Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “matched field processing”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 361 records · Page 20

CHP Integrated with Burners for Packaged Boilers (Final Report)

The objective of this project was to engineer, design, fabricate, and field demonstrate a Boiler Burner Energy System Technology (BBEST) that integrates a low-cost, clean burning, gas-fired simple-cycle (unrecuperated) 100 kWe (net) microturbine (SCMT) with a new ultra low-NOx gas-fired burner (ULNB) into one compact Combined Heat and Power (CHP) product that can be retrofit on new and existing industrial and commercial boilers in place of conventional burners. The Scope of Work for this project was segmented into two principal phases: (Phase I) Hardware development, assembly and pre-test and (Phase II) Field installation and demonstration testing. Phase I was divided into five technical tasks (Task 2 to 6). These tasks covered the engineering, design, fabrication, testing and optimization of each key component of the CHP system principally, ULNB, SCMT, assembly BBEST CHP package, and integrated controls. Phase I work culminated with the laboratory testing of the completed BBEST assembly prior to shipment for field installation and demonstration. Phase II consisted of two remaining technical tasks (Task 7 and 8), which focused on the installation, startup, and field verification tests at a pre-selected industrial plant to document performance and attainment of all project objectives. Technical direction and administration was under the management of CMCE, Inc. Altex Technologies Corporation lead the design, assembly and testing of the system. Field demonstration was supported by Leva Energy, the commercialization firm founded by executives at CMCE and Altex. Leva Energy has applied for patent protection on the BBEST process under the trade name of Power Burner and holds the license for the burner currently used in the product. The commercial term Power Burner is used throughout this report to refer to the BBEST technology proposed for this project. The project was co-funded by the California Energy Commission and the Southern California Gas Company (SCG), a division of Sempra Energy. These match funds were provided via concurrent contracts and investments available via CMCE, Altex, and Leva Energy The project attained all its objectives and is considered a success. CMCE secured the support of GI&E from Italy to supply 100 kW Turbec T-100 microturbines for the project. One was purchased by the project’s subcontractor, Altex, and a second spare was purchased by CMCE under this project. The microturbines were then modified to convert from their original recuperated design to a simple cycle configuration. Replacement low-NOx silo combustors were designed and bench tested in order to achieve compliance with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2007 emission limits for NOx and CO when in CHP operation. The converted microturbine was then mated with a low NOx burner provided by Altex via an integration section that allowed flow control and heat recovery to minimize combustion blower requirements; manage burner turndown; and recover waste heat. A new fully integrated control system was designed and developed that allowed one-touch system operation in all three available modes of operation: (1) CHP with both microturbine and burner firing for boiler heat input greater than 2 MMBtu/hr; (2) burner head only (BHO) when the microturbine is under service; and (3) microturbine only when boiler heat input requirements fall below 2 MMBtu/hr. This capability resulted in a burner turndown performance of nearly 10/1, a key advantage for this technology over conventional low NOx burners. Key components were then assembled into a cabinet with additional support systems for generator cooling and fuel supply. System checkout and performance tests were performed in the laboratory. The assembled system and its support equipment were then shipped and installed at a host facility where final performance tests were conducted following efforts to secure fabrication, air, and operating permits. The installed power burner is now in commercial operation and has achieved all the performance goals.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

The Baseline Performance Reference for Irradiance in PV System Applications

This report proposes the definition of a new baseline performance reference (BPR). The definition goes beyond existing standards pertaining to photovoltaic (PV) reference cells and devices to define the response under all possible operating conditions in the field. Field evaluations using BPR devices will be more sensitive to performance anomalies than pyranometers because they track PV system power output more closely. At the same time, they will be able to detect a broader range of performance anomalies than traditional matched reference devices, which might have matching defects. The BPR definition also opens the door to new practices in resource assessment and yield prediction. Solar resource data can be collected or modeled and validated directly as BPR irradiance, and PV system simulations based on BPR irradiance need fewer assumptions and less processing to obtain the effective irradiance on modules. As a result, lower uncertainty in yield assessments can be expected.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

