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At least 235 records · Page 13

Accelerating multilevel Markov Chain Monte Carlo using machine learning models

Here, this work presents an efficient approach for accelerating multilevel Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling for large-scale problems using low-fidelity machine learning models. While conventional techniques for large-scale Bayesian inference often substitute computationally expensive high-fidelity models with machine learning models, thereby introducing approximation errors, our approach offers a computationally efficient alternative by augmenting high-fidelity models with low-fidelity ones within a hierarchical framework. The multilevel approach utilizes the low-fidelity machine learning model (MLM) for inexpensive evaluation of proposed samples thereby improving the acceptance of samples by the high-fidelity model. The hierarchy in our multilevel algorithm is derived from geometric multigrid hierarchy. We utilize an MLM to accelerate the coarse level sampling. Training machine learning model for the coarsest level significantly reduces the computational cost associated with generating training data and training the model. We present an MCMC algorithm to accelerate the coarsest level sampling using MLM and account for the approximation error introduced. We provide theoretical proofs of detailed balance and demonstrate that our multilevel approach constitutes a consistent MCMC algorithm. Additionally, we derive the expression for cost reduction due to machine learning model to facilitate cost analysis of the hierarchical sampling algorithm. Our technique is demonstrated on a standard benchmark inference problem in groundwater flow, where we estimate the probability density of a quantity of interest using a four-level MCMC algorithm. Our proposed algorithm accelerates multilevel sampling by a factor of two while achieving similar accuracy compared to sampling using the standard multilevel algorithm.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A NEW CODE FOR NONLINEAR FORCE-FREE FIELD EXTRAPOLATION OF THE GLOBAL CORONA

Reliable measurements of the solar magnetic field are still restricted to the photosphere, and our present knowledge of the three-dimensional coronal magnetic field is largely based on extrapolations from photospheric magnetograms using physical models, e.g., the nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF) model that is usually adopted. Most of the currently available NLFFF codes have been developed with computational volume such as a Cartesian box or a spherical wedge, while a global full-sphere extrapolation is still under development. A high-performance global extrapolation code is in particular urgently needed considering that the Solar Dynamics Observatory can provide a full-disk magnetogram with resolution up to 4096 Multiplication-Sign 4096. In this work, we present a new parallelized code for global NLFFF extrapolation with the photosphere magnetogram as input. The method is based on the magnetohydrodynamics relaxation approach, the CESE-MHD numerical scheme, and a Yin-Yang spherical grid that is used to overcome the polar problems of the standard spherical grid. The code is validated by two full-sphere force-free solutions from Low and Lou's semi-analytic force-free field model. The code shows high accuracy and fast convergence, and can be ready for future practical application if combined with an adaptive mesh refinement technique.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

On Improving Efficiency of Differential Evolution for Aerodynamic Shape Optimization Applications

Differential Evolution (DE) is a simple and robust evolutionary strategy that has been provEn effective in determining the global optimum for several difficult optimization problems. Although DE offers several advantages over traditional optimization approaches, its use in applications such as aerodynamic shape optimization where the objective function evaluations are computationally expensive is limited by the large number of function evaluations often required. In this paper various approaches for improving the efficiency of DE are reviewed and discussed. Several approaches that have proven effective for other evolutionary algorithms are modified and implemented in a DE-based aerodynamic shape optimization method that uses a Navier-Stokes solver for the objective function evaluations. Parallelization techniques on distributed computers are used to reduce turnaround times. Results are presented for standard test optimization problems and for the inverse design of a turbine airfoil. The efficiency improvements achieved by the different approaches are evaluated and compared.

Madavan, Nateri K.↗

Development and implementation of standards-based telemetry systems

The paper is concerned with the problem of appropriate data handling standards that allow the interchange of individual elements in a noninterfering manner and accomodate increasing performance needs without requiring total system replacement. An example is presented where an implementation (in software) is replaced by a new technology (VLSI circuitry), and it is shown how this approach can point the way to the next generation of telemetry handling systems.

