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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

W(310) cold-field emission characteristics reflecting the vacuum states of an extreme high vacuum electron gun

An extremely high vacuum cold-field electron emission (CFE) gun operating at pressures ranging from {approx}10{sup -8} Pa to {approx}10{sup -10} Pa was constructed. Only the CFE current emitting from W(310) surfaces revealed the existence of a 'stable region' with high current angular density just after tip flash heating. In the 'stable region,' the CFE current was damped very slowly. The presence of non-hydrogen gas eliminated this region from the plot. Improvement of the vacuum prolonged the 90% damping time of the CFE current from {approx}10 min to 800 min. The current angular density I{sup Prime} of CFE current was 60 and 250 {mu}A/sr in the 'stable region' for total CFE currents of 10 and 50 {mu}A, respectively. These results were about three times larger than I{sup Prime} when measured after the complete damping of the CFE current. The CFE gun generated bright scanning transmission electron microscopy images of a carbon nanotube at 30 kV.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1996

The Quantum Phase-Dynamical Properties of the Squeezed Vacuum State Intensity-Couple Interacting with the Atom

The Phase-dynamical properties of the squeezed vacuum state intensity-couple interacting with the two-level atom in an ideal cavity are studied using the Hermitian phase operator formalism. Exact general expressions for the phase distribution and the associated expectation value and variance of the phase operator have been derived. we have also obtained the analytic results of the phase variance for two special cases-weakly and strongly squeezed vacuum. The results calculated numerically show that squeezing has a significant effect on the phase properties of squeezed vacuum.

Fan, An-Fu↗
NASA NTRS2000

Steady State Vacuum Ultraviolet Exposure Facility With Automated Calibration Capability

NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field designed and developed a steady state vacuum ultraviolet automated (SSVUVa) facility with in situ VUV intensity calibration capability. The automated feature enables a constant accelerated VUV radiation exposure over long periods of testing without breaking vacuum. This test facility is designed to simultaneously accommodate four isolated radiation exposure tests within the SSVUVa vacuum chamber. Computer-control of the facility for long, term continuous operation also provides control and recording of thermocouple temperatures, periodic recording of VUV lamp intensity, and monitoring of vacuum facility status. This paper discusses the design and capabilities of the SSVUVa facility.

Stueber, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Steady-State Vacuum Ultraviolet Exposure Facility With Automated Lamp Calibration and Sample Positioning Fabricated

The Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) will be placed in an orbit that will subject it to constant solar radiation during its planned 10-year mission. A sunshield will be necessary to passively cool the telescope, protecting it from the Sun s energy and assuring proper operating temperatures for the telescope s instruments. This sunshield will be composed of metalized polymer multilayer insulation with an outer polymer membrane (12 to 25 mm in thickness) that will be metalized on the back to assure maximum reflectance of sunlight. The sunshield must maintain mechanical integrity and optical properties for the full 10 years. This durability requirement is most challenging for the outermost, constantly solar-facing polymer membrane of the sunshield. One of the potential threats to the membrane material s durability is from vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation in wavelengths below 200 nm. Such radiation can be absorbed in the bulk of these thin polymer membrane materials and degrade the polymer s optical and mechanical properties. So that a suitable membrane material can be selected that demonstrates durability to solar VUV radiation, ground-based testing of candidate materials must be conducted to simulate the total 10- year VUV exposure expected during the Next Generation Space Telescope mission. The Steady State Vacuum Ultraviolet exposure facility was designed and fabricated at the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field to provide unattended 24-hr exposure of candidate materials to VUV radiation of 3 to 5 times the Sun s intensity in the wavelength range of 115 to 200 nm. The facility s chamber, which maintains a pressure of approximately 5 10(exp -6) torr, is divided into three individual exposure cells, each with a separate VUV source and sample-positioning mechanism. The three test cells are separated by a water-cooled copper shield plate assembly to minimize thermal effects from adjacent test cells. Part of the interior sample positioning mechanism of one test cell is shown in the illustration. Of primary concern in VUV exposure is the maintenance of constant measured radiation intensity so that the sample s total exposure can be determined in equivalent Sun hours. This is complicated by the fact that a VUV lamp s intensity degrades over time, necessitating a decrease in the distance between the test samples and the lamp. The facility overcomes this challenge by periodically measuring the lamp s intensity with a cesium-iodide phototube and adjusting the sample distance as required to maintain constant exposure intensity. Sample positioning and periodic phototube location under the lamp are both achieved by a single lead-screw assembly. The lamps can be isolated from the main vacuum chamber for cleaning or replacement so that samples are not exposed to the atmosphere during a test.

