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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 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Gravitational wave from dark sector with dark pion

In this work, we investigate the spectra of gravitational waves produced by chiral symmetry breaking in dark quantum chromodynamics (dQCD) sector. The dark pion (π) can be a dark matter candidate as weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) or strongly interacting massive particle (SIMP). For a WIMP scenario, we introduce the dQCD sector coupled to the standard model (SM) sector with classical scale invariance and investigate the annihilation process of the dark pion via the 2π → 2 SM process. For a SIMP scenario, we investigate the 3π → 2π annihilation process of the dark pion as a SIMP using chiral perturbation theory. We find that in the WIMP scenario the gravitational wave background spectra can be observed by future space gravitational wave antennas. On the other hand, when the dark pion is the SIMP dark matter with the constraints for the chiral perturbative limit and pion-pion scattering cross section, the chiral phase transition becomes crossover and then the gravitational waves are not produced.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Tailoring Electron-Photon Interaction in Active 3D Photonic-Crystal Architectures

A photonic-crystal is an artificially engineered periodic structure. It is often referred to as an “optical semiconductor” due to its unparallel capability to mold the flow-of-light on-chip, not only in plane (the x-y plane) but also along the third direction. Examples of the unique 3D control-of-light include diffraction less light-guiding, slow light, super prism, negative refraction and high-Q cavity. A new research frontier exists in which the concept of complete control-of-light is utilized to facilitate and maximize electron-photon interaction. The close proximity and strong interaction between a photonic-crystal and an electronic medium can lead to new optoelectronic properties not easily attainable by other means. In this program, we will study this new class of active photonic-crystal and to achieve improved device performances and basic discoveries. Under this program, the PI has made significant progress in the following areas: (i) We have maximized light trapping and absorption by a 3D simple-cubic photonic-crystal; By advancing the concept of simple-cubic symmetry design, we have successfully designed a super thin-film architecture for high efficiency, crystalline silicon solar cells; Most recently, we have provided a theoretical roadmap for thin-film silicon solar cells with 30% power conversion efficiency. (ii) In the modification of thermal radiation area, we have observed quasi- optical coherence in thermal radiation from a 3D metallic photonic-crystal; Furthermore, we have made a direct confirmation of super-Planckian radiation a tungsten photonic-crystal; (iii) We have made simultaneous observation of a large light diffraction-efficiency, 82%, and efficiency enhancement by a volume hologram material (PQ-PMMA) for solar concentration application. (iv) we have also successfully fabricated a 3D metal-oxide photonic crystal. We demonstrated that this TiO 2 photonic crystal can achieve an effectively infinite optical path-length created using a simple-cubic photonic crystal for extreme light trapping.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

DarkNESS: A skipper-CCD NanoSatellite for Dark Matter Searches

The Dark matter Nanosatellite Equipped with Skipper Sensors (DarkNESS) deploys a recently developed skipper-CCD architecture with sub-electron readout noise in low Earth orbit (LEO) to investigate potential signatures of dark matter (DM). The mission addresses two interaction channels: electron recoils from strongly interacting sub-GeV DM and X-rays produced through decaying DM. Orbital observations avoid attenuation that limits ground-based measurements, extending sensitivity reach for both channels. The mission proceeds toward launch following laboratory validation of the instrument. A launch opportunity has been secured through Firefly Aerospace's DREAM 2.0 program, awarded to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This will constitute the first use of skipper-CCDs in space and evaluate their suitability for low-noise X-ray and single-photon detection in future space observatories.

Alpine, Phoenix [Illinois U., Urbana (main)] (ORCI↗
DOE OSTI2018

Cellulose–hemicellulose interactions at elevated temperatures increase cellulose recalcitrance to biological conversion

