrum and the particle production probability, and we demonstrate the equivalence between our approach and the existing approach in the literature, which is restricted to (1+1)D. In short, our treatment extends the study to (1+3)D spacetime for a relativistic, plane mirror. Finally, we offer a third approach for finding the particle spectrum using the S-matrix formalism.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Particle production by 𝛾−𝛾 interactions in future electron-ion colliders

The particle production in photon-photon (𝛾⁢𝛾) interactions present in electron-ion collisions is investigated. We present calculations for the total cross sections and event rates related to the production of light mesons [𝜂,𝜂′,𝑓 0 and 𝑓 2 ], charmonium [𝜂 𝑐 and 𝜒 𝑐 ], and charmoniumlike [𝑋⁡(3915), 𝑋⁡(3940), 𝑋⁡(4140), and 𝑋⁡(6900)] states, considering the Electron - Ion Collider, Electron - ion collider in China, Large Hadron electron Collider, and Future Circular Collider - electron hadron energies. Our predictions demonstrate that experimental studies of these processes are feasible and useful to constrain the properties of light mesons and quarkonium states and shed some light on the configuration of the considered charmoniumlike states.

Exotic mesons↗
DOE OSTI2021

Completely dark photons from gravitational particle production during the inflationary era

Starting with the de Broglie-Proca Lagrangian for a massive vector field, we calculate the number density of particles resulting from gravitational particle production (GPP) during inflation, with detailed consideration to the evolution of the number density through the reheating. We find plausible scenarios for the production of dark-photon dark matter of mass in a wide range, as low as a micro-electron volt to 10 14 GeV. Gravitational particle production does not depend on any coupling of the dark photon to standard-model particles.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Light-flavor particle production in high-multiplicity pp collisions at $\sqrt{\textrm{s}}$ = 13 TeV as a function of transverse spherocity

Results on the transverse spherocity dependence of light-flavor particle production (π, K, p, ϕ, K *0 , K$^{0}_{S}$, Λ, Ξ) at midrapidity in high-multiplicity pp collisions at $\sqrt{\textrm{s}}$ = 13 TeV were obtained with the ALICE apparatus. The transverse spherocity estimator ($S$$^{p_T=1}_{O}$) categorizes events by their azimuthal topology. Utilizing narrow selections on $S$$^{p_T=1}_{O}$, it is possible to contrast particle production in collisions dominated by many soft initial interactions with that observed in collisions dominated by one or more hard scatterings. Results are reported for two multiplicity estimators covering different pseudorapidity regions. The $S$$^{p_T=1}_{O}$ estimator is found to effectively constrain the hardness of the events when the midrapidity (|η| < 0.8) estimator is used.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Investigating late-stage particle production in pp collisions with balance functions

Balance functions have been regarded in the past as a method of investigating the late-stage hadronization found in the presence of a strongly-coupled medium. They are also used to constrain mechanisms of particle production in large and small collision systems. Charge balance functions for inclusive and identified particle pairs are reported as a function of charged particle multiplicity in proton–proton collisions simulated with the PYTHIA8 and the EPOS4 models. The charge balance functions of inclusive, pion, kaon, and proton pairs exhibit amplitudes and shapes that depend on particle species and differ significantly in the two models due to the different particle production mechanisms implemented in PYTHIA and EPOS. The shapes and amplitudes also evolve with multiplicity in both models. In addition, the evolution of the longitudinal rms width and that of balance functions integrals with multiplicity (and average transverse momentum) feature significant differences in the two models.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Quantum dynamics of cosmological particle production: interacting quantum field theories with matrix product states

Understanding real-time dynamics of interacting quantum fields in curved space-time remains a major theoretical challenge. We employ tensor network methods to study such dynamics using interacting scalar and gauge theories in 1+1 spacetime dimensions, subject to a quench modeling a homogeneously expanding gravitational background. The models considered are the scalar λϕ 4 theory and the Schwinger model, i.e. a Dirac fermion coupled to a U(1) gauge field which is equivalent via bosonization to a scalar field with a cosine self-interaction. In the free scalar limit, both theories reproduce known analytical results, providing a nontrivial numerical validation of bosonization in curved spacetime for the Schwinger model. Our central finding is that self-interactions lead to a suppression of gravitational particle production compared to the free-field case, as evidenced by two-point functions and the spectra of produced particles. We further examine the behavior of entanglement generation and find that interactions suppress entanglement growth in the λϕ 4 theory, while in the Schwinger model, the interplay between suppressed particle production and enhanced inter-particle correlations leads to more complex entanglement behavior. Our results pave the way for further explorations of nonperturbative quantum real-time dynamics of interacting scalar and gauge theories in arbitrary gravitational backgrounds.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Study of very forward energy and its correlation with particle production at midrapidity in pp and p-Pb collisions at the LHC

The energy deposited at very forward rapidities (very forward energy) is a powerful tool for characterising proton fragmentation in pp and p-Pb collisions. The correlation of very forward energy with particle production at midrapidity provides direct insights into the initial stages and the subsequent evolution of the collision. Furthermore, the correlation with the production of particles with large transverse momenta at midrapidity provides information complementary to the measurements of the underlying event, which are usually interpreted in the framework of models implementing centrality-dependent multiple parton interactions. Results about very forward energy, measured by the ALICE zero degree calorimeters (ZDCs), and its dependence on the activity measured at midrapidity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV and in p-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s{NN}}$ = 8.16 TeV are discussed. The measurements performed in pp collisions are compared with the expectations of three hadronic interaction event generators: PYTHIA 6 (Perugia 2011 tune), PYTHIA 8 (Monash tune), and EPOS LHC. These results provide new constraints on the validity of models in describing the beam remnants at very forward rapidities, where perturbative QCD cannot be used.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Particle production by time-varying dark energy and the end of cosmic expansion