Sechkar, Edward A.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Enhanced local-type inflationary trispectrum from a non-vacuum initial state

We compute the primordial trispectrum for curvature perturbations produced during cosmic inflation in models with standard kinetic terms, when the initial quantum state is not necessarily the vacuum state. The presence of initial perturbations enhances the trispectrum amplitude for configuration in which one of the momenta, say k{sub 3}, is much smaller than the others, k{sub 3} << k{sub 1,2,4}. For those squeezed configurations the trispectrum acquires the so-called local form, with a scale dependent amplitude that can get values of order ε(k{sub 1}/k{sub 3}){sup 2}. This amplitude could be larger than the prediction of the so-called Maldacena consistency relation by a factor as large as 10{sup 6}, and could reach the sensitivity of forthcoming observations, even for single-field inflationary models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

The holographic dual of Rényi relative entropy

The relative entropy is a measure of the distinguishability of two quantum states. A great deal of progress has been made in the study of the relative entropy between an excited state and the vacuum state of a conformal field theory (CFT) reduced to a spherical region. For example, when the excited state is a small perturbation of the vacuum state, the relative entropy is known to have a universal expression for all CFT’s. Specifically, the perturbative relative entropy can be written as the symplectic flux of a certain scalar field in an auxiliary AdS-Rindler spacetime. Moreover, if the CFT has a semi-classical holographic dual, the relative entropy is known to be related to conserved charges in the bulk dual spacetime. In this paper, we introduce a one-parameter generalization of the relative entropy which we call refined Rényi relative entropy. We study this quantity in CFT’s and find a one-parameter generalization of the aforementioned known results about the relative entropy. We also discuss a new family of positive energy theorems in asymptotically locally AdS spacetimes that arises from the holographic dual of the refined Rényi relative entropy.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2013

Bispectrum from open inflation

We calculate the bispectrum of primordial curvature perturbations, ζ, generated during ''open inflation.'' Inflation occurs inside a bubble nucleated via quantum tunneling from the background false vacuum state. Our universe lives inside the bubble, which can be described as a Friedmann-Lemaȋtre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) universe with negative spatial curvature, undergoing slow-roll inflation. We pay special attention to the issue of an initial state for quantum fluctuations. A ''vacuum state'' defined by a positive-frequency mode in de Sitter space charted by open coordinates is different from the Euclidean vacuum (which is equivalent to the so-called ''Bunch-Davies vacuum'' defined by a positive-frequency mode in de Sitter space charted by flat coordinates). Quantum tunneling (bubble nucleation) then modifies the initial state away from the original Euclidean vacuum. While most of the previous study on modifications of the initial quantum state introduces, by hand, an initial time at which the quantum state is modified as well as the form of the modification, an effective initial time naturally emerges and the form is fixed by quantum tunneling in open inflation models. Therefore, open inflation enables a self-consistent computation of the effect of a modified initial state on the bispectrum. We find a term which goes as (ζ{sub k{sub 1}}ζ{sub k{sub 2}}ζ{sub k{sub 3}})∝1/k{sub 1}{sup 2}k{sub 3}{sup 4} in the so-called squeezed configurations, k{sub 3} << k{sub 1} ≈ k{sub 2}, in agreement with the previous study on modifications of the initial state. The bispectrum in the exact folded limit, e.g., k{sub 1} = k{sub 2}+k{sub 3}, is also enhanced and remains finite. However, these terms are exponentially suppressed when the wavelength of ζ is smaller than the curvature radius of the universe. The leading-order bispectrum is equal to the usual one from single-field slow-roll inflation; the terms specific for open inflation arise only in the sub-leading order when the wavelength of ζ is smaller than the curvature radius.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Stabilizing oscillating universes against quantum decay

We investigate the effect of vacuum corrections, due to the trace anomaly and Casimir effect, on the stability of an oscillating universe with respect to decay by tunneling to the singularity. We find that these corrections do not generally stabilize an oscillating universe. However, stability may be achieved for some specially fine-tuned non-vacuum states.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Von Neumann’s quantization of general relativity

Von Neumann’s procedure is applied to quantizing general relativity. Initial data for dynamical variables in the Planck epoch, where the Hubble parameter value coincided with the Planck mass are quantized. These initial data are defined in terms of the Fock orthogonal simplex in the tangent Minkowski spacetime and the Dirac conformal interval. The Einstein cosmological principle is used to average the logarithm of the determinant of the spatial metric over the spatial volume of the visible Universe. The splitting of general coordinate transformations into diffeomorphisms and transformations of the initial data is introduced. In accordance with von Neumann’s procedure, the vacuum state is treated is a quantum ensemble that is degenerate in quantum numbers of nonvacuum states. The distribution of the vacuum state leads to the Casimir effect in gravidynamics in just the same way as in electrodynamics. The generating functional for perturbation theory in gravidynamics is found by solving the quantum energy constraint. The applicability range of gravidynamics is discussed along with the possibility of employing this theory to interpret modern observational data.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