It has been previously shown that cellulose-lignin droplets’ strong interactions, resulting from lignin coalescence and redisposition on cellulose surface during thermochemical pretreatments, increase cellulose recalcitrance to biological conversion, especially at commercially viable low enzyme loadings. However, information on the impact of cellulose–hemicellulose interactions on cellulose recalcitrance following relevant pretreatment conditions are scarce. Here, to investigate the effects of plausible hemicellulose precipitation and re-association with cellulose on cellulose conversion, different pretreatments were applied to pure Avicel® PH101 cellulose alone and Avicel mixed with model hemicellulose compounds followed by enzymatic hydrolysis of resulting solids at both low and high enzyme loadings. Solids produced by pretreatment of Avicel mixed with hemicelluloses (AMH) were found to contain about 2 to 14.6% of exogenous, precipitated hemicelluloses and showed a remarkably much lower digestibility (up to 60%) than their respective controls. However, the exogenous hemicellulosic residues that associated with Avicel following high temperature pretreatments resulted in greater losses in cellulose conversion than those formed at low temperatures, suggesting that temperature plays a strong role in the strength of cellulose–hemicellulose association. Molecular dynamics simulations of hemicellulosic xylan and cellulose were found to further support this temperature effect as the xylan–cellulose interactions were found to substantially increase at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, exogenous, precipitated hemicelluloses in pretreated AMH solids resulted in a larger drop in cellulose conversion than the delignified lignocellulosic biomass containing comparably much higher natural hemicellulose amounts. In conclusion, increased cellulase loadings or supplementation of cellulase with xylanases enhanced cellulose conversion for most pretreated AMH solids; however, this approach was less effective for solids containing mannan polysaccharides, suggesting stronger association of cellulose with (hetero) mannans or lack of enzymes in the mixture required to hydrolyze such polysaccharides.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Tunable Three-Body Loss in a Nonlinear Rydberg Medium

Long-range Rydberg interactions, in combination with electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), give rise to strongly interacting photons where the strength, sign, and form of the interactions are widely tunable and controllable. Such control can be applied to both coherent and dissipative interactions, which provides the potential for generating novel few-photon states. Recently it has been shown that Rydberg-EIT is a rare system in which three-body interactions can be as strong or stronger than two-body interactions. In this work, we study three-body scattering loss for Rydberg-EIT in a wide regime of single and two-photon detunings. We report our numerical simulations of the full three-body wave function and analytical estimates based on Fermi’s golden rule strongly suggest that the observed features in the outgoing photonic correlations are caused by the resonant enhancement of the three-body losses.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Pattern of global spin alignment of ϕ and K*0 mesons in heavy-ion collisions

The strong force, as one of the four fundamental forces at work in the universe, governs interactions of quarks and gluons, and binds together the atomic nucleus. Notwithstanding decades of progress since Yukawa first developed a description of the force between nucleons in terms of meson exchange 1 , a full understanding of the strong interaction remains a major challenge in modern science. One remaining difficulty arises from the non-perturbative nature of the strong force, which leads to the phenomenon of quark confinement at distance scales on the order of the size of the proton. Here we show that in relativistic heavy-ion collisions, where quarks and gluons are set free over an extended volume, two species of produced vector (spin-1) mesons, namely φ and K∗0 , emerge with a surprising pattern of global spin alignment. In particular, the global spin alignment for φ is unexpectedly large, while that for K∗0 is consistent with zero. The observed spin-alignment pattern and magnitude for the φ cannot be explained by conventional mechanisms, while a model with strong force fields2, 3 accommodates the current data. This is the first time that the strong force field is experimentally supported as a key mechanism that leads to global spin alignment. We extract a quantity proportional to the intensity of the field of the strong force. Within the framework of the Standard Model, where the strong force is typically described in the quark and gluon language of Quantum Chromodynamics, the field being considered here is an effective proxy description. This is a qualitatively new class of measurement, which opens a new avenue for studying the behaviour of strong force fields via their imprint on spin alignment.

