Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “HISTOGRAM”

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 433 records · Page 24

Conformational sampling enhancement of replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations using swarm particle intelligence

In this paper, we present a new method based on swarm particle social intelligence for use in replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations. In this method, the replicas (representing the different system configurations) are allowed communicating with each other through the individual and social knowledge, in additional to considering them as a collection of real particles interacting through the Newtonian forces. The new method is based on the modification of the equations of motion in such way that the replicas are driven towards the global energy minimum. The method was tested for the Lennard-Jones clusters of N = 4, 5, and 6 atoms. Our results showed that the new method is more efficient than the conventional replica exchange method under the same practical conditions. In particular, the new method performed better on optimizing the distribution of the replicas among the thermostats with time and, in addition, ergodic convergence is observed to be faster. We also introduce a weighted histogram analysis method allowing analyzing the data from simulations by combining data from all of the replicas and rigorously removing the inserted bias.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Morphological, structural and thermal studies of gallium nitride ferrite

We report the synthesis and Characterization of III-V doped Nano ferrite Ga{sub (2x+2)}N Fe{sub 2(49-x)}O{sub 3} for x=1 and x=5 by Sol-Gel method. The Morphological, structural and Thermal characterisation studies are done by using Transmission Electron Microscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis, Selected Area Electron Diffraction, Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis and Differential Thermal Analysis. Using the Sci-Finder software we could not trace any reports related to GaNFe{sub 2}O{sub 3} in the literature. It has been observed from our studies that the particles are in the Cylindrical and the Globular structure. The particle diameter values from the Histograms are in good agreement with the XRD values that were communicated by us earlier. The SAED and the EDAX studies reveal the confirmation of the composition and also that the synthesized Ferrite exhibits crystalline nature. The TG-DTA results show that the compound indicates constant sample weight.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Single-photon emission of InAs/InP quantum dashes at 1.55 μm and temperatures up to 80 K

We report on single photon emission from a self-assembled InAs/InGaAlAs/InP quantum dash emitting at 1.55 μm at the elevated temperatures. The photon auto-correlation histograms of the emission from a charged exciton indicate clear antibunching dips with as-measured g{sup (2)}(0) values significantly below 0.5 recorded at temperatures up to 80 K. It proves that the charged exciton complex in a single quantum dash of the mature InP-based material system can act as a true single photon source up to at least liquid nitrogen temperature. This demonstrates the huge potential of InAs on InP nanostructures as the non-classical light emitters for long-distance fiber-based secure communication technologies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Molecular simulation of CO chemisorption on Co(0001) in presence of supercritical fluid solvent: A potential of mean force study

For several decades, heterogeneous catalytic processes have been improved through utilizing supercritical fluids (SCFs) as solvents. While numerous experimental studies have been established across a range of chemistries, such as oxidation, pyrolysis, amination, and Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, still there is little fundamental, molecular-level information regarding the role of the SCF on elementary heterogeneous catalytic steps. In this study, the influence of hexane solvent on the adsorption of carbon monoxide on Co(0001), as the first step in the reaction mechanism of many processes involving syngas conversion, is probed. Simulations are performed at various bulk hexane densities, ranging from ideal gas conditions (no SCF hexane) to various near- and super-critical hexane densities. For this purpose, both density functional theory and molecular dynamics simulations are employed to determine the adsorption energy and free energy change during CO chemisorption. Potential of mean force calculations, utilizing umbrella sampling and the weighted histogram analysis method, provide the first commentary on SCF solvent effects on the energetic aspects of the chemisorption process. Simulation results indicate an enhanced stability of CO adsorption on the catalyst surface in the presence of supercritical hexane within the reduced pressure range of 1.0–1.5 at a constant temperature of 523 K. Furthermore, it is shown that the maximum stability of CO in the adsorbed state as a function of supercritical hexane density at 523 K nearly coincides with the maximum isothermal compressibility of bulk hexane at this temperature.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Fabrication and characterization of a co-planar detector in diamond for low energy single ion implantation

