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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 397 records · Page 22
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Beyond the Standard Model physics prospects at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is an international project for neutrino physics and proton-decay searches, currently in the design and planning stages. Once built, DUNE will consist of two detectors exposed to the world's most intense neutrino beam. The near detector at Fermilab will record neutrino interactions near the beginning of the beam line. The other, much larger, detector, comprising four 10-kton liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs), will be installed at a depth of 1.5 km at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, about 1,300 km away from the neutrino source. The unique combination of the high-intensity neutrino beam, DUNE's high-resolution near detector system, and massive LArTPC far detector enables a variety of probes of Beyond-the-Standard-Model (BSM) physics, from the discovery of new particles (sterile neutrinos or dark matter), to precision tests of beyond the three-flavor mixing paradigm, non-standard neutrino interactions (NSIs), heavy neutral leptons, and the detailed study of rare processes (e.g., neutrino trident production). This article reviews these physics topics and discusses the prospects for their discovery at the DUNE experiment.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Deep Electric Field Predictions by Drift-Reduced Braginskii Theory with Plasma-Neutral Interactions Based on Experimental Images of Boundary Turbulence

We present 2-dimensional turbulent electric field calculations via physics-informed deep learning consistent with (i) drift-reduced Braginskii theory under the framework of an axisymmetric fusion plasma with purely toroidal field and (ii) experimental estimates of the fluctuating electron density and temperature on open field lines obtained from analysis of gas puff imaging of a discharge on the Alcator C-Mod tokamak. The inclusion of effects from the locally puffed atomic helium on particle and energy sources within the reduced plasma turbulence model are found to strengthen correlations between the electric field and electron pressure. The neutrals are also directly associated with broadening the distribution of turbulent field amplitudes and increasing ${\bf E \times B}$ shearing rates. As a result, this demonstrates a novel approach in plasma experiments by solving for nonlinear dynamics consistent with partial differential equations and data without encoding explicit boundary nor initial conditions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Maintainable Fusion Pilot Plant

The US fusion community has coalesced around the goal of building an FPP as described by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). In addition to demonstrating the viability of the technologies necessary to operate such a plant, including demonstration of net energy and electricity production, NASEM found that a “fusion pilot plant will need to demonstrate the ability to efficiently perform remote maintenance and replacement in support of the design of a power plant, taking into account details of the consequences of the fusion environment, such as material activation and tritium retention in components.” Current designs of fusion demonstration reactors do usually foresee a regular exchange of their first wall modules, including the tritium breeding blankets. In the European Power Plant Conceptual Studies, it is assumed that a fusion reactor will need to change its divertor every 2 years and its first wall blanket module every 5 to 6 years to reach acceptable availability. Underlying this capability are remote-handling technologies to keep the outage for the exchange of these components short. There are many uncertainties in the remote-handling schemes, and most schemes are at a preconceptual level at best. In addition, the exchange of these components would either produce an enormous rad-waste stream or would require an enormous refurbishment activity with huge cost-prohibitive hot-cells. Past Fusion Nuclear Science Facility (FNSF) preconceptual studies have led to hot cell dimensions of an unbelievable size, likely costing tens of billions of dollars. Already at The Way (previously International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ITER), hot-cells have become cost-prohibitive, demanding redesigns of the ITER first wall to reduce the toxic rad-waste/inventory. In this in-situ PFC repair project, a concept for a long-life, maintainable first wall module concept is developed and tested. This first wall concept relies on innovative remote handling to repair the first wall modules in-situ, avoiding costly refurbishments outside of the tokamak vessel. This approach was highlighted in the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee (FESAC) report on Transformative Enabling Capabilities for Efficient Advance Toward Fusion Energy. In general, the damage of the first wall armor is due to particle and radiation exposures. Load conditions vary from one fusion reactor design to another. In tokamaks, first wall Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) are exposed to far-Scrape-Off-Layer plasma fluxes, electromagnetic radiation, energetic CX neutrals, and potentially runaway electron beams. Protecting the first wall to the worst-case load conditions would require the design of a very thick first wall armor. Transient heat and particle fluxes due to disruptions or edge localized modes can lead to excessive heat loads resulting potentially in melting PFCs down to the cooling channel. Catastrophic events like these need to be avoided by appropriate disruption mitigation systems. However, failure of these systems will still put a first wall at an unacceptable risk. Hence, a first wall design needs to accommodate the occasional transient heat loads by introducing sacrificial limiters, which will absorb these transients.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Fermionic quantum processing with programmable neutral atom arrays

