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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 253 records · Page 14

Laser Assisted Emittance Exchange

We describe here the laser assisted emittance exchange (LAEE) technique. A laser operating in the transverse mode (TEM10 or TEM01) is used to interact with the electron beam in a dispersive region and to initiate the transverse-to-longitudinal emittance exchange. It is shown that with the LAEE one can generate an electron beam with ultralow transverse emittance, which allows one to significantly bring down the size of an X-ray free electron laser (FEL) and greatly extend the availability of these light sources. The technique can also be used to enhance the performances of X-ray FELs in storage rings. The timing and energy jitter problems for the standard emittance exchange and LAEE techniques are also discussed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Evaluation of the toroidal torque driven by external non-resonant non-axisymmetric magnetic field perturbations in a tokamak

The toroidal torque driven by external non-resonant magnetic perturbations (neoclassical toroidal viscosity) is an important momentum source affecting the toroidal plasma rotation in tokamaks. The well-known force-flux relation directly links this torque to the non-ambipolar neoclassical particle fluxes arising due to the violation of the toroidal symmetry of the magnetic field. Here, a quasilinear approach for the numerical computation of these fluxes is described, which reduces the dimension of a standard neoclassical transport problem by one without model simplifications of the linearized drift kinetic equation. The only limiting condition is that the non-axisymmetric perturbation field is small enough such that the effect of the perturbation field on particle motion within the flux surface is negligible. Therefore, in addition to most of the transport regimes described by the banana (bounce averaged) kinetic equation also such regimes as, e.g., ripple-plateau and resonant diffusion regimes are naturally included in this approach. Based on this approach, a quasilinear version of the code NEO-2 [W. Kernbichler et al., Plasma Fusion Res. 3, S1061 (2008).] has been developed and benchmarked against a few analytical and numerical models. Results from NEO-2 stay in good agreement with results from these models in their pertinent range of validity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

An energy-modified quantum defect method for the analysis of Rydberg spectra: Application to 2-butyne

The high resolution Rydberg absorption spectrum of 2-butyne C 4 H 6 recorded previously at the SOLEIL synchrotron facility has been interpreted using multichannel quantum defect theory (MQDT). The calculations are based on the continuum scattering calculations of Xu et al., J. Chem. Phys. 136, 154303 (2012) and of Jacovella et al., J. Phys. Chem. A 119, 12339 (2015) pertaining to the dipole-allowed excited state symmetries in absorption from the ground state. In contrast to the traditional approach of calculating low-lying electronic states first and then attempting to extend the calculations to ever higher energy, here the analysis proceeds through the extension of these detailed calculations of the electronic continuum scattering down into the discrete region of the spectrum. The continuum reaction matrices and dipole transition moments are adapted to the discrete Rydberg region via the use of an energy-modified formulation of MQDT theory and associated energy dependences of the quantum defects. The analysis reproduces more than 40 Rydberg states from n ≈ 10 down to the 3 d and 4 s levels with an rms error of better than 20 cm −1 . Further, these belong to five Rydberg series with three different molecular symmetries. While the approach predicts many additional series, most of these are calculated and observed to carry only little oscillator strength. The analysis shows that the Rydberg spectrum is dominated by the excitation of an e″ symmetry electron of fδ and gπ type, in line with what previous studies of the above-threshold shape resonance of 2-butyne have shown. The present study is intended to serve as an example showing how first principles continuum calculations may be useful for the interpretation of highly bound discrete states in a range that poses problems for the standard ab initio techniques. The quantitative treatment of the dipole absorption cross sections is deferred to a future paper.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

STRONG GRAVITATIONAL LENS MODELING WITH SPATIALLY VARIANT POINT-SPREAD FUNCTIONS

Astronomical instruments generally possess spatially variant point-spread functions, which determine the amount by which an image pixel is blurred as a function of position. Several techniques have been devised to handle this variability in the context of the standard image deconvolution problem. We have developed an iterative gravitational lens modeling code called Mirage that determines the parameters of pixelated source intensity distributions for a given lens model. We are able to include the effects of spatially variant point-spread functions using the iterative procedures in this lensing code. In this paper, we discuss the methods to include spatially variant blurring effects and test the results of the algorithm in the context of gravitational lens modeling problems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