Inflation with general initial conditions for scalar perturbations

We explore the possibility of a single field quasi-de Sitter inflationary model with general initial state for primordial fluctuations. In this paper, first we compute the power spectrum and the bispectrum of scalar perturbations with coherent state as the initial state. We find that a large class of coherent states are indistinguishable from the Bunch-Davies vacuum state and hence consistent with the current observations. In case of a more general initial state built over Bunch-Davies vacuum state, we show that the constraints on the initial state from observed power spectrum and local bispectrum are relatively weak and for quasi-de Sitter inflation a large number of initial states are consistent with the current observations. However, renormalizability of the energy-momentum tensor of the fluctuations constraints the initial state further.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Quantum Vacuum Structure and Cosmology

Contemporary physics faces three great riddles that lie at the intersection of quantum theory, particle physics and cosmology. They are: (1) The expansion of the universe is accelerating - an extra factor of two appears in the size; (2) Zero-point fluctuations do not gravitate - a matter of 120 orders of magnitude; and (3) The 'True' quantum vacuum state does not gravitate. The latter two are explicitly problems related to the interpretation and the physical role and relation of the quantum vacuum with and in general relativity. Their resolution may require a major advance in our formulation and understanding of a common unified approach to quantum physics and gravity. To achieve this goal we must develop an experimental basis and much of the discussion we present is devoted to this task. In the following, we examine the observations and the theory contributing to the current framework comprising these riddles. We consider an interpretation of the first riddle within the context of the universe's quantum vacuum state, and propose an experimental concept to probe the vacuum state of the universe.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

Space-time qubits

We construct a qubit algebra from field creation and annihilation operators acting on a global vacuum state. Particles to be used as qubits are created from the vacuum by a near-deterministic single-particle source. Our formulation makes the space-time dependence of the qubits explicit, preparing the way for quantum computation within a field framework. The method can be generalized to deal with interacting qubits whose wave packets are not perfectly matched to each other. We give an example of how to calculate the Heisenberg evolution of a simple two-qubit circuit, taking expectation values in the field vacuum state.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Origin of structure: statistical characterization of the primordial density fluctuations and the collapse of the wave function

The statistical properties of the primordial density perturbations has been considered in the past decade as a powerful probe of the physical processes taking place in the early universe. Within the inflationary paradigm, the properties of the bispectrum are one of the keys that serves to discriminate among competing scenarios concerning the details of the origin of cosmological perturbations. However, all of the scenarios, based on the conventional approach to the so-called ''quantum-to-classical transition'' during inflation, lack the ability to point out the precise physical mechanism responsible for generating the inhomogeneity and anisotropy of our universe starting from and exactly homogeneous and isotropic vacuum state associated with the early inflationary regime. In past works, we have shown that the proposals involving a spontaneous dynamical reduction of the quantum state provide plausible explanations for the birth of said primordial inhomogeneities and anisotropies. In the present manuscript we show that, when considering within the context of such proposals, the characterization of the spectrum and bispectrum turn out to be quite different from those found in the traditional approach, and in particular, some of the statistical features, must be treated in a different way leading to some rather different conclusions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Optimal detection of losses by thermal probes

We consider the discrimination of lossy bosonic channels and focus on the case when one of the values for the loss parameter is zero, i.e., we address the detection of a possible loss against the alternative hypothesis of an ideal lossless channel. This discrimination is performed by inputting one- or two-mode squeezed thermal states with fixed total energy. By optimizing over this class of states, we find that the optimal inputs are pure, thus corresponding to single- and two-mode squeezed vacuum states. In particular, we show that, for any value of the damping rate smaller than a critical value, there is a threshold on the energy that makes the two-mode squeezed vacuum state more convenient than the corresponding single-mode state, whereas for damping larger than this critical value, two-mode squeezed vacua are always better. We then consider the discrimination in realistic conditions, where it is unlikely to have pure squeezing. Thus, by fixing both input energy and squeezing, we show that two-mode squeezed thermal states are always better than their single-mode counterpart when all the thermal photons are directed into the dissipative channel. Aside from that, this result also holds approximately for unbalanced distribution of the thermal photons. Finally, we also investigate the role of correlations in the improvement of detection. For fixed input squeezing (single mode or two mode), we find that the reduction of the quantum Chernoff bound is a monotone function of the two-mode entanglement as well as the quantum mutual information and the quantum discord. We thus verify that employing squeezing in the form of correlations (quantum or classical) is always a resource for loss detection whenever squeezed thermal states are taken as input.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