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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 343 records · Page 19

Weighted nodal domain averages of eigenstates for quantum Monte Carlo and beyond

In this report we study the nodal properties of many-body eigenstates of stationary Schrödinger equation that affect the accuracy of real-space quantum Monte Carlo calculations. In particular, we introduce weighted nodal domain averages that provide a new probe of nodal surfaces beyond the usual expectations. Particular choices for the weight function reveal, for example, that the difference between two arbitrary fermionic eigenvalues is given by the nodal hypersurface integrals normalized by overlaps with the bosonic ground state of the given Hamiltonian. Noninteracting and fully interacting Be atom with corresponding almost exact and approximate wave functions are used to illustrate several aspects of these concepts. Variational formulations that employ different weights are proposed for prospective improvement of nodes in variational and fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo calculations.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Extended q -Range X-Ray Scattering Reveals High-Resolution Structural Details of Biomacromolecules in Aqueous Solutions

Here, we communicate a feasibility study for high-resolution structural characterization of biomacromolecules in aqueous solution from X-ray scattering experiments measured over a range of scattering vectors (q) that is approximately two orders of magnitude wider than used previously for such systems. Scattering data with such an extended q-range enables the recovery of the underlying real-space atomic pair distribution function, which facilitates structure determination. We demonstrate the potential of this method for biomacromolecules using several types of cyclodextrins (CD) as model systems. We successfully identified deviations of the tilting angles for the glycosidic units in CDs in aqueous solutions relative to their values in the crystalline forms of these molecules. Such level of structural detail is inaccessible from standard small angle scattering measurements. Our results call for further exploration of ultra-wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements for biomacromolecules.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Solving the 2D SUSY Gross-Neveu-Yukawa model with conformal truncation

We use Lightcone Conformal Truncation to analyze the RG flow of the two-dimensional supersymmetric Gross-Neveu-Yukawa theory, i.e. the theory of a real scalar superfield with a $\mathbb{Z}$ 2 -symmetric cubic superpotential, aka the 2d Wess-Zumino model. The theory depends on a single dimensionless coupling $\overline{g}$, and is expected to have a critical point at a tuned value ${\overline{g}}_{\ast }$ where it flows in the IR to the Tricritical Ising Model (TIM); the theory spontaneously breaks the $\mathbb{Z}$ 2 symmetry on one side of this phase transition, and breaks SUSY on the other side. We calculate the spectrum of energies as a function of $\overline{g}$ and see the gap close as the critical point is approached, and numerically read off the critical exponent ν in TIM. Beyond the critical point, the gap remains nearly zero, in agreement with the expectation of a massless Goldstino. We also study spectral functions of local operators on both sides of the phase transition and compare to analytic predictions where possible. In particular, we use the Zamolodchikov C -function to map the entire phase diagram of the theory. Crucial to this analysis is the fact that our truncation is able to preserve supersymmetry sufficiently to avoid any additional fine tuning.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Unraveling the adsorption-limited hydrogen oxidation reaction at palladium surface via in situ electron microscopy

Palladium (Pd) catalysts have been extensively studied for the direct synthesis of H 2 O through the hydrogen oxidation reaction at ambient conditions. This heterogeneous catalytic reaction not only holds considerable practical significance but also serves as a classical model for investigating fundamental mechanisms, including adsorption and reactions between adsorbates. Nonetheless, the governing mechanisms and kinetics of its intermediate reaction stages under varying gas conditions remain elusive. This is attributed to the intricate interplay between adsorption, atomic diffusion, and concurrent phase transformation of catalyst. Herein, the Pd-catalyzed, water-forming hydrogen oxidation is studied in situ, to investigate intermediate reaction stages via gas cell transmission electron microscopy. The dynamic behaviors of water generation, associated with reversible palladium hydride formation, are captured in real time with a nanoscale spatial resolution. Our findings suggest that the hydrogen oxidation rate catalyzed by Pd is significantly affected by the sequence in which gases are introduced. Through direct evidence of electron diffraction and density functional theory calculation, we demonstrate that the hydrogen oxidation rate is limited by precursors’ adsorption. These nanoscale insights help identify the optimal reaction conditions for Pd-catalyzed hydrogen oxidation, which has substantial implications for water production technologies. The developed understanding also advocates a broader exploration of analogous mechanisms in other metal-catalyzed reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The “anomalous” dynamics of decahyroisoquinoline revisited

