Light Speed Grand Challenge RF Thrust Meeting: Mission Scale Simulations.
Abstract not provided.
Welliver, Marc↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “SPEED OF LIGHT”
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ON THE PROPER USE OF THE REDUCED SPEED OF LIGHT APPROXIMATION
I show that the reduced speed of light (RSL) approximation, when used properly (i.e., as originally designed—only for local sources but not for the cosmic background), remains a highly accurate numerical method for modeling cosmic reionization. Simulated ionization and star formation histories from the “Cosmic Reionization on Computers” project are insensitive to the adopted value of the RSL for as long as that value does not fall below about 10% of the true speed of light. A recent claim of the failure of the RSL approximation in the Illustris reionization model appears to be due to the effective speed of light being reduced in the equation for the cosmic background too and hence illustrates the importance of maintaining the correct speed of light in modeling the cosmic background.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Study of the one-way speed of light anisotropy with particle beams
Concepts of high precision studies of the one-way speed of light anisotropy are discussed. The high energy particle beam allows measurement of a one-way speed of light anisotropy (SOLA) via analysis of the beam momentum variation with sidereal phase without the use of synchronized clocks. High precision beam position monitors could provide accurate monitoring of the beam orbit and determination of the particle beam momentum with relative accuracy on the level of 10^-10, which corresponds to a limit on SOLA of 10^-18 with existing storage rings. A few additional versions of the experiment are also presented.
Wojtsekhowski, Bogdan B.↗
Determining the Speed of Light Using a Microwave Oven
The speed of light can be calculated by measuring the maxima of the standing waves formed inside of a household microwave oven. We performed three trials: a first with one-layer of marshmallows on a ceramic plate; a second with a bar of chocolate placed face up on a ceramic plate; and a third experiment with a bar of chocolate on a microwave-safe paper plate. The marshmallow trial and the chocolate – ceramic experiments were unsuccessful, and ended in a sticky mess, while the chocolate trial on a paper plate gave good results. By measuring burn marks left by a bar of chocolate on the paper plate we were able to successfully calculate the speed of light to within 3% error of the accepted value. With proper supervision and different emphasis, the experiments or demonstrations are suitable for students from elementary to college age.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Photon (Non)Conservation in the Reduced Speed of Light Approximation and How to (Almost) Fix It
The "Reduced Speed of Light" (RSL) approximation is commonly used to speed up radiative transfer calculations in cosmological simulations. However, it has been shown previously that the RSL approximation leads to photon non-conservation when the radiation field is rapidly evolving in time. I show that these missing photons can be counted exactly for some numerical schemes. Adding them back into a simulation, however, is a much harder task. I show one example of such a scheme, which achieves sub-percent accuracy on simple tests. Unfortunately, the scheme performs much worse on semi-realistic simulations of cosmic reionization, leading to a faster overlap and significant errors in the point-wise comparison of the RSL radiation field with the reference simulation that maintains the full speed of light for the radiative transfer.
Gnedin, Nickolay Y. [Fermilab; Chicago U., KICP; C↗
Dodging the cosmic curvature to probe the constancy of the speed of light
We develop a new model-independent method to probe the constancy of the speed of light c . In our method, the degeneracy between the cosmic curvature and the speed of light can be eliminated, which makes the test more natural and general. Combining the independent observations of Hubble parameter H ( z ) and luminosity distance d {sub L} ( z ), we use the model-independent smoothing technique, Gaussian processes, to reconstruct them and then detect variation of the speed of light. We find no signal of deviation from the present value of the speed of light c {sub 0}. Moreover, to demonstrate the improvement in probing the constancy of the speed of light from future experiments, we produce a series of simulated data. The Dark Energy Survey will be able to detect Δ c / c {sub 0} ∼ 1% at ∼ 1.5σ confidence level and Δ c / c {sub 0} ∼ 2% at ∼ 3σ confidence level. If the errors are reduced to one-tenth of the expected DES ones, it can detect a Δ c / c {sub 0} ∼ 0.1% variation at ∼ 2σ confidence level.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
On measurement of the isotropy of the speed of light
Three experimental concepts investigating possible anisotropy of the speed of light are presented. They are based on i) beam deflection in a 180° magnetic arc, ii) narrow resonance production in an electron-positron collider, and iii) the ratio of magnetic moments of an electron and a positron moving in opposite directions.