We demonstrate low energy single ion detection using a co-planar detector fabricated on a diamond substrate and characterized by ion beam induced charge collection. Histograms are taken with low fluence ion pulses illustrating quantized ion detection down to a single ion with a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 10. We anticipate that this detection technique can serve as a basis to optimize the yield of single color centers in diamond. In conclusion, the ability to count ions into a diamond substrate is expected to reduce the uncertainty in the yield of color center formation by removing Poisson statistics from the implantation process.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

The cluster charge identification in the GEM detector for fusion plasma imaging by soft X-ray diagnostics

The measurement system based on gas electron multiplier detector is developed for soft X-ray diagnostics of tokamak plasmas. The multi-channel setup is designed for estimation of the energy and the position distribution of an X-ray source. The focal measuring issue is the charge cluster identification by its value and position estimation. The fast and accurate mode of the serial data acquisition is applied for the dynamic plasma diagnostics. The charge clusters are counted in the space determined by 2D position, charge value, and time intervals. Radiation source characteristics are presented by histograms for a selected range of position, time intervals, and cluster charge values corresponding to the energy spectra.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Advances in utilizing event based data structures for neutron scattering experiments

This article strives to expand on existing work to demonstrate advancements in data processing made available using event mode measurements. Most spallation neutron sources in the world have data acquisition systems that provide event recording. The new science that is enabled by utilizing event mode has only begun to be explored. In the past, these studies were difficult to perform because histograms forced dealing with either large chunks of time or a large number of files. With event based data collection, data can be explored and rebinned long after the measurement has completed. This article will review some of the principles of event data and how the method opens up new possibilities for in situ measurements, highlighting techniques that can be used to explore changes in the data. We also demonstrate the statistical basis for determining data quality and address the challenge of determining how long to measure mid-measurement. Lastly, we demonstrate a model independent method of grouping data via hierarchical clustering methods that can be used to improve calibration, reduction, and data exploration.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Rate constants in spatially inhomogeneous systems

Here, we introduce a theory and accompanying importance sampling method for computing rate constants in spatially inhomogeneous systems. Using the relationship between rate constants and path space partition functions, we illustrate that the relative change in the rate of a rare event through space is isomorphic to the calculation of a free energy difference, albeit in a trajectory ensemble. Like equilibrium free energies, relative rate constants can be estimated by importance sampling. An extension to transition path sampling is proposed that combines biased path ensembles and weighted histogram analysis to accomplish this estimate. We demonstrate that rate constants can also be decomposed into different contributions, including relative changes in stability, barrier height, and flux. This decomposition provides a means of interpretation and insight into rare processes in complex environments. We confirm these ideas with a simple model of diffusion with spatially varying diffusivity and illustrate their utility in a model of ion pair dissociation near an electrochemical interface.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Studying vapor-liquid transition using a generalized ensemble

Homogeneous vapor-liquid nucleation is studied using the generalized Replica Exchange Method (gREM). The generalized ensemble allows the study of unstable states that cannot directly be studied in the canonical ensemble. Along with replica exchange, this allows for efficient sampling of the multiple states in a single simulation. Statistical Temperature Weighted Histogram Analysis Method is used for postprocessing to get a continuous free energy curve from bulk vapor to bulk liquid. gREM allows the study of planar, cylindrical, and spherical interfaces in a single simulation. The excess Gibbs free energy for the formation of a spherical liquid droplet in vapor for a Lennard-Jones system is calculated from the free energy curve and compared against the umbrella sampling results. The nucleation free energy barrier obtained from gREM is then used to calculate the nucleation rate without relying on any classification scheme for separating the vapor and liquid.