NASA Computational Case Study: Spectral Energy Distribution Fitting

The need for faster, more efficient algorithms is an important aspect of scientific computing. Generally, scientists are only exposed to computational issues that arise in their field. Thus, collaboration between a numerical analyst and a scientist is becoming necessary for scientific computing. The purpose of this case study is to expose computer scientists to processes that an astronomer would use to obtain useful results from raw data. For example, astronomers are interested in determining the properties of galaxies and measuring changes in those properties as a function of time throughout cosmic history. To do so, they use certain models that are designed and refined over time via observations at different wavelengths of the light spectrum. The process of matching these models with observed data from studying celestial bodies is referred to as Spectral Energy Distribution (SED) fitting. In this case study, we learn how to perform the SED fit. This process requires knowledge of both the astronomical and computational issues involved when fitting flux, the total energy from a source as seen from Earth, to a set of physical templates. Once a fit is complete, one can classify the source and estimate a number of physical parameters. The goal is to demonstrate how the computer science skill set can be used in the scientific community and to possibly improve one or more of the computational aspects of this problem. The following provides some background on the astronomy issues, including information on the spectral energy distribution and related physical parameters, and the computational issues, including the fitting procedure..

modeling↗

Voxel Based Three-Dimensional Topology Optimization of Heat Exchanger Fins

Increasing interest in novel aircraft propulsion systems and potential for unwanted heat generation, or capture and reuse of waste heat, may require increasingly lightweight and high performing heat exchangers. Advances in manufacturing technologies have shown potential to create complex designs, but design tools need more flexibility. This study utilizes genetic algorithm-driven topology optimization to develop high performance heat exchanger fins for critical applications such as aerospace. The solid domain is generated using voxel representation where a voxel value of 1 indicates the solid domain and a voxel value of 0 refers to the fluid domain. The use of voxel representation somewhat matches the digitization of a model that is required to fabricate using additive manufacturing, and also allows for a highly unconstrained geometry. To test the topology optimization approach, a three-dimensional(3D)baseline offset strip fin geometry in steady laminar flow(Reynolds number = 215)with conjugate heat transfer(simultaneous solution of solid and fluid temperature fields)is optimized. New designs are generated using the genetic algorithm (GA) and sent to evaluation by the CFD software OpenFOAM; then the GA sorts and selects the reproduction pool for the following generation. This process is repeated for 60 generations. The study also investigates the effect off in material on the performance of the GA and the resulting designs. The results show that the optimal designs have overall performance improvement of 18% relative to the baseline. Additionally, a fin constructed of a lower conductivity material (such as an Inconel super alloy that might be necessary for waste heat recovery applications)results in lower overall performance improvement (11%)and optimal designs with higher pressure drop relative to their baseline, and relative to optimal designs produced using higher conductivity materials.

3D Optimization↗

SU-F-T-180: Evaluation of a Scintillating Screen Detector for Proton Beam QA and Acceptance Testing

Purpose: To test the performance of a commercial scintillating screen detector for acceptance testing and Quality Assurance of a proton pencil beam scanning system. Method: The detector (Lexitek DRD 400) has 40cm × 40cm field, uses a thin scintillator imaged onto a 16-bit scientific CCD with ∼0.5mm resolution. A grid target and LED illuminators are provided for spatial calibration and relative gain correction. The detector mounts to the nozzle with micron precision. Tools are provided for image processing and analysis of single or multiple Gaussian spots. Results: The bias and gain of the detector were studied to measure repeatability and accuracy. Gain measurements were taken with the LED illuminators to measure repeatability and variation of the lens-CCD pair as a function with f-stop. Overall system gain was measured with a passive scattering (broad) beam whose shape is calibrated with EDR film placed in front of the scintillator. To create a large uniform field, overlapping small fields were recorded with the detector translated laterally and stitched together to cover the full field. Due to the long exposures required to obtain multiple spills of the synchrotron and very high detector sensitivity, borated polyethylene shielding was added to reduce direct radiation events hitting the CCD. Measurements with a micro ion chamber were compared to the detector’s spot profile. Software was developed to process arrays of Gaussian spots and to correct for radiation events. Conclusion: The detector background has a fixed bias, a small component linear in time, and is easily corrected. The gain correction method was validated with 2% accuracy. The detector spot profile matches the micro ion chamber data over 4 orders of magnitude. The multiple spot analyses can be easily used with plan data for measuring pencil beam uniformity and for regular QA comparison.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Flat nonlinear optics with intersubband polaritonic metasurfaces