Connell, Edward B.↗

An explicit, energy-conserving particle-in-cell scheme

We present an explicit temporal discretization of particle-in-cell schemes for the non-relativistic Vlasov equation that results in exact energy conservation when combined with an appropriate spatial discretization. The scheme is inspired by a simple, second-order explicit scheme that conserves energy exactly in the Eulerian context. We show that direct translation to particle-in-cell does not result in strict conservation, but derive a simple correction based on an analytically solvable optimization problem that recovers conservation. While this optimization problem is not guaranteed to have a real solution for every particle, we provide a correction that makes imaginary values extremely rare and still admits $\mathcal{O}$(10 –12 ) fractional errors in energy for practical simulation parameters. We present the scheme in both electrostatic – where we use the Ampère formulation – and electromagnetic contexts. With an electromagnetic field solve, the field update is most naturally linearly implicit, but the more computationally intensive particle update remains fully explicit. Here, we also show how the scheme can be extended to use the fully explicit leapfrog and pseudospectral analytic time-domain (PSATD) field solvers. The scheme is tested on standard kinetic plasma problems, confirming its conservation properties.

Energy conservation↗

Sample Complexity of Power System State Estimation Using Matrix Completion

In this paper, we propose an analytical framework to quantify the amount of data samples needed to obtain accurate state estimation in a power system - a problem known as sample complexity analysis in computer science. Motivated by the increasing adoption of distributed energy resources into the distribution-level grids, it becomes imperative to estimate the state of distribution grids in order to ensure stable operation. Traditional power system state estimation techniques mainly focus on the transmission network which involve solving an overdetermined system and eliminating bad data. However, distribution networks are typically underdetermined due to the large number of connection points and high cost of pervasive installation of measurement devices. In this paper, we consider the recently proposed state-estimation method for underdetermined systems that is based on matrix completion. In particular, a constrained matrix completion algorithm was proposed, wherein the standard matrix completion problem is augmented with additional equality constraints representing the physics (namely power-flow constraints). We analyze the sample complexity of this general method by proving an upper bound on the sample complexity that depends directly on the properties of these constraints that can lower number of needed samples as compared to the unconstrained problem. To demonstrate the improvement that the constraints add to state estimation, we test the method on a 141-bus distribution network case study and compare it to the traditional least squares minimization state estimation method.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Sample Complexity of Power System State Estimation using Matrix Completion: Preprint

In this paper, we propose an analytical framework to quantify the amount of data samples needed to obtain accurate state estimation in a power system-a problem known as \emph{sample complexity} analysis in computer science. Motivated by the increasing adoption of distributed energy resources into the distribution-level grids, it becomes imperative to estimate the state of distribution grids in order to ensure stable operation. Traditional power system state estimation techniques mainly focus on the transmission network which involve solving an overdetermined system and eliminating bad data. However, distribution networks are typically \emph{underdetermined} due to the large number of connection points and high cost of pervasive installation of measurement devices. In this paper, we consider the recently proposed state-estimation method for underdetermined systems that is based on \emph{matrix completion}. In particular, a \emph{constrained} matrix completion algorithm was proposed, wherein the standard matrix completion problem is augmented with additional equality constraints representing the physics (namely power-flow constraints). We analyze the sample complexity of this general method by proving an upper bound on the sample complexity that depends directly on the properties of these constraints that can lower number of needed samples as compared to the unconstrained problem. To demonstrate the improvement that the constraints add to state estimation, we test the method on a 141-bus distribution network case study and compare it to the traditional least squares minimization state estimation method.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Symmetry Determining Equations of the Rankine-Hugoniot Equations for Variable Velocity Shock Waves

The “constant velocity piston” problem (Fig. 1), also known as the “piston problem,” is a standard model for a one dimensional, in our case linear, symmetric shock wave moving through an inviscid, perfect gas. The model can be divided into two regions - a perturbed section on the left and an unperturbed section on the right - by a moving shock wave moving left to right. Both the perturbed and unperturbed sections, i.e. the shocked and unshocked regions, respectively, obey the Eulerian conservation equations; however, at the exact location of the shock, there is a mathematical discontinuity not satisfied by the Euler equations. To ensure continuity and conservation of certain quantities when crossing between the unshocked and shocked regions, we evoke a series of equations derived from the Eulerian conservation equations, called the Rankine-Hugoniot equations, or “jump” equations as it is often referred to in the literature on the topic. The classical constant-velocity piston problem assumes the piston features a constant driving velocity (among many other willing suspensions of belief required in the pursuit of a first principles equation model); consequent to this assumption is a constant-velocity shock and a constant-velocity shocked flow state. However, using Lie Group Theory (LGT), also known as symmetry analysis, we can attempt to reinterpret the model with a shock wave of variable velocity in time and space. An extension of the model in this way opens up the possibility for obtaining new analytical solutions to the piston problem for certain shock velocity models. In this report, we use LGT to derive the symmetry determining equations (SDEs), whose solutions are Lie groups, which permit analytical solutions. In the future, we can then use the SDEs to define constraint equations on the shock velocity model and what the successive solutions to the Euler equations might be based off such constraints. This report is structured as follows: Section 2 provides a brief derivation of the Rankine-Hugoniot (“jump”) equations; Section 3 gives an overview of Lie group theory; Section 4 derives the SDEs of the jump equations; Section 5 derives the Euler conservation equations for fluids; and Section 6 presents concluding remarks and opportunities for future studies.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Current data are consistent with flat spatial hypersurfaces in the Λ CDM cosmological model but favor more lensing than the model predicts