Ballal, Deepti (ORCID:0000000315694749)↗

Reconstruction and uncertainty quantification of lattice Hamiltonian model parameters from observations of microscopic degrees of freedom

The emergence of scanning probe and electron beam imaging techniques has allowed quantitative studies of atomic structure and minute details of electronic and vibrational structure on the level of individual atomic units. These microscopic descriptors, in turn, can be associated with local symmetry breaking phenomena, representing the stochastic manifestation of the underpinning generative physical model. In this work, we explore the reconstruction of exchange integrals in the Hamiltonian for a lattice model with two competing interactions from observations of microscopic degrees of freedom and establish the uncertainties and reliability of such analysis in a broad parameter-temperature space. In contrast to other approaches, we specifically specify a loss function inherent to thermodynamic systems and utilize it to estimate uncertainty in simulated realizations of different models. As an ancillary task, we develop a machine learning approach based on histogram clustering to predict phase diagrams efficiently using a reduced descriptor space. We further demonstrate that reconstruction is possible well above the phase transition and in the regions of parameter space when the macroscopic ground state of the system is poorly defined due to frustrated interactions. This suggests that this approach can be applied to the traditionally complex problems of condensed matter physics such as ferroelectric relaxors and morphotropic phase boundary systems, spin and cluster glasses, and quantum systems once the local descriptors linked to the relevant physical behaviors are known.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

X-ray multi-probe data acquisition: A novel technique for laser pump x-ray transient absorption spectroscopy

We report the development and implementation of a novel data acquisition (DAQ) technique for synchrotron-based laser pump X-ray Transient Absorption (XTA) spectroscopy, called X-ray Multi-Probe DAQ (XMP DAQ). This technique utilizes high performance analog to digital converters and home-built software to efficiently measure and process the XTA signal from all x-ray pulses between laser excitations. XMP DAQ generates a set of time resolved x-ray absorption spectra at thousands of different pump–probe time delays simultaneously. Two distinct XMP DAQ schemes are deployed to accommodate different synchrotron storage ring filling patterns. Current Integration (CI) DAQ is a quasi-analog technique that implements a fitting procedure to extract the time resolved absorption intensity from the averaged fluorescence detector response. The fitting procedure eliminates issues associated with small drifts in the voltage baseline and greatly enhances the accuracy of the technique. Photon Counting (PC) DAQ is a binary technique that uses a time resolved histogram to calculate the XTA spectrum. While PC DAQ is suited to measure XTA data with closely spaced x-ray pulses (~10 ns) and a low count rate (<1 detected photon/pulse), CI DAQ works best for widely spaced pulses (tens of ns or greater) with a high count rate (>1 detected photon/pulse). XMP DAQ produces a two-dimensional XTA dataset, enabling efficient quantitative analysis of photophysical and photochemical processes from the sub-nanosecond timescale to 100 μs and longer.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Thermonuclear neutron emission from a sheared-flow stabilized Z-pinch

We report the fusion Z-pinch experiment (FuZE) is a sheared-flow stabilized Z-pinch designed to study the effects of flow stabilization on deuterium plasmas with densities and temperatures high enough to drive nuclear fusion reactions. Results from FuZE show high pinch currents and neutron emission durations thousands of times longer than instability growth times. While these results are consistent with thermonuclear neutron emission, energetically resolved neutron measurements are a stronger constraint on the origin of the fusion production. This stems from the strong anisotropy in energy created in beam-target fusion, compared to the relatively isotropic emission in thermonuclear fusion. In dense Z-pinch plasmas, a potential and undesirable cause of beam-target fusion reactions is the presence of fast-growing, “sausage” instabilities. This work introduces a new method for characterizing beam instabilities by recording individual neutron interactions in plastic scintillator detectors positioned at two different angles around the device chamber. Histograms of the pulse-integral spectra from the two locations are compared using detailed Monte Carlo simulations. These models infer the deuteron beam energy based on differences in the measured neutron spectra at the two angles, thereby discriminating beam-target from thermonuclear production. An analysis of neutron emission profiles from FuZE precludes the presence of deuteron beams with energies greater than 4.65 keV with a statistical uncertainty of 4.15 keV and a systematic uncertainty of 0.53 keV. This analysis demonstrates that axial, beam-target fusion reactions are not the dominant source of neutron emission from FuZE. These data are promising for scaling FuZE up to fusion reactor conditions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Accurate prediction of global-density-dependent range-separation parameters based on machine learning