Simulating the properties of many-body fermionic systems is an outstanding computational challenge relevant to material science, quantum chemistry, and particle physics.-5.4pc]Please note that the spelling of the following author names in the manuscript differs from the spelling provided in the article metadata: D. González-Cuadra, D. Bluvstein, M. Kalinowski, R. Kaubruegger, N. Maskara, P. Naldesi, T. V. Zache, A. M. Kaufman, M. D. Lukin, H. Pichler, B. Vermersch, Jun Ye, and P. Zoller. The spelling provided in the manuscript has been retained; please confirm. Although qubit-based quantum computers can potentially tackle this problem more efficiently than classical devices, encoding nonlocal fermionic statistics introduces an overhead in the required resources, limiting their applicability on near-term architectures. In this work, we present a fermionic quantum processor, where fermionic models are locally encoded in a fermionic register and simulated in a hardware-efficient manner using fermionic gates. We consider in particular fermionic atoms in programmable tweezer arrays and develop different protocols to implement nonlocal gates, guaranteeing Fermi statistics at the hardware level. We use this gate set, together with Rydberg-mediated interaction gates, to find efficient circuit decompositions for digital and variational quantum simulation algorithms, illustrated here for molecular energy estimation. Finally, we consider a combined fermion-qubit architecture, where both the motional and internal degrees of freedom of the atoms are harnessed to efficiently implement quantum phase estimation as well as to simulate lattice gauge theory dynamics.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Review of searches for vector-like quarks, vector-like leptons, and heavy neutral leptons in proton–proton collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV at the CMS experiment

The LHC has provided an unprecedented amount of proton–proton collision data, bringing forth exciting opportunities to address fundamental open questions in particle physics. These questions can potentially be answered by performing searches for very rare processes predicted by models that attempt to extend the standard model of particle physics. The data collected by the CMS experiment in 2015–2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV can be used to test the standard model with high precision and potentially uncover evidence for new particles or interactions. An interesting possibility is the existence of new fermions with masses ranging from the MeV to the TeV scale. Such new particles appear in many possible extensions of the standard model and are well motivated theoretically. New fermions may explain the appearance of three generations of leptons and quarks, the mass hierarchy across these generations, and the nonzero neutrino masses. In this report, the results of searches targeting vectorlike quarks, vector-like leptons, and heavy neutral leptons at the CMS experiment are summarized. The complementarity of current searches for each type of new fermion is discussed, and combinations of several searches for vector-like quarks are presented. The discovery potential for some of these searches at the High-Luminosity LHC is also discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Neutral band gap of carbon by quantum Monte Carlo methods

We present a method of calculating the energy gap of a charge-neutral excitation using only ground-state calculations. We report Quantum Monte Carlo calculations of Γ→ Γ and Γ → X particle-hole excitation energies in diamond carbon. We analyze the finite-size effect and find the same 1/L decay rate as that in a charged excitation, where L is the linear extension of the supercell. This slow decay is attributed to the delocalized nature of the excitation in supercells too small to accommodate excitonic binding effects. At larger system sizes, the apparent 1/L decay crosses over to a 1/L 3 behavior. Estimation of the scale of exciton binding can be used to correct finite-size effects of neutral gaps.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Laser-Induced Photoreduction of Iron(III) Oxide Nanoparticles Enhanced by the Presence of Organic Chromophores

Light-induced electron transfer between chromophoric organic matter and Fe(III)-oxides lies at the heart of aqueous Fe(II) fluxes in the photic zone of natural systems. Understanding this photoreductive dissolution process is also essential for developing water purification techniques based on this class of materials. Previously, optical transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) measurements revealed that sub-picosecond relaxation times of photo-excited rhodamine B (RhB) dye increased when sorbed onto hematite nanoparticles (HNPs), consistent with electron transfer to the oxide. Here, in the present study, we exploit time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Fe K-edge to follow the Fe oxidation state for this same process to (i) confirm that RhB photoexcitation leads to interfacial electron transfer and Fe reduction; and (ii) quantify the lifetime of injected electrons as a function of solution conditions. Regardless of RhB dye availability and pH, direct band gap photoexcitation of HNPs yields an Fe(II)-like small polaronic absorption signature with a lifetime of ~ 1 ns, an order of magnitude longer than previously reported. However, when RhB is present at low pH under conditions where dye favorably interacts with the positively charged hematite surface, a second relaxation process approaching microsecond timescales is observed that likely represents back-reaction with the photoexcited adsorbed dye. At pH above neutral, the efficiency of the interfacial electron transfer is diminished by weaker interaction between sorbed dye and particle surfaces.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Plasma Mirrors For High Power Lasers: A new approach for high repetition rates combined with realistic PIC simulations