Here, we study the performance of three pairs of tilted, and a pair of untilited, ΛCDM cosmological models, with three of these four pairs allowing for non-flat spatial hypersurfaces, against cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization power spectrum data (P18), measurements of the Planck 2018 lensing potential power spectrum (lensing), and a large compilation of non-CMB data (non-CMB). For the eight models, we measure cosmological parameters and study whether or not pairs of the data sets (as well as subsets of them) are mutually consistent in these models. Half of these models allow the lensing consistency parameter A L , which re-scales the gravitational potential power spectrum, to be an additional free parameter to be determined from data, while the other three have A L = 1 which is the theoretically expected value. The pair of untilted non-flat ΛCDM models are incompatible with P18 data. The tilted spatially-flat models assume the usual primordial spatial inhomogeneity power spectrum that is a power law in wave number. The tilted non-flat models assume either the primordial power spectrum used in the Planck group anal yses [Planck P(q)], that has recently been numerically shown to be a good approximation to what is quantum-mechanically generated from a particular choice of closed inflation model initial conditions, or a recently computed power spectrum [new P(q)] that quantum-mechanically follows from a different set of non-flat inflation model initial conditions. In the tilted non-flat models with A L = 1 we find differences between P18 data and non-CMB data cosmological parameter constraints, which are large enough to rule out the Planck P(q) model at 3σ but not the new P(q) model. No significant differences are found when cosmological parameter constraints obtained with two different data sets are compared within the standard tilted flat ΛCDM model. While both P18 data and non-CMB data separately favor a closed geometry, with spatial curvature density parameter Ω k < 0, when P18+non-CMB data are jointly analyzed the evidence in favor of non-flat hypersurfaces subsides. Differences between P18 data and non-CMB data cosmological constraints subside when A L is allowed to vary. From the most restrictive P18+lensing+non-CMB data combination we get almost model-independent constraints on the cosmological parameters and find that the A L > 1 option is preferred over the Ω k < 0 one, with the A L parameter, for all models, being larger than unity by ~ 2.5σ. According to the deviance information criterion, in the P18+lensing+non-CMB analysis, the varying A L option is on the verge of being strongly favored over the A L = 1 one, which could indicate a problem for the standard tilted flat ΛCDM model. These data are consistent with flat spatial hypersurfaces but more and better data could improve the constraints on Ω k and might alter this conclusion. Error bars on some cosmological parameters are significantly reduced when non-CMB data are used jointly with P18+lensing data. For example, in the tilted flat ΛCDM model for P18+lensing+non-CMB data the Hubble constant H 0 = 68.09 ± 0.38 km s -1 Mpc -1 , which is consistent with that from a median statistics analysis of a large compilation of H 0 measurements as well as with a number of local measurements of the cosmological expansion rate. This H 0 error bar is 31% smaller than that from P18+lensing data alone.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Reduced order models for thermal analysis : final report : LDRD Project No. 137807.

