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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
DOE OSTI2025

Instability of Nagaoka State and Quantum Phase Transition via Kinetic Frustration Control

We investigate the Nagaoka-Thouless (NT) ferromagnetic instability in the strongly interacting t-t' Hubbard model by continuously breaking particle-hole symmetry on a tunable square-triangular lattice geometry. We use an analytic approach to show that the fully spin-polarized state becomes unstable to a metastable spin-polaron when the kinetic frustration t'/t exceeds a critical, dimension-dependent value. Large-scale density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) simulations reveal a quantum phase transition from the NT ferromagnet to a spiral spin-density wave, which evolves continuously into the Haerter-Shastry antiferromagnet in the large-frustration limit. Remarkably, this transition remains robust at low but finite hole density, making it accessible in cold-atom and moiré Hubbard platforms under strong interactions. A variational analysis further captures the instability mechanism at finite density via frustration-induced magnon band deformation.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2026

Effects of the next-nearest-neighbor hopping on the low-dimensional Hubbard model: ferromagnetism, antiferromagnetism, and superconductivity

The Hubbard model has attracted considerable interest due to its prototypical role in describing strongly interacting electronic systems, such as high-critical-temperature superconductors as well as many novel quantum materials. By introducing next-nearest-neighbor (NNN) hoppings to the Hubbard model, the phase diagram becomes richer, and fascinating phenomena arise in both, one-dimensional chains and square lattices, such as: antiferromagnetism, ferromagnetism, superconductivity (SC), as well as charge orders, among others. Moreover, NNN hoppings play a fundamental role in understanding effects of doping on magnetism and pairing orders in strongly interacting regimes. In this article, we review the recent progress in understanding the different competing phases of this model in one and two dimensions from a computational perspective. In conclusion, we comment on the pressing technical challenges, illustrate the controversial results concerning the emergence of the SC phase, and conclude with our perspectives on future explorations.

Hubbard model↗
DOE OSTI2017

Measurement-induced deterministic and probabilistic entanglement with strong and weak interactions

A scheme is proposed to transform spatial coherence of a single particle into entanglement. Two quantum systems can be entangled by having them interact in parallel with an ancillary particle in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer, then making a suitable post-selection of the particle followed by a conditional feedforward on one of the systems to be entangled. For a strong interaction between each system and the ancilla, the process works deterministically. For a weaker interaction only the probability of success is reduced, but the output continues to be a maximally entangled state. It is demonstrated that the process is optimal when the two interactions are symmetric, systems with continuous variables are considered, and the effects of the environment are taken into account. - Highlights: • Presents a scheme for deterministic entanglement based on feedforward, if a strong interaction is available. • Presents a scheme for probabilistic entanglement, if only a weak interaction is available. • Specifies the importance of an equal interaction strength in both arms. • Includes the effects of the environment and of the internal degrees of freedom of the ancilla.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Comparing correlation components and approximations in Hartree–Fock and Kohn–Sham theories via an analytical test case study

The asymmetric Hubbard dimer is a model that allows for explicit expressions of the Hartree–Fock (HF) and Kohn–Sham (KS) states as analytical functions of the external potential, Δv, and of the interaction strength, U. We use this unique circumstance to establish a rigorous comparison between the individual contributions to the correlation energies stemming from the two theories in the {U, Δv} parameter space. Within this analysis of the Hubbard dimer, we observe a change in the sign of the HF kinetic correlation energy, compare the indirect repulsion energies, and derive an expression for the “traditional” correlation energy, i.e., the one that corrects the HF estimate, in a pure site-occupation function theory spirit [Eq. (45)]. Next, we test the performances of the Liu–Burke and the Seidl–Perdew–Levy functionals, which model the correlation energy based on its weak- and strong-interaction limit expansions and can be used for both the traditional and the KS correlation energies. Further, our results show that, in the Hubbard dimer setting, they typically work better for the HF reference, despite having been originally devised for KS. These conclusions are somewhat in line with prior assessments of these functionals on various chemical datasets. However, the Hubbard dimer model allows us to show the extent of the error that may occur in using the strong-interaction ingredient for the KS reference in place of the one for the HF reference, as has been carried out in most of the prior assessments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1981

Heat transfer on a flat plate in continuum to rarefied hypersonic flows at Mach numbers of 19.2 and 25.4