In this work, we develop an accurate and efficient XGBoost machine learning model for predicting the global-density-dependent range-separation parameter, ωGDD, for long-range corrected functional (LRC)-ωPBE. This ωGDDML model has been built using a wide range of systems (11 466 complexes, ten different elements, and up to 139 heavy atoms) with fingerprints for the local atomic environment and histograms of distances for the long-range atomic correlation for mapping the quantum mechanical range-separation values. The promising performance on the testing set with 7046 complexes shows a mean absolute error of 0.001 117 a0−1 and only five systems (0.07%) with an absolute error larger than 0.01 a0−1, which indicates the good transferability of our ωGDDML model. In addition, the only required input to obtain ωGDDML is the Cartesian coordinates without electronic structure calculations, thereby enabling rapid predictions. LRC-ωPBE(ωGDDML) is used to predict polarizabilities for a series of oligomers, where polarizabilities are sensitive to the asymptotic density decay and are crucial in a variety of applications, including the calculations of dispersion corrections and refractive index, and surpasses the performance of all other popular density functionals except for the non-tuned LRC-ωPBE. Finally, LRC-ωPBE (ωGDDML) combined with (extended) symmetry-adapted perturbation theory is used in calculating noncovalent interactions to further show that the traditional ab initio system-specific tuning procedure can be bypassed. The present study not only provides an accurate and efficient way to determine the range-separation parameter for LRC-ωPBE but also shows the synergistic benefits of fusing the power of physically inspired density functional LRC-ωPBE and the data-driven ωGDDML model.

Chemistry↗

Data Science Shows that Entropy Correlates with Accelerated Zeolite Crystallization in Monte Carlo Simulations

We have performed a data science study of Monte Carlo simulation trajectories to understand factors that can accelerate formation of zeolite nanoporous crystals, a process that can take days or even weeks. In previous work, Monte Carlo simulations predicted and experiments confirmed that using a secondary organic structure-directing agent (OSDA) accelerates crystallization of all-silica LTA zeolite, with experiments finding a three-fold speedup [PCCP 24, 142-148 (2022)]. However, it remains unclear what physical factors cause the speed-up. Here, we apply data science to analyze the simulation trajectories to discover what drives accelerated zeolite crystallization in Monte Carlo going from a one-OSDA synthesis (1OSDA) to a two-OSDA version (2OSDA). We encoded simulation snapshots using the Smooth Overlap of Atomic Positions approach, which represents all 2- and 3-body correlations within a given cutoff distance. Principal component analyses failed to discriminate datasets of structures from 1OSDA and 2OSDA simulations, while the Support Vector Machine (SVM) approach succeeded at classifying such structures with an area-under-curve (AUC) score of 0.99 (where AUC = 1 is a perfect classification) with all 3-body correlations, and as high as 0.94 with only 2-body correlations. SVM decision functions reveal relatively broad / narrow histograms for 1OSDA / 2OSDA datasets, suggesting that the two simulations differ strongly in information heterogeneity. Informed by these results, we performed pair (2-body) entropy calculations during crystallization, resulting in entropy differences that semi-quantitatively account for the speedup observed in the previous Monte Carlo simulations. We conclude that altering synthesis conditions in ways that substantially changes the entropy of labile silica networks may accelerate zeolite crystallization, and we discuss possible approaches for achieving such acceleration.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Algorithm to extract direction in 2D discrete distributions and a continuous Frobenius norm