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
Measuring the speed of light with ultra-compact radio quasars
In this paper, based on a 2.29 GHz VLBI all-sky survey of 613 milliarcsecond ultra-compact radio sources with 0.0035< z <3.787, we describe a method of identifying the sub-sample which can serve as individual standard rulers in cosmology. If the linear size of the compact structure is assumed to depend on source luminosity and redshift as l {sub m} = l L {sup β} (1+ z ) {sup n} , only intermediate-luminosity quasars (10{sup 27} W/Hz< L < 10{sup 28} W/Hz) show negligible dependence (| n |≅ 10{sup −3}, |β|≅ 10{sup −4}), and thus represent a population of such rulers with fixed characteristic length l =11.42 pc. With a sample of 120 such sources covering the redshift range 00.46< z <2.8, we confirm the existence of dark energy in the Universe with high significance under the assumption of a flat universe, and obtain stringent constraints on both the matter density Ω {sub m} =0.323{sup +0.245}{sub −0.145} and the Hubble constant H {sub 0}=66.30{sup +7.00}{sub −8.50} km sec{sup −1} Mpc{sup −1}. Finally, with the angular diameter distances D {sub A} measured for quasars extending to high redshifts (0 z ∼ 3.), we reconstruct the D {sub A} ( z ) function using the technique of Gaussian processes. This allows us to identify the redshift corresponding to the maximum of the D {sub A} ( z ) function: 0 z {sub m} =1.7 and the corresponding angular diameter distance D {sub A} ( z {sub m} )=1719.01±43.46 Mpc. Similar reconstruction of the expansion rate function H ( z ) based on the data from cosmic chronometers and BAO gives us H ( z {sub m} )=176.77±6.11 km sec{sup −1} Mpc{sup −1}. These measurements are used to estimate the speed of light: c =3.039(±0.180)× 10{sup 5} km/s. This is the first measurement of the speed of light in a cosmological setting referring to the distant past.
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
Audi e-tron Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory On-Road Data
To aid researchers in studying the capabilities and benefits of vehicle-to-infrastructure communication, Argonne National Laboratory collected a robust set of on-road driving data of the Audi Green Light Optimized Speed Advisory (GLOSA) system implemented in the e-tron battery electric vehicle. This dataset includes 33 tests, each roughly 27 miles in length and roughly 45 to 75 minutes in duration. The team selected Kane County Highway Route 34 from Main Street in Batavia, Illinois to Middlecreek Lane in St. Charles, Illinois as the route do to its high density of GLOSA-active lights and the most opportunities to observe the system per hour of test time. The data include parameters from the following sources: GLOSA system driving the dash indicators, multiple powertrain parameters including real-time battery power/energy consumption, GPS, front radar gap, and rear radar gap. 
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Speed-of-light pulses in a massless nonlinear Dirac equation
Here, in this work, we explore a massless nonlinear Dirac equation, i.e., a nonlinear Weyl equation. We study the dynamics of its pulse solutions and find that a localized one-hump initial condition splits into a localized two-hump pulse, while an associated phase structure emerges in suitable components of the spinor field. For times larger than a transient time t s this pulse moves with the speed of light, effectively featuring linear wave dynamics and maintaining its shape (both in two and three dimensions). We show that for the considered nonlinearity, this pulse represents an exact solution of the nonlinear equation. Finally, we briefly comment on the generalization of the results to a broader class of nonlinearities.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Digital Modeling on Large Kernel Metamaterial Neural Network
Deep neural networks (DNNs) utilized recently are physically deployed with computational units (e.g., CPUs and GPUs). Such a design might lead to a heavy computational burden, significant latency, and intensive power consumption, which are critical limitations in applications such as Internet of Things (IoT), edge computing, and usage of drones. Recent advances in optical computational units (e.g., metamaterial) have shed light on energy-free and light-speed neural networks. However, the digital design of the metamaterial neural network (MNN) is fundamentally limited by its physical limitations, such as precision, noise, and bandwidth during fabrication. Moreover, the unique advantages of MNN’s (e.g., light-speed computation) are not fully explored via standard 3×3 convolution kernels. In this paper, we propose a novel large kernel metamaterial neural network (LMNN) that maximizes the digital capacity of the state-of-the-art (SOTA) MNN with model re-parametrization and network compression, while also considering the optical limitation explicitly. The new digital learning scheme can maximize the learning capacity of MNN while modeling the physical restrictions of meta-optics. With the proposed LMNN, the computation cost of the convolutional front-end can be offloaded to fabricated optical hardware. The experimental results on two publicly available datasets demonstrate that the optimized hybrid design improved classification accuracy while reducing computational latency. In conclusion, the development of the proposed LMNN is a promising step towards the ultimate goal of energy-free and light-speed AI.