Decahydroisoquinoline (DHIQ) appears to be a unique material—the only non-associated, simple liquid with dynamics deviating from density scaling. To examine whether this anomaly is real, the density, ρ, of DHIQ was measured at temperatures, T, as low as 214 K and pressures up to ∼1.2 GPa. This enabled the equation of state (EoS) to be determined, without extrapolation, over the range of thermodynamic conditions for which the relaxation times had been reported. Using this less ambiguous EoS, we find that within the precision of the available relaxation times, the latter are a function of T/ρ{sup 3.9}, contrary to previous reports. Thus, the behavior of DHIQ is unexceptional; similar to every non-associated liquid tested to date, its dynamics comply with density scaling.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Damage-mitigating control of a reusable rocket engine for high performance and extended life

The goal of damage mitigating control in reusable rocket engines is to achieve high performance with increased durability of mechanical structures such that functional lives of the critical components are increased. The major benefit is an increase in structural durability with no significant loss of performance. This report investigates the feasibility of damage mitigating control of reusable rocket engines. Phenomenological models of creep and thermo-mechanical fatigue damage have been formulated in the state-variable setting such that these models can be combined with the plant model of a reusable rocket engine, such as the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), for synthesizing an optimal control policy. Specifically, a creep damage model of the main thrust chamber wall is analytically derived based on the theories of sandwich beam and viscoplasticity. This model characterizes progressive bulging-out and incremental thinning of the coolant channel ligament leading to its eventual failure by tensile rupture. The objective is to generate a closed form solution of the wall thin-out phenomenon in real time where the ligament geometry is continuously updated to account for the resulting deformation. The results are in agreement with those obtained from the finite element analyses and experimental observation for both Oxygen Free High Conductivity (OFHC) copper and a copper-zerconium-silver alloy called NARloy-Z. Due to its computational efficiency, this damage model is suitable for on-line applications of life prediction and damage mitigating control, and also permits parametric studies for off-line synthesis of damage mitigating control systems. The results are presented to demonstrate the potential of life extension of reusable rocket engines via damage mitigating control. The control system has also been simulated on a testbed to observe how the damage at different critical points can be traded off without any significant loss of engine performance. The research work reported here is built upon concepts derived from the disciplines of Controls, Thermo-fluids, Structures, and Materials. The concept of damage mitigation, as presented in this report, is not restricted to control of rocket engines. It can be applied to any system where structural durability is an important issue.

Ray, Asok↗

Validity of Machine Learning in the Quantitative Analysis of Complex Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy Signals Using Simulated Data

Scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) is a modern technique for subdiffractional optical imaging and spectroscopy. Over the past two decades, tremendous efforts have been devoted to modeling complex tip-sample interactions in s-SNOM, aimed at understanding the electrodynamics of materials at the nanoscale. However, due to complexities in analytical methods and the limited computation power for fully numerical simulations, compromises must be made to facilitate the modeling of tip-sample interaction, such as using quasistatic approximation or unrealistic tip geometries. Here, we apply a variety of widely utilized machine-learning methods, including k nearest neighbor and feedforward neural network etc. to study the phase-resolved spectroscopic near-field response. With only a small set of training data, which is simulated using the finite-dipole model, we demonstrate that the relation between the experimental near-field signal and sample optical constant can be one to one mapped without the need for tip modeling: for a given material with a moderate dielectric function, its complex near-field spectrum can be accurately determined within the mid-IR spectral range, and vice versa. Our preliminary study sets the stage for future exploration using real experimental data. Our method is beneficial for processing the increasing amount of data accumulated across many research groups and especially useful for user facilities such as synchrotron-based national laboratories where a large amount of data is generated on a daily basis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Quantum Monte Carlo solution of the dynamical mean field equations in real time

