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At least 487 records · Page 27

Experimental Design for Hanford Low-Activity Waste Glasses with High Waste Loading

This report discusses the development of an experimental design for the initial phase of the Hanford low-activity waste (LAW) enhanced glass study. This report is based on a manuscript written for an applied statistics journal. Appendices A, B, and E include additional information relevant to the LAW enhanced glass experimental design that is not included in the journal manuscript. The glass composition experimental region is defined by single-component constraints (SCCs), linear multiple-component constraints (MCCs), and a nonlinear MCC involving 15 LAW glass components. Traditional methods and software for designing constrained mixture experiments with SCCs and linear MCCs are not directly applicable because of the nonlinear MCC. A modification of existing methodology to account for the nonlinear MCC was developed and is described in this report. One of the glass components, SO 3 , has a solubility limit in glass that depends on the composition of the balance of the glass. A goal was to design the experiment so that SO 3 would not exceed its predicted solubility limit for any of the experimental glasses. The SO 3 solubility limit had previously been modeled by a partial quadratic mixture model expressed in the relative proportions of the 14 other components. The partial quadratic mixture model was used to construct a nonlinear MCC in terms of all 15 components. In addition, there were SCCs and linear MCCs. This report describes how a layered design was generated to (i) account for the SCCs, linear MCCs, and nonlinear MCC and (ii) meet the goals of the study. A layered design consists of points on an outer layer, and inner layer, and a center point. There were 18 outer-layer glasses chosen using optimal experimental design software to augment 147 existing glass compositions that were within the LAW glass composition experimental region. Then 13 inner-layer glasses were chosen with the software to augment the existing and outer-layer glasses. The experimental design was completed by a center-point glass, a Vitreous State Laboratory glass, and replicates of the center point and Vitreous State Laboratory glasses.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

QForte: An Efficient State-Vector Emulator and Quantum Algorithms Library for Molecular Electronic Structure

Here, we introduce a novel open-source software package QForte, a comprehensive development tool for new quantum simulation algorithms. QForte incorporates functionality for handling molecular Hamiltonians, fermionic encoding, ansatz construction, time evolution, and state-vector emulation, requiring only a classical electronic structure package as a dependency. QForte also contains black-box implementations of a wide variety of quantum algorithms, including variational and projective quantum eigensolvers, adaptive eigensolvers, quantum imaginary time evolution, and quantum Krylov methods. We highlight two features of QForte: (i) how the Python class structure of QForte enables the facile implementation of new algorithms, and (ii) how existing algorithms can be executed in just a few lines of code.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Empirically Driven multiwavelength K-c orrections at low redshift

K -corrections – a necessary ingredient for converting between flux in observed bands to flux in rest-frame bands – are critical for comparing galaxies at differing redshifts. These corrections often rely on fits to empirical or theoretical spectral energy distribution (SED) templates of galaxies. However, templates can only produce reliable K-corrections in regimes where SED models are robust. For instance, the templates utilized in some popular software packages are not well-constrained in some bands (e.g. WISE W4 in KCORRECT ), which results in ill-behaved K -corrections. We address this shortcoming by developing an empirically driven approach to K -corrections that limits the dependence on SED templates. We perform a polynomial fit for the K -correction as a function of a galaxy’s rest-frame colour determined in a pair of well-constrained bands (e.g. 0 (g − r)) and redshift, exploiting the fact that galaxy SEDs can be approximated as a one-parameter family at low redshift. For bands well-constrained by SED templates, our empirically driven K -corrections yield results comparable to the SED fitting methods used by KCORRECT and the GSWLC-M2 catalogue (the updated medium-deep GALEX–SDSS–WISE Legacy Catalogue). However, our method dramatically outperforms Kcorrect derived K -corrections for WISE W4 . Our method is also robust to incorrect template assumptions outside of the optical bands and enforces that the K -correction must be zero at z = 0. Our K -corrected photometry and code are publicly available.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Analysis of Building Model Forecasts using Autonomous HVAC Optimization System for Residential Neighborhood