97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
Speed-of-light pulses in the massless nonlinear Dirac equation with a potential
In this work, we consider the massless nonlinear Dirac (NLD) equation in 1 + 1 dimension with scalar-scalar self-interaction g 2 2 ( Ψ ¯ Ψ ) 2 in the presence of three external electromagnetic real potentials V ( x ) , a potential barrier, a constant potential, and a potential well. By solving numerically the NLD equation, we find different scenarios depending on initial conditions, namely, propagation of the initial pulse along one direction, splitting of the initial pulse into two pulses traveling in opposite directions, and focusing of two initial pulses followed by a splitting. For all considered cases, the final waves travel with the speed of light and are solutions of the massless linear Dirac equation. During these processes the charge and the energy are conserved, whereas the momentum is conserved when the solutions possess specific symmetries. For the case of the constant potential, we derive exact analytical solutions of the massless NLD equation that are also solutions of the massless linearized Dirac equation. Decay or growth of the initial pulse is also predicted from the evolution of the charge for the case of a non-zero imaginary part of the potential.
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
Piezoelectrically actuated silicon-nitride-based high-speed spatial light modulator
Advancements in light modulator technology have been driving discoveries and progress across various fields. The problem of large-scale coherent optical control of atomic quantum systems—including cold atoms, ions, and solid-state color centers—presents among the most stringent requirements. This motivates a new generation of high-speed large-scale modulator technology operating in the visible to near-infrared wavelength range. We introduce a scalable modulator technology based on piezoelectrically actuated silicon nitride resonant waveguide gratings fabricated on 200 mm diameter silicon wafers with CMOS-compatible processes. We present a proof-of-concept device with 4 × 4 individually addressable 50 μ m × 50 μ m pixels or channels, each containing a resonant waveguide grating with a ~ 780 nm design wavelength, supporting > 100 MHz modulation speeds, and a spectral response with > 20 dB extinction.
integrated optics↗
Radiation pressure acceleration: The factors limiting maximum attainable ion energy
Radiation pressure acceleration (RPA) is a highly efficient mechanism of laser-driven ion acceleration, with near complete transfer of the laser energy to the ions in the relativistic regime. However, there is a fundamental limit on the maximum attainable ion energy, which is determined by the group velocity of the laser. The tightly focused laser pulses have group velocities smaller than the vacuum light speed, and, since they offer the high intensity needed for the RPA regime, it is plausible that group velocity effects would manifest themselves in the experiments involving tightly focused pulses and thin foils. However, in this case, finite spot size effects are important, and another limiting factor, the transverse expansion of the target, may dominate over the group velocity effect. As the laser pulse diffracts after passing the focus, the target expands accordingly due to the transverse intensity profile of the laser. Due to this expansion, the areal density of the target decreases, making it transparent for radiation and effectively terminating the acceleration. The off-normal incidence of the laser on the target, due either to the experimental setup, or to the deformation of the target, will also lead to establishing a limit on maximum ion energy.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
Molecular Materials with Short Radiative Lifetime for High-Speed Light-Emitting Devices
Not Available
Zhao, Yingbo (ORCID:0000000262897015)↗
Integrated semiconductor quantum dot scintillation detector: Ultimate limit for speed and light yield
Here, a picosecond-range timing of charged particles and photons is a long-standing challenge for many high-energy physics, biophysics, medical and security applications. We present a design, technological pathway and challenges, and some properties important for realization of an ultrafast high-efficient room-temperature semiconductor scintillator based on self-assembled InAs quantum dots (QD) embedded in a GaAs matrix. Low QD density (<; 10 15 cm -3 ), fast (~5 ps) electron capture, luminescence peak redshifted by 0.2-0.3 eV from GaAs absorption edge with fast decay time (0.5-1 ns) along with the efficient energy transfer in the GaAs matrix (4.2 eV/pair) allows for fabrication of a semiconductor scintillator with the unsurpassed performance parameters. The major technological challenge is fabrication of a large volume (> 1 cm 3 ) of epitaxial QD medium. This requires multiple film separation and bonding, likely using separate epitaxial films as waveguides for improved light coupling. Compared to traditional inorganic scintillators, the semiconductor-QD based scintillators could have about 5x higher light yield and 20x faster decay time, opening a way to gamma detectors with the energy resolution better than 1% and sustaining counting rates MHz. Picosecond-scale timing requires segmented low-capacitance photodiodes integrated with the scintillator. For photons, the proposed detector inherently provides the depth-of-interaction information.
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
JLab dark photon search experiment APEX and the speed of light anisotropy investigation
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Wojtsekhowski, Bogdan↗
Cascaded radiation pressure acceleration
A cascaded radiation-pressure acceleration scheme is proposed. When an energetic proton beam is injected into an electrostatic field moving at light speed in a foil accelerated by light pressure, protons can be re-accelerated to much higher energy. An initial 3-GeV proton beam can be re-accelerated to 7 GeV while its energy spread is narrowed significantly, indicating a 4-GeV energy gain for one acceleration stage, as shown in one-dimensional simulations and analytical results. The validity of the method is further confirmed by two-dimensional simulations. This scheme provides a way to scale proton energy at the GeV level linearly with laser energy and is promising to obtain proton bunches at tens of gigaelectron-volts.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