In this paper we present real-time inchworm quantum Monte Carlo results for single-site dynamical mean field theory on an infinite coordination number Bethe lattice. Our numerically exact results are obtained on the L-shaped Keldysh contour and, being evaluated in real time, avoid the analytic continuation issues typically encountered in Monte Carlo calculations. Our results show that inchworm Monte Carlo methods have now reached a state where they can be used as dynamical mean field impurity solvers and the dynamical sign problem can be overcome. As nonequilibrium problems can be simulated at the same cost, we envisage the main use of these methods as dynamical mean field solvers for time-dependent problems far from equilibrium.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A Visual Analytics Framework for the Detection of Anomalous Call Stack Trees in High Performance Computing Applications

Anomalous runtime behavior detection is one of the most important tasks for performance diagnosis in High Performance Computing (HPC). Most of the existing methods find anomalous executions based on the properties of individual functions, such as execution time. However, it is insufficient to identify abnormal behavior without taking into account the context of the executions, such as the invocations of children functions and the communications with other HPC nodes. We improve upon the existing anomaly detection approaches by utilizing the call stack structures of the executions, which record rich temporal and contextual information. With our call stack tree (CSTree) representation of the executions, we formulate the anomaly detection problem as finding anomalous tree structures in a call stack forest. The CSTrees are converted to vector representations using our proposed stack2vec embedding. Structural and temporal visualizations of CSTrees are provided to support users in the identification and verification of the anomalies during an active anomaly detection process. Furthermore, three case studies of real-world HPC applications demonstrate the capabilities of our approach.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Effect of Ligand Polarity on the Internal Dipoles and Ferroelectric Distortion in BaTiO 3 Nanocubes

Here, surface adsorbates and surrounding matrix species have been demonstrated to affect the properties of nanoscale ferroelectrics and nanoscale ferroelectric composites; potentially counteracting performance losses that can occur in small particle sizes. In this work, the effects of nonpolar oleic acid (OA) and polar tetrafluoroborate (BF 4 - ) ligand capping on the surface of various sizes of BaTiO 3 nanocubes have been investigated with combined neutron diffraction and neutron pair distribution function (PDF), density functional theory (DFT), and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) methods. The low real space PDF region provides an unobstructed view of rhombohedral (split short and long) Ti-O distances in BaTiO 3 nanocubes, mimicking the well-established order-disorder local structure found in bulk BaTiO 3 . Interestingly, the intermediate-range order in nanocubes is found to be orthorhombic, rather than tetragonal. It is concluded that polar ligands adsorbed at BaTiO 3 surfaces stabilize the correlation length scale of local rhombohedral distortions in ferroelectric nanoparticles relative to nonpolar ligands.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Ensuring thermodynamic consistency with invertible coarse-graining

Coarse-grained models are a core computational tool in theoretical chemistry and biophysics. A judicious choice of a coarse-grained model can yield physical insights by isolating the essential degrees of freedom that dictate the thermodynamic properties of a complex, condensed-phase system. The reduced complexity of the model typically leads to lower computational costs and more efficient sampling compared with atomistic models. Designing “good” coarse-grained models is an art. Generally, the mapping from fine-grained configurations to coarse-grained configurations itself is not optimized in any way; instead, the energy function associated with the mapped configurations is. In this work, we explore the consequences of optimizing the coarse-grained representation alongside its potential energy function. We use a graph machine learning framework to embed atomic configurations into a low-dimensional space to produce efficient representations of the original molecular system. Because the representation we obtain is no longer directly interpretable as a real-space representation of the atomic coordinates, we also introduce an inversion process and an associated thermodynamic consistency relation that allows us to rigorously sample fine-grained configurations conditioned on the coarse-grained sampling. We illustrate that this technique is robust, recovering the first two moments of the distribution of several observables in proteins such as chignolin and alanine dipeptide.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Earth Mover’s Distance as a Metric to Evaluate the Extent of Charge Transfer in Excitations Using Discretized Real-Space Densities