Abdallah, M. S.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Make dark matter charged again

We revisit constraints on dark matter that is charged under a U(1) gauge group in the dark sector, decoupled from Standard Model forces. We find that the strongest constraints in the literature are subject to a number of mitigating factors. For instance, the naive dark matter thermalization timescale in halos is corrected by saturation effects that slow down isotropization for modest ellipticities. The weakened bounds uncover interesting parameter space, making models with weak-scale charged dark matter viable, even with electromagnetic strength interaction. This also leads to the intriguing possibility that dark matter self-interactions within small dwarf galaxies are extremely large, a relatively unexplored regime in current simulations. Such strong interactions suppress heat transfer over scales larger than the dark matter mean free path, inducing a dynamical cutoff length scale above which the system appears to have only feeble interactions. These effects must be taken into account to assess the viability of darkly-charged dark matter. Future analyses and measurements should probe a promising region of parameter space for this model.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1990

Swept shock/boundary layer interaction experiments in support of CFD code validation

Research on the topic of shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interaction was carried out. Skin friction and surface pressure measurements in fin-induced, swept interactions were conducted, and heat transfer measurements in the same flows are planned. The skin friction data for a strong interaction case (Mach 4, fin-angles equal 16 and 20 degrees) were obtained, and their comparison with computational results was published. Surface pressure data for weak-to-strong fin interactions were also obtained.

Settles, G. S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Interaction of fluids and structures for aircraft applications

Strong interactions occur between the flow about an aircraft and its structural components, which result in several important aeroelastic phenomena which can significantly influence performance. For example, aircraft with highly swept wings experience vortex-induced aeroelastic oscillations. The simulation of these complex aeroelastic phenomena requires coupling the fluid and structural analysis. This paper provides a summary of the development of such coupled methods and their applications to aeroelasticity. Results based on the transonic small-perturbation equations and the Euler equations are presented.

Guruswamy, Guru P.↗
DOE OSTI2021

In Situ Strong Metal–Support Interaction (SMSI) Affects Catalytic Alcohol Conversion

Strong metal–support interactions (SMSIs) and catalyst deactivation have been heavily researched for decades by the catalysis community. The promotion of SMSIs in supported metal oxides is commonly associated with H 2 treatment at high temperature (>500 °C), and catalyst deactivation is commonly attributed to sintering, leaching of the active metal, and overoxidation of the metal, as well as strong adsorption of reaction intermediates. Alcohols can reduce metal oxides, and thus here we have hypothesized that catalytic conversion of alcohols can promote SMSIs in situ . In this work we show, via IR spectroscopy of CO adsorption and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), that during 2-propanol conversion over Pd/TiO 2 coverage of Pd sites occurs due to SMSIs at low reaction temperatures (as low as ~ 190 °C). The emergence of SMSIs during the reaction ( in situ ) explains the apparent catalyst deactivation when the reaction temperature is varied. A steady-state isotopic transient kinetic analysis (SSITKA) shows that the intrinsic reactivity of the catalytic sites does not change with temperature when SMSI is promoted in situ ; rather, the number of available active sites changes (when a TiO x layer migrates over Pd NPs). SMSI generated during the reaction fully reverses upon exposure to O 2 at room temperature for ~15 h, which may have made their identification elusive up to now.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Λ and Λ ¯ spin interaction with meson fields generated by the baryon current in high energy nuclear collisions

We propose a dynamical mechanism which provides an interaction between the spins of hyperons and antihyperons and the vorticity of the baryon current in noncentral high energy nuclear collisions. The interaction is mediated by massive vector and scalar bosons, which is well known to describe the nuclear spin-orbit force. It follows from the Foldy-Wouthuysen transformation and leads to a strong-interaction Zeeman effect. The interaction may explain the difference in polarizations of Λ and Λ¯ hyperons as measured by the STAR Collaboration at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. Here, the signs and magnitudes of the meson-baryon couplings are closely connected to the binding energies of hypernuclei and to the abundance of hyperons in neutron stars.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Ultrafast fluorescent decay induced by metal-mediated dipole–dipole interaction in two-dimensional molecular aggregates

Two-dimensional molecular aggregate (2DMA), a thin sheet of strongly interacting dipole molecules self-assembled at close distance on an ordered lattice, is a fascinating fluorescent material. It is distinctively different from the conventional (single or colloidal) dye molecules and quantum dots. Here, in this paper, we verify that when a 2DMA is placed at a nanometric distance from a metallic substrate, the strong and coherent interaction between the dipoles inside the 2DMA dominates its fluorescent decay at a picosecond timescale. Our streak-camera lifetime measurement and interacting lattice–dipole calculation reveal that the metal-mediated dipole–dipole interaction shortens the fluorescent lifetime to about one-half and increases the energy dissipation rate by 10 times that expected from the noninteracting single-dipole picture. In conclusion, our finding can enrich our understanding of nanoscale energy transfer in molecular excitonic systems and may designate a unique direction for developing fast and efficient optoelectronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Insights into the Interaction of Redox Active Organic Molecules and Solvents with the Pristine and Defective Graphene Surfaces from Density Functional Theory

