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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 217 records · Page 12
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

The Lag-Luminosity Relation in the GRB Source Frame: An Investigation with Swift BAT Bursts

Spectral lag. which is defined as the difference in time of arrival of high- and low-energy photons. is a common feature in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Previous investigations have shown a correlation between this lag and the isotropic peak luminosity for long duration bursts. However. most of the previous investigations used lags extracted in the observer frame only. In this work (based on a sample of 43 Swift long GRBs with known redshifts). we present an analysis of the lag-luminosity relation in the GRB source frame. Our analysis indicates a higher degree of correlation -0.82 +/- 0.05 (chance probability of approx. 5.5 x 10(exp -5) between the spectral lag and the isotropic peak luminosity, L(sub iso). with a best-fitting power-law index of -1.2 +/- 0.2. In addition, there is an anticorrelation between the source-frame spectral lag and the source-frame peak energy of the burst spectrum.

Ukwatta, T. N.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Hubble Space Telescope Hx Imaging of Star-forming Galaxies at z approximately equal to 1-1.5: Evolution in the Size and Luminosity of Giant H II Regions

We present Hubble Space Telescope/Wide Field Camera 3 narrow-band imaging of the Hα emission in a sample of eight gravitationally lensed galaxies at z = 1-1.5. The magnification caused by the foreground clusters enables us to obtain a median source plane spatial resolution of 360 pc, as well as providing magnifications in flux ranging from approximately 10× to approximately 50×. This enables us to identify resolved star-forming HII regions at this epoch and therefore study their Hα luminosity distributions for comparisons with equivalent samples at z approximately 2 and in the local Universe. We find evolution in the both luminosity and surface brightness of HII regions with redshift. The distribution of clump properties can be quantified with an HII region luminosity function, which can be fit by a power law with an exponential break at some cut-off, and we find that the cut-off evolves with redshift. We therefore conclude that 'clumpy' galaxies are seen at high redshift because of the evolution of the cut-off mass; the galaxies themselves follow similar scaling relations to those at z = 0, but their HII regions are larger and brighter and thus appear as clumps which dominate the morphology of the galaxy. A simple theoretical argument based on gas collapsing on scales of the Jeans mass in a marginally unstable disc shows that the clumpy morphologies of high-z galaxies are driven by the competing effects of higher gas fractions causing perturbations on larger scales, partially compensated by higher epicyclic frequencies which stabilize the disc.

H imaging↗
NASA NTRS2022

Accreting on the Edge: A Luminosity-Dependent Cyclotron Line in the Be/X-ray Binary 2S 1553-542 Accompanied by Accretion Regimes Transition

Accreting X-ray pulsars (XRPs) undergo luminous X-ray outbursts during which the luminosity-dependent spectral and timing features of the neutron star’s emission can be analyzed in detail, thus shedding light on the accretion regime at work. We took advantage of a monitoring campaign performed with NuSTAR, Swift/XRT, AstroSat and NICER, to follow the Be/X-ray Binary 2S 1553-542 along one of its rare outbursts and trace its spectral and timing evolution. We report the discovery of a luminosity-dependent cyclotron line energy for the first time in this source. The pulse profiles and pulsed fraction also show variability along the outburst, consistently with the interpretation that the source transitions from the sub-critical to the super-critical accretion regime, separated by a critical luminosity ofLcrit≈4×1037erg/s.

X-ray binary stars↗
NASA NTRS2010

The First Detection of (O IV) from an Ultraluminous X-Ray Source with Spitzer. 2. Evidence for High Luminosity in Holmberg II ULX

This is the second of two papers examining Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source (ULX) in Holmberg II. Here, we perform detailed photoionization modeling of the infrared lines. Our analysis suggests that the luminosity and morphology of the [Oiv] 25.89 micronmeters emission line is consistent with photoionization by the soft X-ray and far ultraviolet (FUV) radiation from the accretion disk of the binary system and inconsistent with narrow beaming. We show that the emission nebula is matter bounded both in the line-of-sight direction and to the east, and probably radiation-bounded to the west. A bolometric luminosity in excess of 10(exp 40) erg s(exp -1) would be needed to produce the measured [O iv] flux. We use modeling and previously published studies to conclude that shocks likely contribute very little, if at all,to the high-ionization line fluxes observed in the Holmberg II ULX. Additionally, we find that the spectral type of the companion star has a surprisingly strong effect on the predicted strength of the [O iv] emission. This finding could explain the origin of [O iv] in some starburst systems containing black hole binaries.