This paper presents a novel theoretical measure, μ EMD , based on the earth mover's distance (EMD), for quantifying the density shift caused by electronic excitations in molecules. As input, the EMD metric uses only the discretized ground- and excited-state electron densities in real space, rendering it compatible with almost all electronic structure methods used to calculate excited states. The EMD metric is compared against other popular theoretical metrics for describing the extent of electron-hole separation in a wide range of excited states (valence, Rydberg, charge transfer, etc.). Further, the results showcase the EMD metric's effectiveness across all excitation types and suggest that it is useful as an additional tool to characterize electronic excitations. The study also reveals that μ EMD can function as a promising diagnostic tool for predicting the failure of pure exchange-correlation functionals. Specifically, we show statistical relationships among the functional-driven errors, the exact exchange content within the functional, and the magnitude of μ EMD values.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Celestial Mapping System for Lunar Surface Mapping and Analytics

Celestial Mapping System (CMS) is a software platform to generate virtual 3D globe for celestial bodies within our solar system. Various layers are built on top of the virtual globe to provide visualization of high resolution imagery, enable precise measurements, build analytical capabilities and broad range of functionalities to assist planetary scientists and mission planners. CMS is built using OpenJDK 11 and will run on a wide variety of platforms such as Linux, Windows, OSX, etc. It has a thick client with less overhead to access hardware resources. This allows features such as terrain profiling and distance calculations to be performed on the client and on the fly. The present focus of CMS is on developing lunar mapping tool kits to provide features such as - 3D first person view with zoom and navigational capabilities, realistic terrain visualization based on LRO data, measurement tools, Apollo landing site annotations, stereoscopic view, elevation profiles, line of sight analysis and many more. The application is developed to provide situational and domain awareness on Lunar surface, planning capabilities for equipment placements and traverse path optimization. As data becomes available, CMS has the capabilities to integrate data sets that change dynamically in real-time, which will be useful for monitoring satellites and remotely-sensed data on Lunar surface. CMS utilizes NASA WorldWind Java library and OpenGL to achieve high-performance rendering of data and measurements, and also adheres to OGC standards. CMS supports importing synthetic features in a variety of 3D, 2D, vector and raster formats. Nomenclature is pulled from USGS Moon IAU2000 database, and lunar parameters are based of the standardized IAU2000 Moon ellipsoid. GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library) was used to modify and test the accuracy of datasets before integrating into the application. Our high-resolution global elevation model was compared with the LRO LOLA DEM elevation values and tested to ensure accuracy. Celestial Mapping System has several potential use cases for NASA including subsurface lava tubes visualization and analysis, soil analysis, resource visualization and representation on 3D globe.

GIS system↗

Conducting polymer-based electrochemical sensors: Progress, challenges, and future perspectives

Conducting polymers are promising due to their unique properties, such as excellent electrical and optical properties, physical and chemical stability, high conductivity, and effective redox properties with high-temperature stability and biocompatibility. Due to these properties, conducting polymers are useful in diverse applications like sensors, batteries, oil industries, biosensors, biomedicines, catalysis, cancer treatment, etc. This review article aims to discuss the recent trends and analysis of conducting polymer-based electrochemical sensors in diverse areas with all required sensor characteristics, such as the derived limit of detection, utilized techniques for the sensing analysis and derived linear dynamic range with the stability of the sensors. Conducting polymers and their nanocomposites-based electrochemical sensors have demonstrated exceptional capabilities towards detecting various biomolecules, heavy metals, pesticides, and viruses like SARS-COV-2. Incorporation of redox mediators, use of conducting hydrogels, and molecular imprinting are promising strategies for better performance of the derived sensor. The article has demonstrated the existing challenges and limitations and provided solutions in the field. In the future, conducting polymers-based electrochemical sensors can be utilized in wearable sensors and integrated with IoT devices for better reach in real-time applications. They can also be made more accessible with precise control and data output by following specific methodologies. Utilizing green and sustainable conducting polymers can be crucial in advancing eco-friendly practices in the future. Conducting polymer-based electrochemical sensors has affectivity in neurochemical and pathogen sensing, which is essential for brain function and mental health.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Demonstration of automated proximity and docking technologies