Local heat transfer rates were measured on a flat steel plate (10 in. wide and 16 in. long) with sharp and blunt leading edges (0.001 and 0.010 in.) in the transition from the strong interaction boundary layer regime with no slip at the surface to the free molecule regime. The tests were conducted in a combustion driven hypersonic shock tunnel, with the nominal free stream Mach numbers of 19.2 and 25.4, and a reflected stagnation temperature of approximately 2340 R. The twelve heat transfer gages were made of platinum sputtered on a Pyrex backing to a thickness of approximately 350 A, insulated by a silicone dioxide film. For both Mach numbers the heat transfer data agreed reasonably well with the strong interaction prediction of Li and Nagamatsu (1953, 1955) for unit Reynolds numbers greater than approximately 100,000 and leading edge Knudsen numbers less than approximately 4. At lower density conditions the rarefied flow effects began to dominate the flow phenomena near the leading edge region of the sharp flat plate. A systematic reduction in the heat transfer rate close to the leading edge was observed for both Mach number tests as the leading edge density was reduced and the mean free path was increased.

Nagamatsu, H. T.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Sharp flat plate heat transfer in helium at Mach numbers of 22.8 to 86.8 and in corner flow with air at Mach number of 19

Surface heat transfer rates were measured on a sharp flat plate at zero angle of attack in a hypersonic shock tunnel. The density and leading edge Knudsen number were varied to span the continuum to near free molecule regimes. The strong interaction parameter varied from 11 to 16,000 with Knudsen numbers from 0.56 to 17.1 respectively. Local heat transfer rates in the corner flow region produced by the intersection of two perpendicular flat plates with sharp leading edges were determined for various flow densities. The strength of the shock wave from the vertical plate was varied by adjusting the angle of attack from 0 to 5 deg. The unit Reynolds number varied from 1,000 to 17,200 and the Knudsen numbers from 1.6 to 27. The strong interaction parameter varied from 14 to 500.

Nagamatsu, H. T.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy of a Fermi–Hubbard system

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measures the single-particle excitations of a many-body quantum system with energy and momentum resolution, providing detailed information about strongly interacting materials. ARPES directly probes fermion pairing, and hence is a natural technique to study the development of superconductivity in systems ranging from high-temperature superconductors to unitary Fermi gases. In these systems, a remnant gap-like feature persists in the normal state. Developing a quantitative understanding of these so-called pseudogap regimes may elucidate details about the pairing mechanisms that lead to superconductivity, but this is difficult in real materials partly because the microscopic Hamiltonian is not known. Here, we report on the development of ARPES to study strongly interacting fermions in an optical lattice using a quantum gas microscope. We benchmark the technique by measuring the occupied single-particle spectral function of an attractive Fermi–Hubbard system across the BCS–BEC crossover and comparing the results to those of quantum Monte Carlo calculations. We find evidence for a pseudogap that opens well above the expected critical temperature for superfluidity. This technique may also be applied to the doped repulsive Hubbard model, which is expected to exhibit a pseudogap at temperatures close to those achieved in recent experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Probing many-body dynamics in a two-dimensional dipolar spin ensemble

Abstract The most direct approach for characterizing the quantum dynamics of a strongly interacting system is to measure the time evolution of its full many-body state. Despite the conceptual simplicity of this approach, it quickly becomes intractable as the system size grows. An alternate approach is to think of the many-body dynamics as generating noise, which can be measured by the decoherence of a probe qubit. Here we investigate what the decoherence dynamics of such a probe tells us about the many-body system. In particular, we utilize optically addressable probe spins to experimentally characterize both static and dynamical properties of strongly interacting magnetic dipoles. Our experimental platform consists of two types of spin defects in nitrogen delta-doped diamond: nitrogen-vacancy colour centres, which we use as probe spins, and a many-body ensemble of substitutional nitrogen impurities. We demonstrate that the many-body system’s dimensionality, dynamics and disorder are naturally encoded in the probe spins’ decoherence profile. Furthermore, we obtain direct control over the spectral properties of the many-body system, with potential applications in quantum sensing and simulation.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Proton spin structure and generalized polarizabilities in the strong quantum chromodynamics regime

The strong interaction is not well understood at low energies or for interactions with low momentum transfer. Chiral perturbation theory gives testable predictions for the nucleonic generalized polarizabilities, which are fundamental quantities describing the nucleon’s response to an external field. We report a measurement of the proton’s generalized spin polarizabilities extracted with a polarized electron beam and a polarized solid ammonia target in the region where chiral perturbation theory is expected to be valid. The investigated structure function g2 characterizes the internal spin structure of the proton. From its moments, we extract the longitudinal–transverse spin polarizability δLT and twist-3 matrix element and polarizability d2¯. Our results provide discriminating power between existing chiral perturbation theory calculations and will help provide a better understanding of this strong quantum chromodynamics regime.