GALAXIES↗
NASA NTRS2020

The Fast Radio Burst Luminosity Function and Death Line in the Low-Twist Magnetar Model

We explore the burst energy distribution of fast radio bursts(FRBs)in the low-twist magnetar model ofWadiasingh & Timokhin(WT19). Motivated by the power-lawfluence distributions of FRB121102, we proposean elementary model for the FRB luminosity function of individual repeaters with an inversion protocol thatdirectly relates the power-law distribution index of magnetar short burstfluences to that for FRBs. The protocolindicates that the FRB energy scales virtually linearly with crust/field dislocation amplitude, if magnetar shortbursts prevail in the magnetoelastic regime. Charge starvation in the magnetosphere during bursts(required inWT19)for individual repeaters implies the predicted burstfluence distribution is narrow,3 decades for yieldingstrains and oscillation frequencies feasible in magnetar crusts. Requiring magnetic confinement and chargestarvation, we obtain a death line for FRBs, which segregates magnetars from the normal pulsar population,suggesting only the former will host recurrent FRBs. We convolve the burst energy distribution for individualmagnetars to define the distribution of luminosities in evolved magnetar populations. The broken power-lawluminosity function’s low-energy character depends on the population model, while the high-energy index tracesthat of individual repeaters. Independent of the evolved population, the broken power-law isotropic-equivalentenergy/luminosity function peaks at∼1037–1040erg with a low-energy cutoff at∼1037erg. Lastly, we considerthe localfluence distribution of FRBs andfind that it can constrain the subset of FRB-producing magnetarprogenitors. Our model suggests that improvements in sensitivity may reveal aflattening of the global FRBfluencedistribution and saturation in FRB rates.

Cosmology↗
DOE OSTI2025

The dynamical state of eROSITA clusters and its impact on the brightest cluster galaxy luminosity

The first Spectrum-Roentgen-Gamma (SRG) eROSITA public release contains 12 247 clusters and groups from its first 6 months of operation. We used the offset between the brightest cluster galaxy (BCG) and the X-ray peak ( D BCG − X ) to classify the cluster dynamical state of 3946 galaxy clusters and groups. We aim to investigate the evolution of the merger and relaxed cluster distributions with redshift and mass, and the distributions’ impact on the BCG. We used the X-ray peak from the eROSITA survey and the BCG position from the LS DR10 optical data, which includes the DECam eROSITA Survey optical data, to measure the D BCG − X offset. We modelled the distribution of D BCG − X , in units of R 500 , as the sum of two Rayleigh distributions representing the cluster’s relaxed and disturbed populations, and explored their evolution with redshift and mass. To explore the impact of the cluster’s dynamical state on the BCG luminosity, we separated the main sample according to the dynamical state. We defined clusters as relaxed if D BCG − X < 0.25R500, disturbed if D BCG − X > 0.5R500, and ‘diverse’ if 0.25R500 < D BCG − X < 0.5R500. We find no evolution of the merging fraction with redshift or mass. The width of the relaxed distribution increases with redshift, while the width of the two Rayleigh distributions decreases with mass. The analysis reveals that BCGs in relaxed clusters are brighter than BCGs in both the disturbed and diverse cluster populations. The most significant differences are found for high-mass clusters at higher redshifts. The results suggest that BCGs in low-mass clusters are less centrally bound than those in high-mass systems, irrespective of the dynamical state. Over time, BCGs in relaxed clusters progressively align with the potential centre. This alignment correlates with their luminosity growth relative to BCGs in dynamically disturbed clusters, underscoring the critical role of the cluster’s dynamical state in regulating BCG evolution.

galaxy clusters↗
DOE OSTI2025

Physics with high-luminosity proton-nucleus collisions at the LHC

The physics case for the operation of high-luminosity proton-nucleus (pA) collisions at the CERN LHC is reviewed. The collection of $\mathcal{O}$(1–10 pb −1 ) of proton-lead (pPb) collisions at the LHC will provide unique physics opportunities in a broad range of topics including proton and nuclear parton distribution functions (PDFs and nPDFs), generalised parton distributions (GPDs), transverse momentum dependent PDFs (TMDs), low-x quantum chromodynamics and parton saturation, hadron spectroscopy, baseline studies for quark-gluon plasma and parton collectivity, double and triple parton scatterings, photon–photon collisions, and physics beyond the Standard Model; which are not otherwise as clearly accessible by exploiting data from any other colliding system at the LHC. This report summarises the accelerator aspects of high-luminosity pA operation at the LHC, as well as each of the physics topics outlined above, including the relevant experimental measurements that motivate much larger pA datasets than collected to date.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Expected tracking performance of the ATLAS Inner Tracker at the High-Luminosity LHC

