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At least 37 records · Page 2

The rate of development of atomic mixing and temperature equilibration in inertial confinement fusion implosions

The MARBLE project is a novel inertial confinement fusion platform for studying the development of atomic mixing and temperature equilibration in inertial confinement fusion implosions and their impact on thermonuclear burn. Experiments involve the laser-driven implosion of capsules filled with deuterated engineered foams whose pores are filled with a gaseous mixture of hydrogen and tritium. By varying the size of the foam pores, we can study the timescale of the development of atomic mix relative to the development of thermal equilibrium between species. In contrast, previous separated reactant experiments have only provided information on the total amount of mix mass. Additionally, we report on the series of MARBLE experiments [first reported in Haines et al., Nat. Commun. 11, 544 (2020)] performed on the University of Rochester's OMEGA laser facility and detailed and highly resolved three-dimensional radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of the implosions. In both the experimental and simulation results, we observe that the reactants do not achieve thermal equilibrium during the course of the implosion except in atomically mixed regions—i.e., that atomic mixing develops faster than thermal equilibration between species. The results suggest that ion temperature variations in the mixture are at least as important as reactant concentration variations for determining the fusion reaction rates.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Comparison of two pressure–temperature equilibration methods

We compare and contrast the traditionally used method of solving the pressure–temperature equilibration problem in hydrodynamics, where specific internal energy and density are considered independent variables, with a different method where pressure and temperature are independent variables. With the goal of examining the robustness of the two methods as the number of components increases, we examine 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-component systems. After equilibrating more than 10 4 initial conditions for each system using both methods, we demonstrate that the latter method constrains the search space by lowering its dimensionality and forces a better initial guess, resulting in a higher probability of convergence to solution with fewer, cheaper iterations.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Partial equilibration of anti-Pfaffian edge modes at ν = 5 / 2

The thermal Hall conductance K of the fractional quantum Hall state at filling fraction ν = 5/2 has recently been measured to be K = 2.5π 2 $k$$^{2}_{B}$T/3h [M. Banerjee et al. Nature (London) 559, 205 (2018)]. Here, the half-integer value of this result (in units of π 2 $k$$^{2}_{B}$T/3h) provides strong evidence for the presence of a Majorana edge mode and a corresponding quantum Hall state hosting quasiparticles with non-Abelian statistics. Whether this measurement points to the realization of the PH-Pfaffian or the anti-Pfaffian state has been the subject of debate. Here we consider the implications of this measurement for anti-Pfaffian edge-state transport. We show that in the limit of strong Coulomb interaction and an approximate spin degeneracy in the lowest Landau level, the anti-Pfaffian state admits low-temperature edge phases that are consistent with the Hall conductance measurements. Furthermore, these edge phases can exhibit fully equilibrated electrical transport coexisting with partially equilibrated heat transport over a range of temperatures. Through a study of the kinetic equations describing low-temperature electrical and heat transport of these edge states, we determine regimes of parameter space, controlling the interactions between the different edge modes that agree with experiment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Once-in-a-lifetime encounter models for neutrino media: From coherent oscillations to flavor equilibration

Collective neutrino oscillations are typically studied using the lowest-order quantum kinetic equation, also known as the mean-field approximation. However, some recent quantum many-body simulations suggest that quantum entanglement among neutrinos may be important and may result in flavor equilibration of the neutrino gas. In this work, we develop new quantum models for neutrino gases in which any pair of neutrinos can interact at most once in their lifetimes. A key parameter of our models is γ = μ Δ z , where μ is the neutrino coupling strength, which is proportional to the neutrino density, and Δ z is the duration over which a pair of neutrinos can interact each time. Our models reduce to the mean-field approach in the limit γ → 0 and achieve flavor equilibration in time t ≫ ( γ μ ) − 1 . These models demonstrate the emergence of coherent flavor oscillations from the particle perspective and may help elucidate the role of quantum entanglement in collective neutrino oscillations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

FEOTS v0.0.0: a new offline code for the fast equilibration of tracers in the ocean