A systematic study is reported on the interaction of two representative redox active organic molecules and two solvent molecules with pristine and defective graphene surfaces as a model of an electrode surface of a redox flow battery (RFB). The redox active molecules include a catholyte, 2,5-di-tert-butyl-1,4-dimethoxybenzene (DDB), and an anolyte molecule, benzothiadiazole (BTZ), and the solvent molecules include acetonitrile (MeCN) and ethylene carbonate (EC). The graphene defects investigated include a single vacancy, double vacancy, zigzag step edge, and armchair step edge. Computations suggest that the interactions of all molecules with a pristine graphene surface are relatively weak (0.2 to 0.8 eV) and dominated by van der Waals effects; therefore, these molecules are chemically stable upon interacting with pristine nondefective graphene. The BTZ, DDB, MeCN, and EC molecules interact strongly (1.5 to 5.5 eV) with the single vacancy and zigzag step edges of graphene that leads to the possible decomposition of the molecules with strength of interaction in the order of MeCN > BTZ > DDB > EC and MeCN > EC > BTZ > DDB, respectively. Calculations show that the BTZ, DDB, MeCN, and EC molecules interact less strongly (0.2 to 1.4 eV) to the double vacancy and armchair step edge than to the single vacancy and zigzag step edge. The binding energies of the molecules were significantly reduced when interacting with the passivated defects, suggesting that the passivation of the defects could help prevent unwanted chemical interactions between the neutral molecules and the electrode surface. In all organic RFBs, one of the crucial bottlenecks is the stability of the constituent molecules with the electrode material, and this study provides insights into the chemical interaction of selected candidate species with a model carbon electrode.

Howard, Jason D.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Controlled site coverage of strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) on Pd NP catalysts

Here, strong metal–support interaction catalysts have been shown to improve desired product selectivity at the cost of fractional rates due to active site coverage. The goal of this study was to determine if the active site coverage of metallic nanoparticles could be controlled to lower levels than have been previously reported in SMSI catalysts with the aim of improving the rate while maintaining high selectivity. 2Pd–XTi/SiO 2 (2 wt% Pd, X wt% Ti) strong metal–support interaction (SMSI) catalysts with Ti loadings between 0–1.0 wt% were synthesized to control Pd nanoparticle coverage. Calcination at 450 °C and reduction at 550 °C were sufficient for forming ~2 nm sized Pd particles in all catalysts. Increasing the Ti loading from 0.1 to 1.0 wt% increased the surface coverage from 40 to 85% at a fixed reduction temperature of 550 °C. The IR spectra of the SMSI catalysts were similar with a high fraction of linear bonded CO which was much higher than that of Pd nanoparticles of similar size. The SMSI overlayer could be removed by oxidation at 350 °C and re-reduction at 200 °C. EXAFS of the oxidized catalysts indicates that nearly full oxidation of the metallic nanoparticle was required to remove the SMSI overlayer. Oxidation temperatures from 30 to 300 °C partially oxidized the Pd nanoparticles and subsequent re-reduction at 200 °C partially decreases the SMSI coverage. The fractional surface coverage was determined by measuring the rate of propylene hydrogenation with and without the SMSI overlayer. Increasing the reduction temperature from 200 to 550 °C increased the SMSI coverage from 0 to 85% depending on the Ti loading and temperature. In conclusion, after reduction at 550 °C and oxidation at 350 °C, the range of coverages varied between ~10% with 0.1 wt% Ti after re-reduction at 300 °C and ~85% with 1 wt% Ti after reduction at 550 °C.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