The high-luminosity phase of LHC operations (HL-LHC), will feature a large increase in simultaneous proton-proton interactions per bunch crossing up to 200, compared with a typical leveling target of 64 in Run 3. Such an increase will create a very challenging environment in which to perform charged particle trajectory reconstruction, a task crucial for the success of the ATLAS physics program, and will exceed the capabilities of the current ATLAS Inner Detector (ID). A new all-silicon Inner Tracker (ITk) will replace the current ID in time for the start of the HL-LHC. To ensure successful use of the ITk capabilities in Run 4 and beyond, the ATLAS tracking software has been successfully adapted to achieve state-of-the-art track reconstruction in challenging high-luminosity conditions with the ITk detector. This paper presents the expected tracking performance of the ATLAS ITk based on the latest available developments since the ITk technical design reports.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

The variability structure function of the highest luminosity quasars on short time-scales

ABSTRACT The stochastic photometric variability of quasars is known to follow a random-walk phenomenology on emission time-scales of months to years. Some high-cadence rest-frame optical monitoring in the past has hinted at a suppression of variability amplitudes on shorter time-scales of a few days or weeks, opening the question of what drives the suppression and how it might scale with quasar properties. Here, we study a few thousand of the highest luminosity quasars in the sky, mostly in the luminosity range of $L_{\rm bol}$$=[46.4, 47.3]$ and redshift range of $z=[0.7, 2.4]$. We use a data set from the NASA/Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System facility with nightly cadence, weather permitting, which has been used before to quantify strong regularity in longer term rest-frame-UV variability. As we focus on a careful treatment of short time-scales across the sample, we find that a linear function is sufficient to describe the UV variability structure function. Although the result can not rule out the existence of breaks in some groups completely, a simpler model is usually favoured under this circumstance. In conclusion, the data are consistent with a single-slope random walk across rest-frame time-scales of $\Delta t=[10, 250]$ d.

Tang, Ji-Jia (ORCID:0000000218600886)↗
DOE OSTI2025

High-luminosity meV-resolution single-shot hard X-ray spectrograph for cavity-based X-ray free-electron lasers

Cavity-based X-ray free-electron lasers (CBXFELs) represent a possible realization of fully coherent hard X-ray sources having high spectral brilliance along with a narrow spectral bandwidth of ∼1–50 meV, a high repetition pulse rate of ∼1 MHz, and good stability. A diagnostic tool is required to measure CBXFEL spectra with meV resolution and high luminosity on a shot-to-shot basis. We have designed a high-luminosity single-shot hard X-ray spectrograph that images 9.831 keV X-rays in a ∼200 meV spectral window with a spectral resolution of a few meV. The spectrograph is designed around angular dispersion of X-rays in Bragg diffraction from crystals. It operates close to design specifications, exhibiting a linear dispersion rate of ∼1.4 µm meV −1 and a ∼200 meV window of high-fidelity spectral imaging. The experimentally demonstrated spectral resolution is ∼20 meV; this resolution is twice as low as expected from theory primarily because the spectrograph is highly sensitive to crystal angular instabilities. The experiment was performed at the bending magnet X-ray optics testing beamline 1-BM at the Advanced Photon Source.

Bragg diffraction↗
DOE OSTI2025

Test results of the LQXFA/B02 and LQXFA/B03 cryo-assemblies for the High Luminosity LHC upgrade

The US High-Luminosity LHC Accelerator Upgrade Project (AUP) is responsible for delivering cryo-assemblies for the Q1/Q3 quadrupole optical components of the High Luminosity LHC upgrade at CERN. Total of 10 cryo-assemblies containing two Nb3Sn quadrupole magnets per cold mass will be delivered within this program. After the successful test of the first pre-series cryo-assembly in 2023, two more cryo-assemblies were tested at Fermilab’s horizontal test facility. Production overview and the test results of the LQXFA/B02 and LQXFA/B03 cryo-assemblies are summarized in this paper. After the first test, to increase the capability of the horizontal test facility, various improvements have been made. These improvements are also described in this paper.