Abstract. In this paper we introduce a new software framework for the offline calculation of tracer transport in the ocean. The Fast Equilibration of Ocean Tracers Software (FEOTS) is an end-to-end set of tools to efficiently calculate tracer distributions on a global or regional sub-domain using transport operators diagnosed from a comprehensive ocean model. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of a transport matrix model to an eddying ocean state. While a Newton–Krylov-based equilibration capability is still under development and not presented here, we demonstrate in this paper the transient modeling capabilities of FEOTS in an application focused on the Argentine Basin, where intense eddy activity and the Zapiola Anticyclone lead to strong mixing of water masses. The demonstration illustrates progress in developing offline passive tracer simulation capabilities, while highlighting the challenges of the impulse response functions approach in capturing tracer transports by a non-linear advection scheme. Our future work will focus on improving the computational efficiency of the code to reduce time-to-solution, using different basis functions to better represent non-linear advection operators, applying FEOTS to a parent model with unstructured grids (Ocean Model for Prediction Across Scales, MPAS-Ocean), and fully implementing a Newton–Krylov steady-state solver.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Equilibration temperatures in enstatite chondrites

Equilibration temperatures for enstatite chondrites are calculated using a method suggested by Larimer (1968). The temperatures range from 640 to 840 C. The method yields temperatures which, in principle, are correct on a relative scale, but the absolute error may be as large as 150 C. There is a good correlation between the calculated temperatures and petrologic type as well as other mineralogic characteristics and bulk composition. Partial pressures of sulfur and oxygen at the time of equilibration ranged from about 10 to the minus 8th to 10 to the minus 12th atm and from about 10 to the minus 28th to 10 to the minus 37th atm, respectively.

Larimer, J. W.↗

Equilibration and ages - Rb-Sr studies of breccias 14321 and 15265

We have previously demonstrated that the Rb-Sr system of Fra Mauro breccia 14321 did not completely equilibrate at the time of assembly. Basalt and microbreccia clasts, with approximately the same internal isochron ages (about 4.0 b.y.) have distinctly different initial ratios. This result did not preclude the possibility that individual clast ages were reset by short range diffusion in a hot ejecta blanket. We now demonstrate that equilibration between basalt and adjacent microbreccia did not occur at about 4 b.y. on a 1 mm scale. The internal isochron ages of the clasts therefore probably date pre-assembly (possibly pre-Imbrium) magmatic and impact events. We also report the presence of a mare basalt clast in relatively KREEP-rich breccia 15265, indicating formation of such breccias after the basin-forming events.

Mark, R. K.↗

4.2-4.3 AE anorthositic soil fragments - Equilibrated or unequilibrated polycomponent systems

The petrographies and phase chemistries of five lunar crystalline anorthositic fragments with Ar-40/Ar-39 plateau 'ages' ranging from 4.1 to 4.3 AE are reported. An investigation is conducted to determine whether the individual fragments are monomict or polymict breccias. For polymict breccias it is attempted to establish whether clasts and matrix have equilibrated chemically. On the basis of the results of the investigation it is suggested that sample 73263,1,1 was a breccia (possibly a clast-laden melt) containing old clasts, incorporated in an ejecta blanket that was annealed at about 4.1 AE in a transient high-temperature event. The sample 73263,1,6 studied is an annealed anorthositic breccia containing approximately 20% clasts dominated by single-crystal plagioclase fragments. The obtained data are consistent with a two-component system containing old plagioclase clasts in a young (about 4.0 AE) annealed, matrix. The annealing event at approximately 4.0 AE was insufficient to equilibrate the argon. It is found that four of the breccias having ages of about 4.2 AE or more are polymict. The most striking feature of all of the samples studied is the presence of a significant amount of 4.2-4.3 AE argon.

Delano, J. W.↗

The ilmenite/titano-magnetite assemblage - Kinetics of re-equilibration

The petrogenesis of igneous and metamorphic rocks is a function of several parameters. Of these, temperature and pressure are of particular importance. Information concerning these two parameters is obtained through the use of mineral indicators. One such commonly used geothermometer/oxybarometer is that involving ilmenite/titano-magnetite. Anomalously low temperatures have been reported in cases in which the geothermometer/oxybarometer was employed. The studies suggest that low temperatures result from slow cooling rates which allows the Fe-Ti oxides to re-equilibrate. The current investigation is mainly concerned with the kinetics of the reduction of ilmenite-hematite solid solution, since this is the slower and, consequently, rate-controlling step in the re-equilibration process. The reaction rates determined for the reduction of ilmenites in the investigation are geologically rapid and must be considered when applying the considered geothermometer/oxybarometer.