Nonlinear intersubband polaritonic metasurfaces produce some of the strongest second- and third-order nonlinear optical responses reported for condensed matter systems at infrared frequencies. These metasurfaces are fabricated as two-dimensional arrays of nanoresonators from multi-quantum-well semiconductor heterostructures, designed to produce strong nonlinear responses associated with intersubband transitions. By optimally coupling the optical modes of the nanoresonators to vertically polarized intersubband transitions in semiconductor heterostructures, one can boost the nonlinear response associated with intersubband transitions, make intersubband transitions interact with free-space radiation at normal incidence, and hence produce optically thin flat nonlinear optical elements compatible with free-space optical setups. As a result of the strong nonlinear response in these systems, significant nonlinear conversion efficiencies (>0.1 %) can be attained in deeply subwavelength optical films using modest pumping intensities of only 10–100 kW/cm 2 . Subwavelength metasurface thickness relaxes phase-matching constraints limiting the operation of bulk nonlinear crystals. Furthermore, the amplitude and phase of the nonlinear optical response in intersubband polaritonic metasurfaces can be tailored for a specific pump wavelength and a nonlinear process of interest through the co-optimization of quantum engineering of electron states in semiconductor heterostructures and photonic engineering of the metasurface nanoresonators design. Additionally, an applied voltage can dynamically control the amplitude and phase of the nonlinear optical response at a nanoresonator level. Here, we review the current state of the art in this rapidly expanding field, focusing on nonlinear processes supporting second-harmonic generation, saturable absorption, and optical power limiting.

flat optics↗

Real-time Terrain Relative Navigation Test Results from a Relevant Environment for Mars Landing

Terrain Relative Navigation (TRN) is an on-board GN&C function that generates a position estimate of a spacecraft relative to a map of a planetary surface. When coupled with a divert, the position estimate enables access to more challenging landing sites through pin-point landing or large hazard avoidance. The Lander Vision System (LVS) is a smart sensor system that performs terrain relative navigation by matching descent camera imagery to a map of the landing site and then fusing this with inertial measurements to obtain high rate map relative position, velocity and attitude estimates. A prototype of the LVS was recently tested in a helicopter field test over Mars analog terrain at altitudes representative of Mars Entry Descent and Landing conditions. TRN ran in real-time on the LVS during the flights without human intervention or tuning. The system was able to compute estimates accurate to 40m (3 sigma) in 10 seconds on a flight like processing system. This paper describes the Mars operational test space definition, how the field test was designed to cover that operational envelope, the resulting TRN performance across the envelope and an assessment of test space coverage.

Pin-point Landing↗

Monitoring Astronaut Health with DNA Sequencing

In recent years microbe a plethora of microbe populations have been identified onboard the ISS (International Space Station). Approaches for real-time tracking of microbes for routine housekeeping and food/water safety monitoring will be critical for mission safety and crew health on future longer duration missions to the Moon or Mars. This work is a proof-of-concept study demonstrating an end-to-end phylogenetic identification and full genome sequencing effort of multiple microbial populations. Our methodology utilized the ISS flight-certified WetLab-2 molecular toolbox and the Biomolecule Sequencer projects for real-time end-to-end on-orbit microbial biological samples processing and molecular analysis with real time results generated utilizing only field "offline" analytic software. For this experiment we colony-cultured several ISS isolated microorganisms before generation of the pre-sequencing library via the automated VolTRAX device which enabled high library turnover with little wet-bench activity or potential future costly astronaut time. The pre-sequencing library is diluted in loading buffer and injected into the MinION sample port, drawn into the nanopore window by capillary action, and sequenced using the MinKnown. 16S and full genome alignment, nucleotide matching, gene identification, and phylogenetic sorting was accomplished utilizing the Epi2me software and the offline NCBI Blast viral, microbiome, and human somatic databases. In short, the methodologies developed herein replace the myriad of specific, often highly targeted microbiological tests used in the clinical laboratory, which would be difficult if not impossible to currently implement aboard the ISS or in deep space, with a single metagenomics test.