We consider various possible consequences of time-varying dark energy due to a quintessence scalar field whose energy density is partially converted to particles as the field evolves down its potential. This particle production acts as a source of thermal friction on the field that can make it difficult to distinguish whether dark energy is due to a radiating field rolling down a steep potential, a purely self-interacting field moving down a flatter potential, or a cosmological constant. By reducing the acceleration of the scalar field, thermal friction increases the amount of accelerated expansion and can cause a sizable bump in the quintessence equation of state. We take special interest in the case where a steep potential rapidly changes from positive to negative as the field evolves, resulting in the end of cosmic expansion and the beginning of contraction. Even in this case, we find that thermal friction lengthens the period of accelerated expansion and consequently delays the end of cosmic expansion, making it challenging to detect the impending transition to contraction using conventional cosmological tests. However, particle production can also provide alternative avenues for detection by generating a background of thermal dark radiation, partly comprised of neutrinos or other particles, whose energy density exceeds the remnant photon energy density.

cosmological neutrinos↗
DOE OSTI2025

Particle Production by Time-Varying Dark Energy and the End of Cosmic Expansion

We consider various possible consequences of time-varying dark energy due to a quintessence scalar field whose energy density is partially converted to particles as the field evolves down its potential. This particle production acts as a source of thermal friction on the field that can make it difficult to distinguish whether dark energy is due to a radiating field rolling down a steep potential, a purely self-interacting field moving down a flatter potential, or a cosmological constant. By reducing the acceleration of the scalar field, thermal friction increases the amount of accelerated expansion and can cause a sizable bump in the quintessence equation of state. We take special interest in the case where a steep potential rapidly changes from positive to negative as the field evolves, resulting in the end of cosmic expansion and the beginning of contraction. Even in this case, we find that thermal friction lengthens the period of accelerated expansion and consequently delays the end of cosmic expansion, making it challenging to detect the impending transition to contraction using conventional cosmological tests. However, particle production can also provide alternative avenues for detection by generating a background of thermal dark radiation, partly comprised of neutrinos or other particles, whose energy density exceeds the remnant photon energy density.

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.C↗
DOE OSTI2025

Particle production as a function of charged-particle flattenicity in 𝑝⁢𝑝 collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 13 TeV

This paper reports the first measurement of the transverse momentum (𝑝 T ) spectra of primary charged pions, kaons, (anti)protons, and unidentified particles as a function of the charged-particle flattenicity in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ =13 TeV. Flattenicity is a novel event shape observable that is measured in the pseudorapidity intervals covered by the V0 detector, 2.8 < 𝜂 < 5.1 and −3.7 < 𝜂 < −1.7. According to QCD-inspired phenomenological models, it shows sensitivity to multiparton interactions and is less affected by biases toward larger 𝑝 T due to local multiplicity fluctuations in the V0 acceptance than multiplicity. The analysis is performed in minimum-bias (MB) as well as in high-multiplicity events up to 𝑝 T = 20 GeV/⁢𝑐. The event selection requires at least one charged particle produced in the pseudorapidity interval |𝜂| < 1. The measured 𝑝 T distributions, average 𝑝 T , kaon-to-pion and proton-to-pion particle ratios, presented in this paper, are compared to model calculations using pythia 8 based on color strings and EPOS LHC. The modification of the 𝑝 T -spectral shapes in low-flattenicity events that have large event activity with respect to those measured in MB events develops a pronounced peak at intermediate 𝑝 T (2 < 𝑝 T < 8 GeV/𝑐), and approaches the vicinity of unity at higher 𝑝 T . The results are qualitatively described by pythia, and they show different behavior than those measured as a function of charged-particle multiplicity based on the V0M estimator.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Cosmological particle production and pairwise hotspots on the CMB

Heavy particles with masses much bigger than the inflationary Hubble scale H * , can get non-adiabatically pair produced during inflation through their couplings to the inflaton. If such couplings give rise to time-dependent masses for the heavy particles, then following their production, the heavy particles modify the curvature perturbation around their locations in a time-dependent and scale non-invariant manner. This results into a non-trivial spatial profile of the curvature perturbation that is preserved on superhorizon scales and eventually generates localized hot or cold spots on the CMB. We explore this phenomenon by studying the inflationary production of heavy scalars and derive the final temperature profile of the spots on the CMB by taking into account the subhorizon evolution, focusing in particular on the parameter space where pairwise hot spots (PHS) arise. When the heavy scalar has an $\mathscr{O}$(1) coupling to the inflaton, we show that for an idealized situation where the dominant background to the PHS signal comes from the standard CMB fluctuations themselves, a simple position space search based on applying a temperature cut, can be sensitive to heavy particle masses M o /H * ~$\mathscr{O}$(100). The corresponding PHS signal also modifies the CMB power spectra and bispectra, although the corrections are below (outside) the sensitivity of current measurements (searches).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Templates of expected measurement uncertainties for neutron-induced capture and charged-particle production cross section observables

This paper provides a template of expected uncertainties and correlations for measurements of neutron-induced capture and charged-particle production cross sections. Measurements performed in-beam include total absorption spectroscopy, total energy detection, γ -ray spectroscopy, and direct charged-particle detection. Offline measurements include activation analysis and accelerator mass spectrometry. The information needed for proper use of the datasets in resonance region and high energy region evaluations is described, and recommended uncertainties are provided when specific values are not available for a dataset.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