We describe a research program to develop high quality plasma mirrors for use with high repetition rate, high power laser facilities to greatly facilitate experiments in high energy density physics, particularly when using solid density targets. A system delivering ultrathin, free standing liquid crystal films that could handle PW class laser pulses was developed that preserved the laser beam image quality and improved pulse contrast by over two orders of magnitude. The pulse contrast improvement was measured using a high dynamic range cross-correlation. The system operated at a repetition rate of several PMs formed in situ per minute. Extension to 1 Hz repetition rates should be possible. As a practical application, a PM system was used to separate laser accelerated electrons from the ultrashort pulse drive laser so that the electron beam emittance could be directly measured. The 20 nm thick PMs did not contribute significantly to emittance degradation. It was also demonstrated that the films could operate in the difficult plasma and laser environment present for GeV laser based electron acceleration. PM operation is still not well understood and much work with PMs is done empirically. Accordingly, we also demonstrated a particle-in-cell based simulation technique that would model PM operation, tracking the PM operation from cold, neutral atoms to a hot dense plasma by accounting for multiphoton ionization, plasma collisionality, and the dynamically changing index of refraction. Simulations in 3D were compared to a 2D based approach that was comparable. Finally, we developed a simpler model that can predict the intensity at which a plasma mirror will have its peak reflectivity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Preliminary Component Design and Cost Estimation of a Novel Electric-Thermal Energy Storage System Using Solid Particles

Energy storage will become indispensable to complement the uncertainty of intermittent renewable resources and to firm the electricity supply as renewable power generation becomes the mainstream new-built energy source and fossil fuel power plants are phased out to meet carbon-neutral utility targets. Current energy storage methods based on pumped storage hydropower or batteries have many limitations. Thermal energy storage (TES) has unique advantages in scale and siting flexibility to provide grid-scale storage capacity. A particle-based TES system is projected to have promising cost and performance characteristics to meet the future growing energy storage needs. This paper introduces the system and components required for particle TES to become technically and economically competitive. The system integrates electric particle heaters, particle TES within insulated concrete silos, and an efficient air-Brayton combined-cycle power system to provide power for storage durations up to several days via low-cost, high-performance storage cycles. Design specifications and cost estimation of major components in a commercial-scale system are presented in this paper. A techno-economic analysis based on preliminary component designs and performance indicates that particle TES integrated with an air-Brayton combined-cycle power system has a path to achieve the targeted levelized cost of storage of 5 ¢/kWh-cycle at a round-trip efficiency of 50% when taking low-cost energy-specific components and leveraging basic assets from existing thermal power plants. The cost model provides insights for further development and economic potentials for long-duration energy storage.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

The plasma–sheath transition and Bohm criterion in a high recycling divertor

The high recycling regime of a divertor is characterized by high plasma particle fluxes and low temperature at the target, where a strong hydrogen recirculation loop exists. Atomic processes in the high recycling regime, such as ion–neutral friction and radiation, can affect the plasma momentum and energy transport in the sheath transition region. Here, in this work, the plasma–sheath transition near a high recycling wall is investigated. The Bohm speed, which constraints the ion exit flow speed, is evaluated from a transport model that accounts for the effect of the anisotropic transport and atomic collisions in the transition layer. A first principles kinetic code vector particle-in-cell with the atomic collision package is used to investigate a 1D self-consistent slab plasma with a high recycling boundary for the tungsten and carbon divertors. The results demonstrate the accuracy of the Bohm speed model in predicting the ion exit flow speed in the transition region, as well as the reduction of the Bohm speed due to the ion–neutral friction. The effect of different wall materials, tungsten, and carbon, on the Bohm speed and near-wall plasma profile is shown.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Effect of interparticle fields and radiation reaction on beam dynamics