genomics↗

Aho-Corasick String Matching on Shared and Distributed Memory Parallel Architectures

String matching is at the core of many critical applications, including network intrusion detection systems, search engines, virus scanners, spam filters, DNA and protein sequencing, and data mining. For all of these applications string matching requires a combination of (sometimes all) the following characteristics: high and/or predictable performance, support for large data sets and flexibility of integration and customization. Many software based implementations targeting conventional cache-based microprocessors fail to achieve high and predictable performance requirements, while Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) implementations and dedicated hardware solutions fail to support large data sets (dictionary sizes) and are difficult to integrate and customize. The advent of multicore, multithreaded, and GPU-based systems is opening the possibility for software based solutions to reach very high performance at a sustained rate. This paper compares several software-based implementations of the Aho-Corasick string searching algorithm for high performance systems. We discuss the implementation of the algorithm on several types of shared-memory high-performance architectures (Niagara 2, large x86 SMPs and Cray XMT), distributed memory with homogeneous processing elements (InfiniBand cluster of x86 multicores) and heterogeneous processing elements (InfiniBand cluster of x86 multicores with NVIDIA Tesla C10 GPUs). We describe in detail how each solution achieves the objectives of supporting large dictionaries, sustaining high performance, and enabling customization and flexibility using various data sets.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Domain-specific text embedding model for accelerator physics

Accelerator physics presents unique challenges for natural language processing (NLP) due to its specialized terminology and complex concepts. A key component in overcoming these challenges is the development of robust text embedding models that transform textual data into dense vector representations, facilitating efficient information retrieval and semantic understanding. In this work, we introduce AccPhysBERT, a sentence embedding model fine-tuned specifically for accelerator physics. Our model demonstrates superior performance across a range of downstream NLP tasks, surpassing existing models in capturing the domain-specific nuances of the field. We further showcase its practical applications, including semantic paper-reviewer matching and integration into retrieval-augmented generation systems, highlighting its potential to enhance information retrieval and knowledge discovery in accelerator physics. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Hellert, Thorsten (ORCID:0000000227970926)↗

Noise Radar Approach for Interrogating SAW Sensors Using Software Defined Radio

Passive, wireless surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor systems can be approached from a radar perspective, where the SAW device is thought of as a cooperative target. Here, this paper investigates the use of a commercial-off-the-shelf software defined radio to interrogate wireless SAW sensors with a randomly generated interrogation pulse. The USRP B200mini is utilized as the transceiver platform with custom field-programmable gate array (FPGA) modifications to generate the random interrogation waveform and provide synchronization and buffering to the received signal. Each transmit sample bit in the FPGA is fed by an independent linear-feedback shift register, which generates pseudo-random I and Q samples for the interrogation pulse. An RF daughterboard has also been developed and integrated with the B200mini to increase the transmit power, provide filtering of the RF signals, and switch a signal antenna between the transmit and receive channels. Radio control and matched filter correlator post-processing are accomplished using Python. Design and implementation details for the FPGA modifications, RF daughterboard, and post-processing are discussed. Lastly, the system is demonstrated by wirelessly interrogating SAW temperature sensors at 915 MHz.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Explanatory Supplement to the WISE All-Sky Release Products