Chlachidze, Guram [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2026

Characterizing the γ-Ray Emission from Low-luminosity AGN

A majority of the active galactic nuclei (AGN) in the local Universe are classified as low-luminosity AGN (LLAGN), having bolometric luminosities ≲10 42 erg s −1 . Although high-energy γ-ray emission is predicted from both the jets and disks of LLAGN, to date only four have been detected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT). In this work, we therefore conduct a comprehensive study of all the LLAGN from the Palomar spectroscopic survey of bright, northern galaxies, including both subthreshold and detected γ-ray sources, using 14.4 yr of LAT data. Our analysis results in a new detection of one LLAGN, as well as a detection of the subthreshold population using a stacking technique. We find that the signal from the subthreshold sample is consistent with being dominated by star formation activity, although a contribution from compact jets or a mixed contribution from jetted and nonjetted systems is also feasible. On the other hand, the individually detected LLAGN are likely dominated by jet emission. We perform detailed spectral modeling for a subset of these sources and find that the γ-ray signal can be explained by synchrotron self-Compton radiation if the inner jet emission region is weakly magnetized, with its total energy density being strongly particle dominated and only slowly moving. With this work we also publicly release our Python-based stacking library for analyzing subthreshold source populations with the LAT based on a proven technique used in numerous studies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

SILVERRUSH. XIV. Ly α Luminosity Functions and Angular Correlation Functions from 20,000 Ly α Emitters at z ∼ 2.2–7.3 from up to 24 deg 2 HSC-SSP and CHORUS Surveys: Linking the Postreionization Epoch to the Heart of Reionization

Abstract We present luminosity functions (LFs) and angular correlation functions (ACFs) derived from 18,960 Ly α emitters (LAEs) at z = 2.2−7.3 over a wide survey area of ≲24 deg 2 that are identified in the narrowband data of the HSC-SSP and CHORUS surveys. Confirming the large sample with 241 spectroscopically identified LAEs, we determine Ly α LFs and ACFs in the brighter luminosity range down to 0.5 L ⋆ , and confirm that our measurements are consistent with previous studies but offer significantly reduced statistical uncertainties. The improved precision of our ACFs allows us to clearly detect one-halo terms at some redshifts, and provides large-scale bias measurements that indicate host halo masses of ∼10 11 M ⊙ over z ≃ 2−7. By comparing our Ly α LF (ACF) measurements with reionization models, we estimate the neutral hydrogen fractions in the intergalactic medium to be x H i < 0.05 (= 0.06 − 0.03 + 0.12 ) at z = 5.7 and x H i = 0.1 5 − 0.08 + 0.10 ( 0.21 − 0.14 + 0.19 ), 0.1 8 − 0.12 + 0.14 , and 0.7 5 − 0.13 + 0.09 at z = 6.6, 7.0, and 7.3, respectively. Our findings suggest that the neutral hydrogen fraction remains relatively low, x H i ≲ 0.2, at z = 5−7, but increases sharply at z > 7, reaching x H i ∼ 0.9 by z ≃ 8−9, as indicated by recent JWST studies. The combination of our results from LAE observations with recent JWST observations suggests that the major epoch of reionization occurred at z ∼ 7−8, likely driven by the emergence of massive sources emitting significant ionizing photons.

Umeda, Hiroya (ORCID:0009000801675129)↗
NASA NTRS1973

Luminosity functions for K giant stars derived from the two-micron sky survey.

Description of a method for determining either the space density or the luminosity function from star counts covering large areas of sky. Space density is assumed to vary only in the direction perpendicular to the galactic plane. The method extends that derived for use with the star counts in the Selected Areas by allowing for an integration over a wide and continuous range of galactic latitudes, and is therefore applicable to surveys where the number of stars per square degree is small but the area surveyed is an appreciable fraction of the sky. The catalog (IRC) produced from the 2-micron sky survey at Caltech is such a survey. Application of the method to a selection of IRC stars dominated by K giants shows that if these stars obey Oort's determination of their normalized space density perpendicular to the galactic plane than the dispersion of their 2.2-micron luminosity distribution must be large - i.e., on the order of plus or minus 1.0 min within a single spectral subtype. This result is in accord with conclusions recently set forth by Jung (1970).

Hughes, E. E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Clusters of galaxies with a wide range of X-ray luminosities.

A search through 125 days of Uhuru data for X-ray emission from X-ray sources associated with Abell clusters is reported. X rays from 16 clusters have been observed. Ten of these are newly discovered and not listed in the previous Uhuru catalog. Seven cases, where the 22 MHz flux has been measured, show a wide spread of relative X-ray and radio luminosity. The discovery of low-richness clusters with high X-ray luminosity provides a possible explanation for some of the unidentified high-latitude X-ray sources.

Kellogg, E.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Solar luminosity variations and the climate of Mars

A simple climatological model of Mars indicates that its climate may be more sensitive to luminosity changes than earth's because of strong positive feedback mechanisms at work on Mars. Mariner 9 photographs of Mars show an abundance of large sinuous channels that point to an epoch of higher atmospheric pressures and abundant liquid water. Such an epoch could have been the result of large-scale solar luminosity variations. The climatological model suggests that other less controversial mechanisms, such as obliquity or polar albedo changes, also could have led to such an epoch.

Toon, O. B.↗