An effective theory of quarkonia in QCD matter

For heavy quarkonia of moderate energy, we generalize the relevant successful theory, non-relativistic Quantum Chromodynamics (NRQCD), to include interactions in nuclear matter. The new resulting theory, NRQCD with Glauber gluons, provides for the first time a universal microscopic description of the interaction of heavy quarkonia with a strongly interacting medium, consistently applicable to a range of phases, such as cold nuclear matter, dense hadron gas, and quark-gluon plasma. The effective field theory we present in this work is derived from first principles and is an important step forward in understanding the common trends in proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus data on quarkonium suppression.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Enhanced dynamics of hydrated tRNA on nanodiamond surfaces: A combined neutron scattering and MD simulation study

Nontoxic, biocompatible nanodiamonds (ND) have recently been implemented in rational, systematic design of optimal therapeutic use in nanomedicines. However, hydrophilicity of the ND surface strongly influences structure and dynamics of biomolecules that restrict in situ applications of ND. Therefore, fundamental understanding of the impact of hydrophilic ND surface on biomolecules at the molecular level is essential. For tRNA, we observe an enhancement of dynamical behavior in the presence of ND contrary to generally observed slow motion at strongly interacting interfaces. We took advantage of neutron scattering experiments and computer simulations to demonstrate this atypical faster dynamics of tRNA on ND surface. The strong attractive interactions between ND, tRNA, and water give rise to unlike dynamical behavior and structural changes of tRNA in front of ND compared to without ND. As a result, our new findings may provide new design principles for safer, improved drug delivery platforms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Deprotonated sulfamic acid and its homodimers: Does sulfamic acid adopt zwitterion during cluster growth?

Here we present a joint experimental and computational study on the geometric and electronic structures of deprotonated sulfamic acid (SA) clusters [(SA) n –H] – (n = 1, 2) employing negative ion photoelectron spectroscopy and high-level ab initio calculations. The photoelectron spectra provide the vertical/adiabatic detachment energy (VDE/ADE) of the sulfamate anion (SM – ) H 2 N•SO 3 – at 4.85 ± 0.05 and 4.58 ± 0.08 eV, respectively, and the VDE and ADE of the SM – •SA dimer at 6.41 ± 0.05 and 5.87 ± 0.08 eV, respectively. The significantly increased electron binding energies of the dimer confirm the enhanced electronic stability upon the addition of one SA molecule. The CCSD(T)-predicted VDEs/ADEs agree excellently with the experimental data, confirming the identified structures as the most stable ones. Two types of dimer isomers possessing different hydrogen bonding (HB) motifs are identified, corresponding to SM – binding to a zwitterionic SA (SM – •SA z ) and a canonical SA (SM – •SA c ), respectively. Two N–H$\cdots$O HBs and one superior O–H$\cdots$O HB are formed in the lowest-lying SM – •SA c , while SM – •SA z has three moderate N–H$\cdots$O HBs, with the former being 4.71 kcal/mol more stable. Further theoretical analyses reveal that the binding strength advantage of SM – •SA c over SM – •SA z arises from its significant contributions of orbital interactions between fragments, illustrating that sulfamate strongly interacts with its parent SA acid and preferably chooses the canonical SA in the subsequent cluster formations. Given the prominent presence of SA, this study provides the first evidence that the canonical dimer model of sulfamic acid should exist as a superior configuration during cluster growth.

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

Nuclear and particle physics in the early universe

Basic principles and implications of Big Bang cosmology are reviewed, noting the physical evidence of a previous universe temperature of 10,000 K and theoretical arguments such as grand unification decoupling indicating a primal temperature of 10 to the 15th eV. The Planck time of 10 to the -43rd sec after the Big Bang is set as the limit before which gravity was quantized and nothing is known. Gauge theories of elementary particle physics are reviewed for successful predictions of similarity in weak and electromagnetic interactions and quantum chromodynamic predictions for strong interactions. The large number of photons in the universe relative to the baryons is considered and the grand unified theories are cited as showing the existence of baryon nonconservation as an explanation. Further attention is given to quark-hadron phase transition, the decoupling for the weak interaction and relic neutrinos, and Big Bang nucleosynthesis.

Schramm, D. N.↗