This LDRD Senior's Council Project is focused on the development, implementation and evaluation of Reduced Order Models (ROM) for application in the thermal analysis of complex engineering problems. Two basic approaches to developing a ROM for combined thermal conduction and enclosure radiation problems are considered. As a prerequisite to a ROM a fully coupled solution method for conduction/radiation models is required; a parallel implementation is explored for this class of problems. High-fidelity models of large, complex systems are now used routinely to verify design and performance. However, there are applications where the high-fidelity model is too large to be used repetitively in a design mode. One such application is the design of a control system that oversees the functioning of the complex, high-fidelity model. Examples include control systems for manufacturing processes such as brazing and annealing furnaces as well as control systems for the thermal management of optical systems. A reduced order model (ROM) seeks to reduce the number of degrees of freedom needed to represent the overall behavior of the large system without a significant loss in accuracy. The reduction in the number of degrees of freedom of the ROM leads to immediate increases in computational efficiency and allows many design parameters and perturbations to be quickly and effectively evaluated. Reduced order models are routinely used in solid mechanics where techniques such as modal analysis have reached a high state of refinement. Similar techniques have recently been applied in standard thermal conduction problems e.g. though the general use of ROM for heat transfer is not yet widespread. One major difficulty with the development of ROM for general thermal analysis is the need to include the very nonlinear effects of enclosure radiation in many applications. Many ROM methods have considered only linear or mildly nonlinear problems. In the present study a reduced order model is considered for application to the combined problem of thermal conduction and enclosure radiation. The main objective is to develop a procedure that can be implemented in an existing thermal analysis code. The main analysis objective is to allow thermal controller software to be used in the design of a control system for a large optical system that resides with a complex radiation dominated enclosure. In the remainder of this section a brief outline of ROM methods is provided. The following chapter describes the fully coupled conduction/radiation method that is required prior to considering a ROM approach. Considerable effort was expended to implement and test the combined solution method; the ROM project ended shortly after the completion of this milestone and thus the ROM results are incomplete. The report concludes with some observations and recommendations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Low Cost (CAPEX and variable): Tool design for cell and module fabrication with thin, free-standing silicon wafers

This project aimed to develop technologies that can potentially enable free-standing thin (<80 μm) wafer in today’s manufacturing lines with high production yield, and thereby reduce capex barriers of silicon photovoltaics cells and modules. One of the major benefits is that thin wafer dramatically reduces the amount of polysilicon required. As a result, it can lead to reduction in the capital expenditures associated with polysilicon refining and wafer fabrication, which together are more than half of the total capital expenditure to manufacture Si PV module. We focused our efforts on developing the tools needed to enable high yield fabrication of wafer, cell, and module with thin silicon wafers. However, as the wafer thickness reduces, the major challenge is that wafer breakage increases significantly. Three technological areas were explored in this project to improve the production yield of the silicon wafer, namely detection of edge cracks via dark-field near-infrared (NIR) scattering; (2) wafer handling using controlled temperature profiles; (3) manufacturable low-stress cell interconnection for multiwire. First, the formation of wafer cracks in submillimeter length is one of the reasons that causes wafer breakages. Crack detection tools are needed to enable us to locate and track the wafer crack during manufacturing, so that we can improve the process to reduce initialization. The state-of-the-art crack detection technique cannot fulfill the need for measuring submillimeter edge cracks detrimental for thin wafers. The prototype developed in this project demonstrates the scanning of microcracks near wafer edges. With a semi-automatic laboratory setup, the submillimeter cracks were reliably detected near the edges in multi-Si wafers. The smallest detectable crack is 200 µm in length in slow scans; and submillimeter cracks are detected in high-throughput scans at the scan speed of >0.5 m/s, which is compatible with the inline detection of a manufacturing line at least 1 sec/wafer. This detection limit is a significant advancement in comparison to the benchmarked industrial tool. Second, wafer handling with the well-controlled temperature profile was thought to be the solution to reduce crack initiation and propagation during the manufacturing. However, without crack detection being widely adopted in production line, we did not find a strong industrial pull toward this technology. We did an initial literature survey and then diverted our efforts to the other tasks. Third, the innovation on low-stress multi-wire interconnection tackles a fundamental problem in the standard interconnection scheme. The standard over-under “zig-zag” interconnection induces a significant amount of stress into the soldering point on the cell whenever PV module is under stress, e.g., thermal cycling, transportation, and installation. Therefore, the interconnection process was re-designed in this project to allow for significant movement between adjacent solar cells, e.g., due to thermal expansion, without building up stresses on the solar cells or solder joints. The new interconnection method with the cross-connect wire also simplifies the tabbing and stringing process by replacing the standard over-under method with an off-cell interconnect from top to bottom. A manual tabbing and stringing tool for this new process was prototyped in the lab to demonstrate the fabrication of this new interconnection design. During the test with brass sheets as our “testing cells”, it was found that the mechanical cycling test only broke the interconnection after more than 50,000 cycles, which is equivalent to more than 130 years of the day-and-night thermal cycles. Lastly, throughout the project, we continuously analyzed the PV market with techno-economic analysis to identify the opportunity for thin Si adoption. Even though the drastic cost reduction has already happened in the past five years, our analysis results indicated that we can still save quite significantly in both manufacturing cost and factory capex, Particularly, in order to grow the PV manufacturing capacity to multi-terawatt level, reducing the thickness of silicon wafer is one of the most effective ways to quickly reduce factory capex, and sustain the high growth rate. The technologies developed in this project are readily available to provide some assistances in tackling the production yield problem.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