Hammond, P. A.↗

Radon as a tracer of biogenic gas equilibration and transport from methane-saturated sediments

Data on Rn-222 activity in methane-rich gas bubbles from anoxic coastal sediments of Cape Lookout Bight, North Carolina, were used to determine gas equilibration with pore waters and the rates of ebullitive stripping and transport of gases to overlying waters and the atmosphere. Results showed that, during summer months, the bubble ebullition process strips and transports 1.9-4.8 percent/day of the standing crop of radon (and, by inference, other gases equilibrated with gas bubbles) in surface sediments of Cape Lookout Bight to the troposphere. Thus, the ebullitive mode of gas transport represents an effective mechanism for delivering reduced biogenic gases directly to the atmosphere.

Martens, Christopher S.↗

Equilibrated moisture content of several carbon phenolics and their relationship to resin, fiber, and interface properties

This study focuses on the relationship between relative humidity and the equilibrated moisture content of several variants of two distinctly different carbon phenolic composites. One of the materials gives a typical exponential relationship between RH and equilibrated moisture content while the second gives an inverse sigmoidal relationship with the largest increase in moisture between 45-60 percent relative humidity. The possible relationship between the shape of the curves and the nature of the material constituents is discussed.

Stokes, E. H.↗

Ortho-para-hydrogen equilibration on Jupiter

Voyager IRIS observations reveal that the Jovian para-hydrogen fraction is not in thermodynamic equilibrium near the NH3 cloud top, implying that a vertical gradient exists between the high-temperature equilibrium value of 0.25 at depth and the cloud top values. The height-dependent para-hydrogen profile is obtained using an anisotropic multiple-scattering radiative transfer model. A vertical correlation is found to exist between the location of the para-hydrogen gradient and the NH3 cloud, strongly suggesting that paramagnetic conversion on NH3 cloud particle surfaces is the dominant equilibration mechanism. Below the NH3 cloud layer, the para fraction is constant with depth and equal to the high-temperature equilibrium value of 0.25. The degree of cloud-top equilibration appears to depend on the optical depth of the NH3 cloud layer. Belt-zone variations in the para-hydrogen profile seem to be due to differences in the strength of the vertical mixing.

Carlson, Barbara E.↗

Pyroxene equilibration temperatures in metamorphosed ordinary chondrites

Ordinary chondrites are divided into petrographic types based on observed mineralogical and textural properties consistent with progressive thermal metamorphism from low grade (type 3) to high (type 7). Regardless of the exact cause of the metamorphism, higher-type chondrites should retain information concerning peak temperatures reached and for what duration. Using the two-pyroxene geothermometer of Lindsley, we have calculated the equilibration temperatures for 26H, L and LL type 5 and 6 ordinary chondrites, to investigate the relative peak temperatures and equilibration-states reached by these various meteorite classes. The Lindsley thermometer relies on a detailed accounting of non-quadrilateral components in pyroxenes, whose recalculated compositions are then plotted onto an empirically-derived polythermal diagram from which temperatures can be interpolated. The reported uncertainty of this method is plus or minus 50 C; in addition, close spacing of isotherms on the graph (particularly for orthopyroxene compositions) increase this uncertainty. We have parameterized the Lindsley polythermal quadrilateral for 1 atm pressure (less than 2 bar), and interpreted recalculated coordinates directly in terms of 25 C temperature intervals. Meteorites selected for this study include both relatively shocked and unshoked specimens; heavily weathered or visibly brecciated specimens were avoided. Temperatures were calculated from orthopyroxene (opx) and clinopyroxene (cpx) analyses within one relative percent of ideal sums and stoichiometry. Histograms summarizing the calculated temperatures for type 5 and 6 ordinary chondrites are shown.