GLOBAL OPTIMIZATION METHODS FOR GRAVITATIONAL LENS SYSTEMS WITH REGULARIZED SOURCES

Several approaches exist to model gravitational lens systems. In this study, we apply global optimization methods to find the optimal set of lens parameters using a genetic algorithm. We treat the full optimization procedure as a two-step process: an analytical description of the source plane intensity distribution is used to find an initial approximation to the optimal lens parameters; the second stage of the optimization uses a pixelated source plane with the semilinear method to determine an optimal source. Regularization is handled by means of an iterative method and the generalized cross validation (GCV) and unbiased predictive risk estimator (UPRE) functions that are commonly used in standard image deconvolution problems. This approach simultaneously estimates the optimal regularization parameter and the number of degrees of freedom in the source. Using the GCV and UPRE functions, we are able to justify an estimation of the number of source degrees of freedom found in previous work. We test our approach by applying our code to a subset of the lens systems included in the SLACS survey.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

THE ATHENA ASTROPHYSICAL MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS CODE IN CYLINDRICAL GEOMETRY

A method for implementing cylindrical coordinates in the Athena magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code is described. The extension follows the approach of Athena's original developers and has been designed to alter the existing Cartesian-coordinates code as minimally and transparently as possible. The numerical equations in cylindrical coordinates are formulated to maintain consistency with constrained transport (CT), a central feature of the Athena algorithm, while making use of previously implemented code modules such as the Riemann solvers. Angular momentum transport, which is critical in astrophysical disk systems dominated by rotation, is treated carefully. We describe modifications for cylindrical coordinates of the higher-order spatial reconstruction and characteristic evolution steps as well as the finite-volume and CT updates. Finally, we present a test suite of standard and novel problems in one, two, and three dimensions designed to validate our algorithms and implementation and to be of use to other code developers. The code is suitable for use in a wide variety of astrophysical applications and is freely available for download on the Web.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Testing coupled dark energy with large scale structure observation

The coupling between the dark components provides a new approach to mitigate the coincidence problem of cosmological standard model. In this paper, dark energy is treated as a fluid with a constant equation of state, whose coupling with dark matter is Q-bar =3Hξ{sub x}ρ-bar {sub x}. In the frame of dark energy, we derive the evolution equations for the density and velocity perturbations. According to the Markov Chain Monte Carlo method, we constrain the model by currently available cosmic observations which include cosmic microwave background radiation, baryon acoustic oscillation, type Ia supernovae, and fσ{sub 8}(z) data points from redshift-space distortion. The results show the interaction rate in σ regions: ξ{sub x} = 0.00328{sub -0.00328-0.00328-0.00328}{sup +0.000736+0.00549+0.00816}, which means that the recently cosmic observations favor a small interaction rate which is up to the order of 10{sup -2}, meanwhile, the measurement of redshift-space distortion could rule out the large interaction rate in the σ region.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Modified Baryonic Dynamics: two-component cosmological simulations with light sterile neutrinos

In this article we continue to test cosmological models centred on Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) with light sterile neutrinos, which could in principle be a way to solve the fine-tuning problems of the standard model on galaxy scales while preserving successful predictions on larger scales. Due to previous failures of the simple MOND cosmological model, here we test a speculative model where the modified gravitational field is produced only by the baryons and the sterile neutrinos produce a purely Newtonian field (hence Modified Baryonic Dynamics). We use two-component cosmological simulations to separate the baryonic N-body particles from the sterile neutrino ones. The premise is to attenuate the over-production of massive galaxy cluster halos which were prevalent in the original MOND plus light sterile neutrinos scenario. Theoretical issues with such a formulation notwithstanding, the Modified Baryonic Dynamics model fails to produce the correct amplitude for the galaxy cluster mass function for any reasonable value of the primordial power spectrum normalisation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Cosmology with negative absolute temperatures