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE; Wright et al. 2010) surveyed the entire sky at 3.4, 4.6, 12 and 22 microns in 2010, achieving 5-sigma point source sensitivities per band better than 0.08, 0.11, 1 and 6 mJy in unconfused regions on the ecliptic. The WISE All-Sky Data Release, conducted on March 14, 2012, incorporates all data taken during the full cryogenic mission phase, 7 January 2010 to 6 August 20l0,that were processed with improved calibrations and reduction algorithms. Release data products include: (1) an Atlas of 18,240 match-filtered, calibrated and coadded image sets; (2) a Source Catalog containing positions and four-band photometry for over 563 million objects, and (3) an Explanatory Supplement. Ancillary products include a Reject Table that contains 284 million detections that were not selected for the Source Catalog because they are low signal-to-noise ratio or spurious detections of image artifacts, an archive of over 1.5 million sets of calibrated WISE Single-exposure images, and a database of 9.4 billion source extractions from those single images, and moving object tracklets identified by the NEOWISE program (Mainzer et aI. 2011). The WISE All-Sky Data Release products supersede those from the WISE Preliminary Data Release (Cutri et al. 2011). The Explanatory Supplement to the WISE All-Sky Data Release Products is a general guide for users of the WISE data. The Supplement contains an overview of the WISE mission, facilities, and operations, a detailed description of WISE data processing algorithms, a guide to the content and formals of the image and tabular data products, and cautionary notes that describe known limitations of the All-Sky Release products. Instructions for accessing the WISE data products via the services of the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive are provided. The Supplement also provides analyses of the achieved sky coverage, photometric and astrometric characteristics and completeness and reliability of the All-Sky Release data products. The WISE All-Sky Release Explanatory Supplement is an on-line document that is updated frequently to provide the most current information for users of the WISE data products. The Explanatory Supplement is maintained at: http://wise2.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/release/allsky/expsup/index.html WISE is a joint project of the University of California, Los Angeles and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NEOWISE is a project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, funded by the Planetary Science Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Source record↗

MATCHED-INDEX-OF-REFRACTION FLOW FACILITY FOR FUNDAMENTAL AND APPLIED RESEARCH

Significant challenges face reactor designers with regard to thermal hydraulic design and associated modeling for advanced reactor concepts. Computational thermal hydraulic codes solve only a piece of the core. There is a need for a whole core dynamics system code with local resolution to investigate and understand flow behavior with all the relevant physics and thermo-mechanics. The matched index of refraction (MIR) flow facility at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has a unique capability to contribute to the development of validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes through the use of state-of-the-art optical measurement techniques, such as Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). PIV is a non-intrusive velocity measurement technique that tracks flow by imaging the movement of small tracer particles within a fluid. At the heart of a PIV calculation is the cross correlation algorithm, which is used to estimate the displacement of particles in some small part of the image over the time span between two images. Generally, the displacement is indicated by the location of the largest peak. To quantify these measurements accurately, sophisticated processing algorithms correlate the locations of particles within the image to estimate the velocity (Ref. 1). Prior to use with reactor deign, the CFD codes have to be experimentally validated, which requires rigorous experimental measurements to produce high quality, multi-dimensional flow field data with error quantification methodologies. Computational thermal hydraulic codes solve only a piece of the core. There is a need for a whole core dynamics system code with local resolution to investigate and understand flow behavior with all the relevant physics and thermo-mechanics. Computational techniques with supporting test data may be needed to address the heat transfer from the fuel to the coolant during the transition from turbulent to laminar flow, including the possibility of an early laminarization of the flow (Refs. 2 and 3) (laminarization is caused when the coolant velocity is theoretically in the turbulent regime, but the heat transfer properties are indicative of the coolant velocity being in the laminar regime). Such studies are complicated enough that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models may not converge to the same conclusion. Thus, experimentally scaled thermal hydraulic data with uncertainties should be developed to support modeling and simulation for verification and validation activities. The fluid/solid index of refraction matching technique allows optical access in and around geometries that would otherwise be impossible while the large test section of the INL system provides better spatial and temporal resolution than comparable facilities. Benchmark data for assessing computational fluid dynamics can be acquired for external flows, internal flows, and coupled internal/external flows for better understanding of physical phenomena of interest. The core objective of this study is to describe MIR and its capabilities, and mention current development areas for uncertainty quantification, mainly the uncertainty surface method and cross-correlation method. Using these methods, it is anticipated to establish a suitable approach to quantify PIV uncertainty for experiments performed in the MIR.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Soft evolution of multi-jet final states

We present a new framework for computing resummed and matched distributions in processes with many hard QCD jets. The intricate color structure of soft gluon emission at large angles renders resummed calculations highly non-trivial in this case. We automate all ingredients necessary for the color evolution of the soft function at next-to-leading-logarithmic accuracy, namely the selection of the color bases and the projections of color operators and Born amplitudes onto those bases. Explicit results for all QCD processes with up to 2 → 5 partons are given. We also devise a new tree-level matching scheme for resummed calculations which exploits a quasi-local subtraction based on the Catani-Seymour dipole formalism. We implement both resummation and matching in the Sherpa event generator. As a proof of concept, we compute the resummed and matched transverse-thrust distribution for hadronic collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