Harvey, R. P.↗

Igneous fractionation and subsolidus equilibration of diogenite meteorites

Diogenites are coarse-grained orthopyroxenite breccias of remarkably uniform major element composition. Most diogenites contain homogeneous pyroxene fragments up to 5 cm across of Wo2En74Fs24 composition. Common minor constituents are chromite, olivine, trolite and metal, while silica, plagioclase, merrillite and diopside are trace phases. Diogenites are generally believed to be cumulates from the eucrite parent body, although their relationship with eucrites remains obscure. It has been suggested that some diogenites are residues after partial melting. I have performed EMPA and INAA for major, minor and trace elements on most diogenites, concentrating on coarse-grained mineral and lithic clasts in order to elucidate their igneous formation and subsequent metamorphic history. Major element compositions of diogenites are decoupled from minor and trace element compositions; the latter record an igneous fractionation sequence that is not preserved in the former. Low equilibration temperatures indicate that major element diffusion continued long after crystallization. Diffusion coefficients for trivalent and tetravalent elements in pyroxene are lower than those of divalent elements. Therefore, major element compositions of diogenites may represent means of unknown portions of a cumulate homogenized by diffusion, while minor and trace elements still yield information on their igneous history. The scale of major element equilibration is unknown, but is likely to be on the order of a few cm. Therefore, the diogenite precursors may have consisted largely of cm-sized, igneously zoned orthopyroxene grains, which were subsequently annealed during slow cooling, obliterating major element zoning but preserving minor and trace incompatible element zoning.

Mittlefehldt, David W.↗

The I-Xe Record of Long Equilibration in Chondrules from the Unnamed Antarctic Meteorite L3/LL3

The unnamed Antarctic meteorite studied here is of primitive chondritic type L3 or LL3, probably of grade 3.5 - 3.6. Detailed mineralogical and SEM analyses have revealed the existence of three distinct chondrule types in this meteorite. Both iron-rich and some iron-poor chondrules are present with variably recrystallized matrices or mesostases reflecting variable equilibration. Patchy equilibration of chondrule mesostases suggests thermal metamorphism after accretion. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Pravdivtseva, O. V.↗

Petrology of Two Itokawa Particles: Comparison with Equilibrated LL Chondrites

A strong link between Itokawa particles and LL chondrites was confirmed by preliminary examinations of Hayabusa particles [e.g., 1, 2]. Both poorly equilibrated and highly equilibrated particles have been found among the grains returned from Itokawa [1], and it is suggested that they correspond to LL4 and LL5-6, respectively. Here we report the petrography of two Itokawa particles and TEM study of one, and compare them to Antarctic LL chondrites with variable petrologic types (LL4-LL7) in order to understand the metamorphic history of asteroid Itokawa.

Komatsu, M.↗

Bow Shock in Merging Cluster A520: The Edge of the Radio Halo and the Electron-Proton Equilibration Timescale

We studied the prominent bow shock in the merging galaxy cluster A520 using a deep Chandra X-ray observation and archival VLA radio data. This shock is a useful diagnostic tool, owing to its clear geometry and relatively high Mach number. At the "nose" of the shock, we measure a Mach number of M=2.4(sup 0.4, sub -0.2). The shock becomes oblique away from the merger axis, with the Mach number falling to approx. 1.6 around 30 deg from the nose. The electron temperature immediately behind the shock nose is consistent with that from the Rankine-Hugoniot adiabat, and is higher (at a 95% confidence) than expected for adiabatic compression of electrons followed by Coulomb electron-proton equilibration, indicating the presence of equilibration mechanisms faster than Coulomb collisions. This is similar to an earlier finding for the Bullet cluster. We also combined four archival VLA data sets to obtain a better image of the cluster's giant radio halo at 1.4 GHz. An abrupt edge of the radio halo traces the shock front, and no emission is detected in the pre-shock region. If the radio edge were due only to adiabatic compression of relativistic electrons in pre-shock plasma, we would expect a pre-shock radio emission detectable in this radio data set; however, an interferometric artifact dominates the uncertainty, so we cannot rule this model out. Other interesting features of the radio halo include a peak at the remnant of the cool core, suggesting that the core used to have a radio minihalo, and a peak marking a possible region of high turbulence.

Wang, Qian H. S.↗

Isospin equilibration in neutron star mergers

We analyze the isospin equilibration properties of neutrinoless nuclear (npe) matter in the temperature and density range that is relevant to neutron star mergers. Our analysis incorporates neutrino-transparency corrections to the isospin (“beta”) equilibrium condition which become noticeable at T ≳ 1 MeV. We find that the isospin relaxation rate rises rapidly as temperature rises, and at T ≈ 5 MeV it is comparable to the timescale of the density oscillations that occur immediately after the merger. This produces a resonant peak in the bulk viscosity at T ≈ 5 MeV, which causes density oscillations to be damped on the timescale of the merger. Furthermore, our calculations suggest that isospin relaxation dynamics may also be relevant when neutrinos are treated more accurately via neutrino transport schemes.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