Ruth, D↗
DOE OSTI2020

Role of inner solvation sheath within salt–solvent complexes in tailoring electrode/electrolyte interphases for lithium metal batteries

Functional electrolyte is the key to stabilizing the highly reductive lithium (Li) metal anode (LMA) and high voltage cathode for long life, high energy-density rechargeable Li metal batteries (LMBs). However, fundamental knowledge of the interaction principles between reactive electrodes and electrolytes is still limited. Recently localized high-concentration electrolytes (LHCEs) are emerging as promising electrolyte design strategies for LMBs. They can also serve as an ideal platform for understanding the reactivity characteristics of the inner solvation sheath on electrode surfaces due to their unique solvation structures. Here, we study the effects of a series of LHCEs with model electrolyte solvents (carbonate, sulfone, phosphate and ether) in high voltage LMBs. Varied electrode stabilities exhibited in different LHCEs indicate the intricate synergies between the salt and the solvent on electrode surfaces. Experimental and theoretical analyses reveal an intriguing general rule that the strong interactions between the salt and the solvent in the inner solvation sheath promote their intermolecular proton/charge transfer reactions, which dictates the properties of the electrode/electrolyte interphases and thus the battery performances.

Solvation sheath, salt-solvent complex, electrode/↗
DOE OSTI2020

Pascal conductance series in ballistic one-dimensional LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 channels

One-dimensional electronic systems can support exotic collective phases because of the enhanced role of electron correlations. We describe the experimental observation of a series of quantized conductance steps within strongly interacting electron waveguides formed at the lanthanum aluminate–strontium titanate (LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 ) interface. The waveguide conductance follows a characteristic sequence within Pascal’s triangle: (1, 3, 6, 10, 15, …) e 2 /h , where e is the electron charge and h is the Planck constant. This behavior is consistent with the existence of a family of degenerate quantum liquids formed from bound states of n = 2, 3, 4, … electrons. Our experimental setup could provide a setting for solid-state analogs of a wide range of composite fermionic phases.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2019

Intrinsic quantized anomalous Hall effect in a moiré heterostructure

The quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect combines topology and magnetism to produce precisely quantized Hall resistance at zero magnetic field. We report the observation of a QAH effect in twisted bilayer graphene aligned to hexagonal boron nitride. The effect is driven by intrinsic strong interactions, which polarize the electrons into a single spin- and valley-resolved moiré miniband with Chern number C = 1. In contrast to magnetically doped systems, the measured transport energy gap is larger than the Curie temperature for magnetic ordering, and quantization to within 0.1% of the von Klitzing constant persists to temperatures of several kelvin at zero magnetic field. Electrical currents as small as 1 nanoampere controllably switch the magnetic order between states of opposite polarization, forming an electrically rewritable magnetic memory.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2025

Large exciton binding energy in a bulk van der Waals magnet from quasi-1D electronic localization

Excitons, bound electron-hole pairs, influence the optical properties in strongly interacting solid-state systems and are typically most stable and pronounced in monolayer materials. Bulk systems with large exciton binding energies, on the other hand, are rare and the mechanisms driving their stability are still relatively unexplored. Here, we report an exceptionally large exciton binding energy in single crystals of the bulk van der Waals antiferromagnet CrSBr. Utilizing state-of-the-art angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and self-consistent ab-initio GW calculations, we present direct spectroscopic evidence supporting electronic localization and weak dielectric screening as mechanisms contributing to the amplified exciton binding energy. Furthermore, we report that surface doping enables broad tunability of the band gap offering promise for engineering of the optical and electronic properties. Our results indicate that CrSBr is a promising material for the study of the role of anisotropy in strongly interacting bulk systems and for the development of exciton-based optoelectronics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Locating the QCD critical point through contours of constant entropy density

We propose a new method to investigate the existence and location of the conjectured high-temperature critical point of strongly interacting matter via contours of constant entropy density. By approximating these lines as a power series in the baryon chemical potential 𝜇 𝐵 , one can extrapolate them from first-principle results at zero net-baryon density, and use them to locate the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) critical point, including the associated first-order and spinodal lines. As a proof of principle, we employ currently available continuum-extrapolated lattice data from the Wuppertal-Budapest collaboration to find a critical point at a temperature and a baryon chemical potential of 𝑇 𝑐 = 114.3 ± 6.9 MeV and 𝜇 𝐵,𝑐 = 602.1 ± 62.1 MeV, respectively, at expansion order 𝒪⁡(𝜇$^{2}_{𝐵}$). We advocate for a more precise determination of the required expansion coefficients via lattice QCD simulations as a means of pinpointing the location of the critical endpoint in the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Abundance and properties of dark radiation from the cosmic microwave background