In this study, we present a novel algorithm for determining directionality in 2D distributions of discrete data. We compare a reference dataset with a known direction to a measured dataset with an unknown direction by the Frobenius norm of the difference (FND) to find the unknown direction. To generalize this concept, we develop a continuous Frobenius norm of the difference (CFND) as a continuous analog of the FND and derive its analytical expression. By relating fitted and normalized 2D Gaussian distributions, we show that the CFND approximates the FND, and we validate this relationship with computer simulations. We find that a first-order approximation of the CFND between two similar Gaussian distributions takes the form of an absolute sine function, offering a simple analytical form with potential applications in specialized areas such as segmented inverse beta decay neutrino detectors, astronomy, machine learning, and more. Our methodology consists of modeling a 2D Gaussian distribution, binning the data into a histogram, and encoding it as a square matrix. Rotating this matrix around its geometric center and comparing it to a measured dataset using the FND gives us rotational data that we fit with an absolute sine function. The location of the minimum of this fit is the angle closest to the true angle of the direction in the measured dataset. We present the derivation and discuss initial applications of the CFND in our novel algorithm, demonstrating its success in approximating directionality in 2D distributions.

Physics↗

Statistical characteristics of laser interference and its effect on IR optoelectronic observation systems

We consider statistical characteristics of laser interference recorded in the focal region of an IR optoelectronic observation system under field and out-of-field illumination by laser radiation. The applicability of the analytical description of experimental histograms of the laser interference signal distribution at the photodetector array output using the probability density approximations in the form of gamma distribution and the Gaussian function is substantiated. It is shown that the specific form of these functions is determined both by the mean value (mathematical expectation) of the interference signal and by the characteristic parameter M, which depends on the statistical properties of the laser interference. (laser applications and other issues in quantum electronics)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Constraining the instantaneous aerosol influence on cloud albedo

Much of the uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic forcing of climate change comes from uncertainties in the instantaneous effect of aerosols on cloud albedo, known as the Twomey effect or the radiative forcing from aerosol–cloud interactions (RFaci), a component of the total or effective radiative forcing. Because aerosols serving as cloud condensation nuclei can have a strong influence on the cloud droplet number concentration ( N d ), previous studies have used the sensitivity of the N d to aerosol properties as a constraint on the strength of the RFaci. However, recent studies have suggested that relationships between aerosol and cloud properties in the present-day climate may not be suitable for determining the sensitivity of the N d to anthropogenic aerosol perturbations. Using an ensemble of global aerosol–climate models, this study demonstrates how joint histograms between N d and aerosol properties can account for many of the issues raised by previous studies. It shows that if the anthropogenic contribution to the aerosol is known, the RFaci can be diagnosed to within 20% of its actual value. Furthermore, the accuracy of different aerosol proxies for diagnosing the RFaci is investigated, confirming that using the aerosol optical depth significantly underestimates the strength of the aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite data.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Single-pixel interior filling function approach for detecting and correcting errors in particle tracking

We present a general method for detecting and correcting biases in the outputs of particle-tracking experiments. Our approach is based on the histogram of estimated positions within pixels, which we term the single-pixel interior filling function (SPIFF). We use the deviation of the SPIFF from a uniform distribution to test the veracity of tracking analyses from different algorithms. Unbiased SPIFFs correspond to uniform pixel filling, whereas biased ones exhibit pixel locking, in which the estimated particle positions concentrate toward the centers of pixels. Although pixel locking is a well-known phenomenon, we go beyond existing methods to show how the SPIFF can be used to correct errors. Here, the key is that the SPIFF aggregates statistical information from many single-particle images and localizations that are gathered over time or across an ensemble, and this information augments the single-particle data. We explicitly consider two cases that give rise to significant errors in estimated particle locations: undersampling the point spread function due to small emitter size and intensity overlap of proximal objects. In these situations, we show how errors in positions can be corrected essentially completely with little added computational cost. Additional situations and applications to experimental data are explored in SI Appendix. In the presence of experimental-like shot noise, the precision of the SPIFF-based correction achieves (and can even exceed) the unbiased Cramér–Rao lower bound. We expect the SPIFF approach to be useful in a wide range of localization applications, including single-molecule imaging and particle tracking, in fields ranging from biology to materials science to astronomy.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