Negative absolute temperatures (NAT) are an exotic thermodynamical consequence of quantum physics which has been known since the 1950's (having been achieved in the lab on a number of occasions). Recently, the work of Braun et al. [1] has rekindled interest in negative temperatures and hinted at a possibility of using NAT systems in the lab as dark energy analogues. This paper goes one step further, looking into the cosmological consequences of the existence of a NAT component in the Universe. NAT-dominated expanding Universes experience a borderline phantom expansion ( w < -1) with no Big Rip, and their contracting counterparts are forced to bounce after the energy density becomes sufficiently large. Both scenarios might be used to solve horizon and flatness problems analogously to standard inflation and bouncing cosmologies. We discuss the difficulties in obtaining and ending a NAT-dominated epoch, and possible ways of obtaining density perturbations with an acceptable spectrum.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Cosmological constraints on coupled dark energy

The coupled dark energy model provides a possible approach to mitigate the coincidence problem of cosmological standard model. Here, the coupling term is assumed as Q-bar = 3 H ξ {sub x} ρ-bar {sub x} , which is related to the interaction rate and energy density of dark energy. We derive the background and perturbation evolution equations for several coupled models. Then, we test these models by currently available cosmic observations which include cosmic microwave background radiation from Planck 2015, baryon acoustic oscillation, type Ia supernovae, f σ{sub 8}( z ) data points from redshift-space distortions, and weak gravitational lensing. The constraint results tell us there is no evidence of interaction at 2σ level, it is very hard to distinguish different coupled models from other ones.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Dynamical matter-parity breaking and gravitino dark matter

Scenarios where gravitinos with GeV masses makeup dark matter are known to be in tension with high reheating temperatures, as required by e.g. thermal leptogenesis. This tension comes from the longevity of the NLSPs (next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle), which can destroy the successful predictions of the standard primordial nucleosynthesis. However, a small violation of matter parity can open new decay channels for the NLSP, avoiding the BBN (standard primordial nucleosynthesis) problems, while being compatible with experimental cosmic-ray constraints. In this paper, we propose a model where matter parity, which we assume to be embedded in the U(1){sub B-L} gauge symmetry, is broken dynamically in a hidden sector at low-scales. This can naturally explain the smallness of the matter parity breaking in the visible sector. We discuss the dynamics of the corresponding pseudo Nambu-Goldstone modes of B-L breaking in the hidden sector, and we comment on typical cosmic-ray and collider signatures in our model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Improving I/O Throughput with PRIMACY: Preconditioning ID-Mapper for Compressing Incompressibility

The ability to efficiently handle massive amounts of data is necessary for the continuing development towards exascale scientific data-mining applications and database systems. Unfortunately, recent years have shown a growing gap between the size and complexity of data produced from scientific applications and the limited I/O bandwidth available on modern high-performance computing systems. Utilizing data compression in order to lower the degree of I/O activity offers a promising means to addressing this problem. However, the standard compression algorithms previously explored for such use offer limited gains on both the end-to-end throughput and storage fronts. In this paper, we introduce an in-situ compression scheme aimed at improving end-to-end I/O throughput as well as reduction of dataset size. Our technique, PRIMACY (Preconditioning Id-MApper for Compressing incompressibility), acts as a preconditioner for standard compression libraries by modifying representation of original floating-point scientific data to increase byte-level repeatability, allowing standard loss less compressors to take advantage of their entropy-based byte-level encoding schemes. We additionally present a theoretical model for compression efficiency in high-performance computing environments and evaluate the efficiency of our approach via comparative analysis. Based on our evaluations on 20 real-world scientific datasets, PRIMACY achieved up to 38% and 22% improvements upon standard end-to-end write and read throughputs respectively in addition to a 25% increase in compression ratios paired with 3-to-4-fold improvement in both compression and decompression throughput over general purpose compressors.