SU-E-T-399: Evaluation of Selection Criteria for Computational Human Phantoms for Use in Out-Of-Field Organ Dosimetry for Radiotherapy Patients

Purpose: To quantify the dosimetric uncertainty due to organ position errors when using height and weight as phantom selection criteria in the UF/NCI Hybrid Phantom Library for the purpose of out-of-field organ dose reconstruction. Methods: Four diagnostic patient CT images were used to create 7-field IMRT plans. For each patient, dose to the liver, right lung, and left lung were calculated using the XVMC Monte Carlo code. These doses were taken to be the ground truth. For each patient, the phantom with the most closely matching height and weight was selected from the body size dependent phantom library. The patient plans were then transferred to the computational phantoms and organ doses were recalculated. Each plan was also run on 4 additional phantoms with reference heights and or weights. Maximum and mean doses for the three organs were computed, and the DVHs were extracted and compared. One sample t-tests were performed to compare the accuracy of the height and weight matched phantoms against the additional phantoms in regards to both maximum and mean dose. Results: For one of the patients, the height and weight matched phantom yielded the most accurate results across all three organs for both maximum and mean doses. For two additional patients, the matched phantom yielded the best match for one organ only. In 13 of the 24 cases, the matched phantom yielded better results than the average of the other four phantoms, though the results were only statistically significant at the .05 level for three cases. Conclusion: Using height and weight matched phantoms does yield better results in regards to out-of-field dosimetry than using average phantoms. Height and weight appear to be moderately good selection criteria, though this selection criteria failed to yield any better results for one patient.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Deriving super-horizon curvature perturbations from the dynamics of preheating

We present a framework for calculating super-horizon curvature perturbation from the dynamics of preheating, which gives a reasonable match to the lattice results. Hubble patches with different initial background field values evolve differently. From the bifurcation of their evolution trajectories we find curvature perturbation using Lyapunov theorem and δ N formulation. In this way we have established a connection between the finer dynamics of preheating and the curvature perturbation produced in this era. From the calculated analytical form of the curvature perturbation we have derived the effective super-horizon curvature perturbation smoothed out on large scales of CMB. The order of the amount of local form non-gaussianity generated in this process has been calculated and problems regarding the precise determination of it have been pointed out.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Toward Complete Leading-Order Predictions for Neutrinoless Double β Decay

The amplitude for the neutrinoless double β (0νββ) decay of the two-neutron system nn → ppe – e – constitutes a key building block for nuclear-structure calculations of heavy nuclei employed in large-scale 0νββ searches. Assuming that the 0νββ process is mediated by a light-Majorana-neutrino exchange, a systematic analysis in chiral effective field theory shows that already at leading order a contact operator is required to ensure renormalizability. Here, we develop a method to estimate the numerical value of its coefficient (in analogy to the Cottingham formula for electromagnetic contributions to hadron masses) and validate the result by reproducing the charge-independence-breaking contribution to the nucleon-nucleon scattering lengths. Our central result, while derived in dimensional regularization, is given in terms of the renormalized amplitude Aν(|p|, |p'|) , matching to which will allow one to determine the contact-term contribution in regularization schemes employed in nuclear-structure calculations. Our results thus greatly reduce a crucial uncertainty in the interpretation of searches for 0νββ decay.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Broken Ergodicity in Ideal, Homogeneous, Incompressible Turbulence

We discuss the statistical mechanics of numerical models of ideal homogeneous, incompressible turbulence and their relevance for dissipative fluids and magnetofluids. These numerical models are based on Fourier series and the relevant statistical theory predicts that Fourier coefficients of fluid velocity and magnetic fields (if present) are zero-mean random variables. However, numerical simulations clearly show that certain coefficients have a non-zero mean value that can be very large compared to the associated standard deviation. We explain this phenomena in terms of broken ergodicity', which is defined to occur when dynamical behavior does not match ensemble predictions on very long time-scales. We review the theoretical basis of broken ergodicity, apply it to 2-D and 3-D fluid and magnetohydrodynamic simulations of homogeneous turbulence, and show new results from simulations using GPU (graphical processing unit) computers.

Morin, Lee↗