New opportunities for Insight into Emergence of Hadron Mass from Studies of Nucleon Resonance Electroexcitation

Understanding the emergence of hadron mass (EHM) represents one of the most challenging and still open problems in the Standard Model. Results of EHM studies from the nucleon resonance electroexcitation amplitudes (gvpN* electrocouplings) determined from exclusive meson electroproduction data measured with the CLAS detector will be presented in this talk. These CLAS data have provided the first and only available results on the evolution of the ?vpN* electrocouplings with photon virtuality Q2 up to 5 GeV2 for most nucleon resonances in the mass range up to 1.8 GeV. A successful description of the CLAS results on the Q2-evolution of the ?(1232)3/2+, N(1440)1/2+, and ?(1600)3/2+ electrocouplings achieved within the CSM approach by employing the same dressed quark mass function inferred from the QCD Lagrangian, which also provided a successful description of the pion elastic electromagnetic form factor and PDF, and nucleon elastic form factor, conclusively demonstrated the capability of gaining insight into EHM. The expected results from the CLAS12 detector on the Q2-evolution of the gvpN* electrocouplings for all prominent resonances in the mass range up to 2 GeV at the still almost unexplored range of Q2>5 GeV2 will allow us to place tight constraints on the dressed quark mass function in the range of quark momenta where the substantial part of hadron mass ~50% is expected to be generated. Consistent results on the momentum dependence of the dressed quark mass obtained from analyses of the ?vpN* electrocouplings of nucleon resonances of different structure will validate insight into EHM in a nearly model-independent way, allowing us to address key open problems in hadron physics on the emergence of hadron mass and nucleon resonance structure from QCD.

Mokeev, Viktor↗

The Hyperbolic Higgs

We present the Hyperbolic Higgs, a novel solution to the little hierarchy problem that features Standard Model neutral scalar top partners. At one-loop order, the protection from ultraviolet sensitivity is because of an accidental non-compact symmetry of the Higgs potential that emerges in the infrared. Once the general features of the effective description are detailed, a completion that relies on a five dimensional supersymmetric framework is provided. Novel phenomenology is compared and contrasted with the Twin Higgs scenario.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Updates on the Studies of $${\varvec{N}}^\mathbf{*}$$ N * Structure with CLAS and the Prospects with CLAS12

Here, the recent results on $\gamma_vpN^*$ electrocouplings from analyses of the data on exclusive meson electroproduction off protons measured with the CLAS detector at Jefferson Lab are presented. The impact of these results on the exploration of the excited nucleon state structure and non-perturbative strong interaction dynamics behind its formation is outlined. The future extension of these studies in the experiments with the CLAS12 detector in the upgraded Hall-B at JLab will provide for the first time $\gamma_vpN^*$ electrocouplings of all prominent resonances at the still unexplored distance scales that correspond to extremely low (0.05~GeV$^2 < Q^2 <$ 0.5~GeV$^2$) and the highest photon virtualities (5.0~GeV$^2 < Q^2 <$ 12.0~GeV$^2$) ever achieved in the exclusive electroproduction measurements. The expected results will address the most important open problems of the Standard Model: on the nature of more than 98\% of hadron mass, quark-gluon confinement and emergence of the excited nucleon state structure from the QCD Lagrangian, as well as allowing a search for the new states of hadron matter predicted from the first principles of QCD, the so-called hybrid baryons.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Nucleon Resonance Structure from Exclusive Meson Electroproduction with CLAS