Computer Science↗

Search for heavy neutrinos in the ND280 near detector of the T2K experiment

The presence of Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNL, M ≈ O(1 GeV)), or heavy sterile neutrinos is proposed in various theories in order to solve current problems of the Standard Model (SM), e.g. the origin of (tiny) neutrino masses, dark matter, baryon asymmetry etc. The T2K provides intense neutrino beam from both pion and kaon parents and hence allows to carry out experimental search for the HNL of <500 MeV mass range. We have performed the search of the HNL based on the usage of the low-density region in ND280, Time Projection Chambers (TPC) with MC data. This article provides the summary of the MC simulation, event selection, systematics study. We obtain that with the T2K data we can expect the improvements of the limits on the HNL mixing elements for the high mass region (M{sub HNL} > 0.44 GeV) and the cross-check of the previous results for lower masses.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Explicit Quantum Circuits for Block Encodings of Certain Sparse Matrices

Many standard linear algebra problems can be solved on a quantum computer by using recently developed quantum linear algebra algorithms that make use of block encodings and quantum eigenvalue/singular value transformations. A block encoding embeds a properly scaled matrix of interest A in a larger unitary transformation U that can be decomposed into a product of simpler unitaries and implemented efficiently on a quantum computer. Although quantum algorithms can potentially achieve exponential speedup in solving linear algebra problems compared to the best classical algorithm, such a gain in efficiency ultimately hinges on our ability to construct an efficient quantum circuit for the block encoding of A, which is difficult in general, and not trivial even for well structured sparse matrices. Here, in this paper, we give a few examples on how efficient quantum circuits can be explicitly constructed for some well structured sparse matrices and discuss a few strategies used in these constructions. We also provide implementations of these quantum circuits in MATLAB.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Strong QCD from Hadron Structure Experiments

The topical workshop Strong QCD from Hadron Structure Experiments took place at Jefferson Lab from November 6–9, 2019. Impressive progress in relating hadron structure observables to the strong QCD mechanisms has been achieved from the ab initio QCD description of hadron structure in a diverse array of methods in order to expose emergent phenomena via quasi-particle formation. The wealth of experimental data and the advances in hadron structure theory make it possible to gain insight into strong interaction dynamics in the regime of large quark–gluon coupling (the strong QCD regime), which will address the most challenging problems of the Standard Model on the nature of the dominant part of hadron mass, quark–gluon confinement, and the emergence of the ground and excited state hadrons, as well as atomic nuclei, from QCD. This workshop aimed to develop plans and to facilitate the future synergistic efforts between experimentalists, phenomenologists, and theorists working on studies of hadron spectroscopy and structure with the goal to connect the properties of hadrons and atomic nuclei available from data to the strong QCD dynamics underlying their emergence from QCD. These results pave the way for a future breakthrough extension in the studies of QCD with an Electron–Ion Collider in the U.S.

Brodsky, S. J.↗

Livermore Unstructured Lagrange Explicit Shock Hydrodynamics

LULESH v1.0 is a 3D unstructured Lagrange hydrodynamics simulation written specifically to solve a standard analytical test problem, known as the Sedov problem. In this problem, a quantum of energy is deposited into a gas and propagates through the gas over time.

Keasler, J.↗

Simulation of and Antenna Design for a Reflector-based Broadband Axion Search

The axion is a theoretical particle that presents a solution to the Strong CP problem in the Standard Model and is a strong candidate for dark matter. Axions convert to photons in the presence of a strong magnetic field. Searches for the axion capitalize on this property, but the unknown mass of the axion means the frequency of oscillation of the photons is also unknown. This work explores a broadband reflector-based experiment with a conical horn antenna and circular waveguide as a new potential search method for this particle.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

A simple levelset contact algorithm for large overlap removal and robust preloads

A simple approach to simulate contact between deformable objects is presented which relies on levelset descriptions of the Lagrangian geometry and an optimization-based solver. Modeling contact between objects remains a significant challenge for computational mechanics simulations. Common approaches are either plagued by lack of robustness or are exceedingly complex and require a significant number of heuristics. In contrast, the levelset contact approach presented herein is essentially heuristic free. Furthermore, the presented algorithm enables resolving and enforcing contact between objects with a significant amount of initial overlap. Examples demonstrating the feasibility of this approach are shown, including the standard Hertz contact problem, the robust removal of overlap between two overlapping blocks, and overlap-removal and pre-load for a bolted configuration.

42 ENGINEERING↗