The dynamics of relativistic particles in an intense electromagnetic field can be described by the Landau-Lifshitz (LL) equation, where the radiation reaction (RR) is accounted for via a self-force, and interparticle fields are often neglected as an approximation. However, the inclusion of interparticle fields is necessary to ensure energy-momentum conservation, particularly during coherent emission. Here we present (i) an analytical proof showing that the energy-momentum conservation law of the Hamilton-Rohrlich-Dirac action, which is divergence free and describes a generic system of interacting charges, respects causality and provides physically sensible results; (ii) a simple generalization of the LL equation for many particles evaluated as a function of the total field, i.e., the sum of the external and interparticle fields. By performing first-principles numerical simulations of a neutral, relativistic bunch of electrons and positrons (e − /e + ) colliding with a laser pulse, this theory is shown to satisfy energy-momentum conservation when interparticle fields and RR are simultaneously taken into account; and (iii) the combined effect of interparticle fields and RR primarily affects the tail of the particle energy distribution. Additionally, our first-principles simulations show that the effect of interparticle fields on beam energy loss becomes smaller when most of the radiated energy is incoherent.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Search for Lepton-Flavor-Violating Decay Modes 𝐵 0 →𝐾$^0_𝑆$⁢𝜏 ± ⁢ℓ ∓ with Hadronic 𝐵 Tagging at Belle and Belle II

We present the first search for the lepton-flavor-violating decay modes 𝐵 0 →𝐾$^0_𝑆$⁢𝜏 ± ⁢ℓ ∓ (ℓ=𝜇,𝑒) using the 711 and 365 fb −1 data samples recorded by the Belle and Belle II detectors, respectively. We use a hadronic 𝐵-tagging technique to fully reconstruct a 𝐵 meson and search for signal decays in the system recoiling against the tagged meson, considering 𝜏 decays to either light leptons, one charged hadron, or one charged hadron and a neutral pion. We find no evidence for 𝐵 0 →𝐾$^0_𝑆$⁢𝜏 ± ⁢ℓ ∓ decays and set 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions in the range of [0.8,3.6] ×10 −5 .

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Enhanced Pedestal H-mode at low edge ion collisionality on NSTX

The Enhanced Pedestal (EP) H-mode regime is an attractive wide-pedestal ELM-free high-betap scenario for NSTX-U and next-step devices as it achieves enhanced energy confinement (H98y,2 > 1.5), large normalized pressure (betaN > 5) and significant bootstrap fraction (f_BS > 0.6) at I_p/B_T = 2 MA/T. This regime is realized when the edge ion collisionality becomes sufficiently small that a positive feedback interaction occurs between a reduction in the ion neoclassical energy transport and an increase in the particle transport from pressure-driven edge instabilities. EP H-mode was most often observed as a transition following a large ELM in conditions with low edge neutral recycling. It is hypothesized that the onset of pressure-driven instabilities prior to the full recovery of the neutral density leads to a temporary period with elevated ion temperature gradient that triggers the transition to EP H-mode. Linear CGYRO and M3D-C1 calculations are compared to beam emission spectroscopy (BES) and magnetic spectroscopy in order to describe the evolution of the edge particle transport mechanisms during the ELM recovery and the saturated EP H-mode state. The observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the onset of pressure-driven edge instabilities, such as the KBM and kink-peeling, can be responsible for the increased particle transport in EP H-mode.

edge and boundary physics↗
DOE OSTI2024

One-dimensional simulation and validation of divertor detachment induced through nitrogen seeding on HL-2A

Divertor detachment is a promising method to solve the power exhaust problem in tokamak devices or even in future magnetic fusion reactors. In this work, a detachment experiment (HL-2A shot #38008) with mixed gas seeding (60% nitrogen and 40% deuterium) is simulated using the SD1D module in BOUT++. In the process from attachment to detachment, the target electron temperature and the target ion saturation current in simulations are found to be consistent with the experimental results measured by Langmuir probes on the target plate. In order to understand the underlying detachment mechanism on HL-2A, this work analyses the role of different particle species in the cases with different seeding rates. It shows that the plasma density varies little and the density of neutrals (D and D 2 ) slightly decreases with the increase of nitrogen seeding rate, such that plasma–neutral interactions cannot effectively reduce plasma energy and plasma momentum in the divertor. The case with a high seeding rate predicts that increasing seeding rate cannot reach a target temperature lower than 2.5 eV, which is the required temperature for strong plasma–molecule interactions. Thus, the plasma–molecule interactions may not be important in the divertor during nitrogen seeding. Here this work also studies the parallel forces including (1) force due to the parallel electric field, (2) friction forces, (3) ion- and electron-thermal forces, and (4) collisional reactions (e.g. charge exchange recombination and ionisation). It is found that the friction force between nitrogen ions and other particle species (primarily D + ) is the dominant force towards the target, while ion- and electron-thermal forces are the dominant force pushing nitrogen ions back to upstream. Parallel forces determine the parallel distribution of nitrogen impurities, and therefore decide the region of nitrogen radiation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Extension of the energetic particle transport kick model in TRANSP to multiple fast ion species