We study the cosmological signatures of new light relics that are collisionless like standard neutrinos or are strongly interacting. We provide a simple and succinct rephrasing of their physical effects in the cosmic microwave background, as well as the resulting parameter degeneracies with other cosmological parameters, in terms of the total radiation abundance and the fraction thereof that freely streams. In these more general terms, interacting and noninteracting light relics are differentiated by their respective decrease and increase of the free-streaming fraction, and, moreover, the scale-dependent interplay thereof with a common, correlated reduction of the fraction of matter in baryons. We then derive updated constraints on various dark-radiation scenarios with the latest cosmological observations, employing this language to identify the physical origin of the impact of each dataset. The “PR4” reanalyses of Planck CMB data prefer a larger primordial helium yield and therefore also slightly more radiation than the 2018 analysis; we investigate the differences between the two releases that drives these shifts. Smaller free-streaming fractions are disfavored by the excess lensing of the CMB measured in lensing reconstruction data from Planck and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. On the other hand, baryon acoustic oscillation measurements from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument drive marginal detections of new, strongly interacting light relics due to that data's preference for lower matter fractions. Finally, we forecast measurements from the CMB-S4 experiment.

cosmological parameters from CMBR↗
DOE OSTI2021

Chiral Effective Field Theory and the High-Density Nuclear Equation of State

Born in the aftermath of core-collapse supernovae, neutron stars contain matter under extraordinary conditions of density and temperature that are difficult to reproduce in the laboratory. In recent years, neutron star observations have begun to yield novel insights into the nature of strongly interacting matter in the high-density regime where current theoretical models are challenged. At the same time, chiral effective field theory has developed into a powerful framework to study nuclear matter properties with quantified uncertainties in the moderate-density regime for modeling neutron stars. In this article, we review recent developments in chiral effective field theory and focus on many-body perturbation theory as a computationally efficient tool for calculating the properties of hot and dense nuclear matter. We also demonstrate how effective field theory enables statistically meaningful comparisons among nuclear theory predictions, nuclear experiments, and observational constraints on the nuclear equation of state.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Gel phase formation in dilute triblock copolyelectrolyte complexes

Assembly of oppositely charged triblock copolyelectrolytes into phase-separated gels at low polymer concentrations (<1% by mass) has been observed in scattering experiments and molecular dynamics simulations. Here we show that in contrast to uncharged, amphiphilic block copolymers that form discrete micelles at low concentrations and enter a phase of strongly interacting micelles in a gradual manner with increasing concentration, the formation of a dilute phase of individual micelles is prevented in polyelectrolyte complexation-driven assembly of triblock copolyelectrolytes. Gel phases form and phase separate almost instantaneously on solvation of the copolymers. Furthermore, molecular models of self-assembly demonstrate the presence of oligo-chain aggregates in early stages of copolyelectrolyte assembly, at experimentally unobservable polymer concentrations. Our discoveries contribute to the fundamental understanding of the structure and pathways of complexation-driven assemblies, and raise intriguing prospects for gel formation at extraordinarily low concentrations, with applications in tissue engineering, agriculture, water purification and theranostics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

A glimpse of gluons through deeply virtual compton scattering on the proton

The proton is composed of quarks and gluons, bound by the most elusive mechanism of strong interaction called confinement. In this work, the dynamics of quarks and gluons are investigated using deeply virtual Compton scattering (DVCS): produced by a multi-GeV electron, a highly virtual photon scatters off the proton which subsequently radiates a high energy photon. Similarly to holography, measuring not only the magnitude but also the phase of the DVCS amplitude allows to perform 3D images of the internal structure of the proton. The phase is made accessible through the quantum-mechanical interference of DVCS with the Bethe-Heitler (BH) process, in which the final photon is emitted by the electron rather than the proton. Here, we report herein the first full determination of the BH-DVCS interference by exploiting the distinct energy dependences of the DVCS and BH amplitudes. In the high energy regime where the scattering process is expected to occur off a single quark in the proton, these accurate measurements show an intriguing sensitivity to gluons, the carriers of the strong interaction.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