An autodock was demonstrated using straightforward techniques and real sensor hardware. A simulation testbed was established and validated. The sensor design was refined with improved optical performance and image processing noise mitigation techniques, and the sensor is ready for production from off-the-shelf components. The autonomous spacecraft architecture is defined. The areas of sensors, docking hardware, propulsion, and avionics are included in the design. The Guidance Navigation and Control architecture and requirements are developed. Modular structures suitable for automated control are used. The spacecraft system manager functions including configuration, resource, and redundancy management are defined. The requirements for autonomous spacecraft executive are defined. High level decisionmaking, mission planning, and mission contingency recovery are a part of this. The next step is to do flight demonstrations. After the presentation the following question was asked. How do you define validation? There are two components to validation definition: software simulation with formal and vigorous validation, and hardware and facility performance validated with respect to software already validated against analytical profile.

Anderson, Robert L.↗

The Transfer Function Model as a Tool to Study and Describe Space Weather Phenomena

The Transfer Function Model (TFM) is a semi-analytical, linear model that is designed especially to describe thermospheric perturbations associated with magnetic storms and substorm. activity. It is a multi-constituent model (N2, O, He H, Ar) that accounts for wind induced diffusion, which significantly affects not only the composition and mass density but also the temperature and wind fields. Because the TFM adopts a semianalytic approach in which the geometry and temporal dependencies of the driving sources are removed through the use of height-integrated Green's functions, it provides physical insight into the essential properties of processes being considered, which are uncluttered by the accidental complexities that arise from particular source geometrie and time dependences. Extending from the ground to 700 km, the TFM eliminates spurious effects due to arbitrarily chosen boundary conditions. A database of transfer functions, computed only once, can be used to synthesize a wide range of spatial and temporal sources dependencies. The response synthesis can be performed quickly in real-time using only limited computing capabilities. These features make the TFM unique among global dynamical models. Given these desirable properties, a version of the TFM has been developed for personal computers (PC) using advanced platform-independent 3D visualization capabilities. We demonstrate the model capabilities with simulations for different auroral sources, including the response of ducted gravity waves modes that propagate around the globe. The thermospheric response is found to depend strongly on the spatial and temporal frequency spectra of the storm. Such varied behavior is difficult to describe in statistical empirical models. To improve the capability of space weather prediction, the TFM thus could be grafted naturally onto existing statistical models using data assimilation.

Porter, Hayden S.↗

Benchtop Autonomous Electrochemical Characterization System for Combinatorial Thin-Film Solid Oxide Electrodes

The design of materials for electrochemical energy conversion is complicated by a vast search space of candidate materials and multifaceted property requirements: multicarrier conductivity, stability, and catalytic activity are all necessary but rarely intersect. Although self-driving laboratories are rapidly rising to address such material optimization problems, the required infrastructure for integrated, large-scale robotic facilities can be cost-prohibitive. Here we develop and evaluate a closed-loop measurement system for efficient screening of proton-conducting oxide electrodes for ceramic fuel cells and electrolyzers, building on top of an existing benchtop instrument and integrating techniques for rapid impedance measurement and automated analysis. This system exemplifies a “minimum viable” self-driving implementation that can deliver substantial benefits with relatively simple infrastructure. Combinatorial thin-film microelectrode libraries are characterized with a recently developed joint time-domain and frequency-domain impedance measurement technique, which provides an order-of-magnitude acceleration relative to conventional impedance spectroscopy. The distribution of relaxation times is extracted from impedance data and analyzed without human intervention. These results feed an active learning and Bayesian optimization process that learns to predict electrochemical impedance as a function of material composition, measurement temperature, oxygen partial pressure, and electrical bias, which further reduces the screening time by tenfold with optimized experimental sequences. We apply this system to Ba⁡(Co,Fe,Zr,Y)⁢O 3−𝛿 combinatorial libraries and evaluate its effectiveness for learning material property trends and optimizing expensive-to-evaluate properties such as activation energy. This offers insights into key methodological aspects of practical autonomous experimentation, including surrogate model validation, cost-aware acquisition functions, and high-throughput data interpretation. Our results demonstrate the efficacy of the system for rapidly gathering information, but also highlight real-world experimental challenges of thin-film degradation and numerical instability in surrogate models.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