Studies of the nucleon resonance electroexcitation amplitudes in a wide range of photon virtualities offer unique information on many facets of strong QCD behind the generation of all prominent excited nucleon states of distinctively different structure. Advances in the evaluation of resonance electroexcitation amplitudes from the data measured with the CLAS detector and the future extension of these studies with the CLAS12 detector at Jefferson Lab are presented in this paper. For the first time, analyses of $\pi^0p$, $\pi^+n$, $\eta p$, and $\pi^+\pi^-p$ electroproduction off proton channels have provided electroexcitation amplitudes of most resonances in the mass range up to 1.8 GeV and at photon virtualities $Q^2 < 5$ GeV$^2$. Consistent results on resonance electroexcitation amplitudes determined from different exclusive channels validate a credible extraction of these fundamental quantities. Studies of the resonance electroexcitation amplitudes revealed the $N^*$ structure as a complex interplay between the inner core of three dressed quarks and the external meson-baryon cloud. The successful description of the $\Delta(1232)3/2^+$ and $N(1440)1/2^+$ electrocouplings achieved within the Dyson-Schwinger Equation approach under a traceable connection to the QCD Lagrangian and supported by the novel light front quark model demonstrated the relevance of dressed quarks with dynamically generated masses as an active structural component in baryons. Future experiments with the CLAS12 detector will offer insight into the structure of all prominent resonances at the highest photon virtualities, $Q^2 < 12$ GeV$^2$, ever achieved in exclusive reactions, thus addressing the most challenging problems of the Standard Model on the nature of hadron mass, quark-gluon confinement, and the emergence of nucleon resonance structures from QCD. Finally, a search for new states of hadronic matter, the so-called hybrid-baryons with glue as a structural component, will complete the long term efforts on the resonance spectrum exploration.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Photo- and Electrocouplings of Nucleon Resonances

Advances in the exploration of the spectrum and structure of the excited states of the nucleon from experiments with electromagnetic probes on proton targets are presented here. Impressive progress has been achieved in the studies of exclusive meson photoproduction in experiments with continuous electron beams and with detectors of almost 4π acceptance. The high-quality data, coupled with the advances in the amplitude analyses of exclusive photo- and hadroproduction data, allow for the observation of several long-awaited new baryon states known previously as the “missing” resonances. Studies of exclusive meson electroproduction in the resonance region with the CLAS detector at JLab have provided the dominant part of the available world information on exclusive meson electroproduction observables. These data offer unique information on the structure of most well-established excited nucleon states in the mass region up to 1.8 GeV in terms of the evolution of their electroexcitation amplitudes with momentum transfer of the virtual photon. We discuss the impact of these results on the insight into the strong interaction dynamics that underlie the generation of the full spectrum of nucleon resonances of distinctively different structure. These results shed light on the emergence of hadron mass, which is one of the most important and still open problems in the Standard Model. The extension of the nucleon resonance stud

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

A discrete geometric approach to solving time independent Schroedinger equation

The time independent Schroedinger equation stems from quantum theory axioms as a partial differential equation. This work aims at providing a novel discrete geometric formulation of this equation in terms of integral variables associated with precise geometric elements of a pair of three-dimensional interlocked grids, one of them based on tetrahedra. We will deduce, in a purely geometric way, a computationally efficient discrete counterpart of the time independent Schroedinger equation in terms of a standard symmetric eigenvalue problem. Moreover boundary and interface conditions together with non homogeneity and anisotropy of the media involved are accounted for in a straightforward manner. This approach yields to a sensible computational advantage with respect to the finite element method, where a generalized eigenvalue problem has to be solved instead. Such a modeling tool can be used for analyzing a number of quantum phenomena in modern nano-structured devices, where the accounting of the real 3D geometry is a crucial issue.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Parameterizing the Morse potential for coarse-grained modeling of blood plasma

Multiscale simulations of fluids such as blood represent a major computational challenge of coupling the disparate spatiotemporal scales between molecular and macroscopic transport phenomena characterizing such complex fluids. In this paper, a coarse-grained (CG) particle model is developed for simulating blood flow by modifying the Morse potential, traditionally used in Molecular Dynamics for modeling vibrating structures. The modified Morse potential is parameterized with effective mass scales for reproducing blood viscous flow properties, including density, pressure, viscosity, compressibility and characteristic flow dynamics of human blood plasma fluid. The parameterization follows a standard inverse-problem approach in which the optimal micro parameters are systematically searched, by gradually decoupling loosely correlated parameter spaces, to match the macro physical quantities of viscous blood flow. The predictions of this particle based multiscale model compare favorably to classic viscous flow solutions such as Counter-Poiseuille and Couette flows. It demonstrates that such coarse grained particle model can be applied to replicate the dynamics of viscous blood flow, with the advantage of bridging the gap between macroscopic flow scales and the cellular scales characterizing blood flow that continuum based models fail to handle adequately.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