Abstract Alfvénic instabilities (AEs) are well known to cause enhanced transport of energetic particles (EPs) in fusion devices. Most studies until now have focused on characterizing and understanding AE stability in single-species plasmas heated by neutral beams (NB), where deuterium is typically used as both main plasma species and NB fuel. As the fusion community moves toward fusion reactors that target burning plasma conditions, such as ITER, the single-species picture breaks down. Burning plasmas, which will use a mix of deuterium and tritium (DT) as main fuel, also feature the presence of several supra-thermal fusion products such as alpha particles, protons, helium isotopes and high-energy tritium ions. This work presents the extension of the EP transport kick model implemented in the TRANSP time-dependent tokamak transport code to study the combined effect of multiple EP species on AE stability and, in turn, the response of different EP species to plasma instabilities in terms of their redistribution and losses. Further validation of the enhanced model is planned based on experimental results expected from the JET DT campaign scheduled for 2021, in preparation for ITER plasmas and beyond.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Nonlinear dynamics and transport driven by energetic particle instabilities using a gyro-Landau closure model *

Abstract Energetic particle (EP) destabilized Alfvén eigenmode (AE) instabilities are simulated for a DIII-D experimental case with a pulsed neutral beam using a gyro-Landau moments model which introduces EP phase-mixing effects through closure relations. This provides a computationally efficient reduced model which is applied here in the nonlinear regime over timescales that would be difficult to address with more complete models. The long timescale nonlinear evolution and related collective transport losses are examined including the effects of zonal flow/current generation, nonlinear energy cascades, and EP profile flattening. The model predicts frequencies and mode structures that are consistent with experimental observations. These calculations address issues that have not been considered in previous modelling: the EP critical gradient profile evolution in the presence of zonal flows/currents, and the dynamical nature of the saturated state. A strong level of intermittency is present in the predicted instability-driven transport; this is connected to the zonal flow growth and decay cycles and nonlinear energy transfers. Simulation of intermittent AE-enhanced EP transport will be an important issue for the protection of plasma facing components in the next generation of fusion devices.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Isotope physics of heat and particle transport with tritium in JET-ILW type-I ELMy H-mode plasmas

As part the DTE2 campaign in the JET tokamak, we conducted a parameter scan in T and D-T complementing existing pulses in H and D. For the different main ion masses, type-I ELMy H-modes at fixed plasma current and magnetic field can have the pedestal pressure varying by a factor of 4 and the total pressure changing from <?CDATA $\beta_{\mathrm{N}} = 1.0$?> β N = 1.0 to 3.0. We investigated the pedestal and core isotope mass dependencies using this extensive data set. The pedestal shows a strong mass dependence on the density, which influences the core due to the strong coupling between both plasma regions. To better understand the causes for the observed isotope mass dependence in the pedestal, we analysed the interplay between heat and particle transport and the edge localised mode (ELM) stability. For this purpose, we developed a dynamic ELM cycle model with basic transport assumptions and a realistic neutral penetration. The temporal evolution and resulting ELM frequency introduce an additional experimental constraint that conventional quasi-stationary transport analysis cannot provide. Our model shows that a mass dependence in the ELM stability or in the transport alone cannot explain the observations. One requires a mass dependence in the ELM stability as well as one in the particle sources. The core confinement time increases with pedestal pressure for all isotope masses due to profile stiffness and electromagnetic turbulence stabilisation. Interestingly, T and D-T plasmas show an improved core confinement time compared to H and D plasmas even for matched pedestal pressures. For T, this improvement is largely due to the unique pedestal composition of higher densities and lower temperatures than H and D. With a reduced gyroBohm factor at lower temperatures, more turbulent drive in the form of steeper gradients is required to transport the same amount of heat. This picture is supported by quasilinear flux-driven modelling using TGLF -SAT2 within Astra . With the experimental boundary condition TGLF -SAT2 predicts the core profiles well for gyroBohm heat fluxes <?CDATA ${\gt}15$?> > 15 , however, overestimates the heat and particle transport closer to the turbulent threshold.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