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems account for the highest share of home energy consumption in the United States. Optimized HVAC control can provide thermal improved comfort to the occupants, improve energy efficiency, reduce energy cost, and support grid services. In this paper, we discuss a multi-agent and cloud-based software framework that has been deployed in occupied residential neighborhood. This system enables automatic data collection, learning, optimization, and dispatches signals to neighborhood devices. HVAC optimization is based on model predictive control (MPC). Since the operational performance of MPC depends on model forecasting accuracy, it is crucial to evaluate the model continuously and modify or retrain it as necessary. In this research, we developed an automated workflow to evaluate the performance of temperature and power forecasts based on measured data in the real world. This will provide researchers with a deeper understanding of the model and how it can be improved.

Lebakula, Viswadeep↗

Osprey Framework v0.2.2

The Alpha Berkeley Framework is a software architecture for building agentic AI systems that coordinate multi-step workflows in scientific and industrial environments. It is based on a plan-first orchestration model, where natural language requests are translated into execution plans with explicit dependencies and optional human approval. The framework includes capability classification, which selects relevant tools on a per-task basis to keep orchestration efficient as the number of available tools grows. It incorporates task extraction methods that compress conversational context and integrate external resources such as databases, APIs, and knowledge bases into structured, machine-readable tasks. Execution is supported by modular services with checkpointing, artifact management, and error handling, allowing workflows to be paused, inspected, and resumed. The system is designed for deployment in production environments, supporting both local and containerized execution as well as integration with HPC clusters. Interfaces include command-line tools, browser-based workflows, and containerized services. The framework has been demonstrated in tutorial examples and deployed at the Advanced Light Source, where it coordinates accelerator control and analysis workflows.

Hellert, Thorsten [Lawrence Berkeley National Labo↗

Sustaining and Extending the Open Science Grid: Science Innovation on a PetaScale Nationwide Facility (DE-FC02-06ER41436) SciDAC-2 Closeout Report

Under this SciDAC-2 grant the project’s goal w a s t o stimulate new discoveries by providing scientists with effective and dependable access to an unprecedented national distributed computational facility: the Open Science Grid (OSG). We proposed to achieve this through the work of the Open Science Grid Consortium: a unique hands-on multi-disciplinary collaboration of scientists, software developers and providers of computing resources. Together the stakeholders in this consortium sustain and use a shared distributed computing environment that transforms simulation and experimental science in the US. The OSG consortium is an open collaboration that actively engages new research communities. We operate an open facility that brings together a broad spectrum of compute, storage, and networking resources and interfaces to other cyberinfrastructures, including the US XSEDE (previously TeraGrid), the European Grids for ESciencE (EGEE), as well as campus and regional grids. We leverage middleware provided by computer science groups, facility IT support organizations, and computing programs of application communities for the benefit of consortium members and the US national CI.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

An Overview of the Monte Carlo Application ToolKit (MCATK)

MCATK is a C++ component-based Monte Carlo neutron-gamma transport software library designed to build specialized applications and designed to provide new functionality in existing general-purpose Monte Carlo codes like MCNP; it was developed with Agile software engineering methodologies under the motivation to reduce costs. The characteristics of MCATK can be summarized as follows: MCATK physics – continuous energy neutron-gamma transport with multi-temperature treatment, static eigenvalue (k and α) algorithms, time-dependent algorithm, fission chain algorithms; MCATK geometry – mesh geometries, solid body geometries. MCATK provides verified, unit-tested Monte Carlo components, flexibility in Monte Carlo applications development, and numerous tools such as geometry and cross section plotters. Recent work has involved deterministic and Monte Carlo analysis of stochastic systems. Static and dynamic analysis is discussed, and the results of a dynamic test problem are given.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A Hardware and Software Co-design Framework for Energy Efficient Neuromorphic Systems

Neuromorphic systems can be realized by a variety of algorithms and architectures. A common understanding is that spiking neuromorphic designs, which encode information into spatio-temporal spiking events, are both a biologically-accurate and efficient way of processing information. However, representing the information through timing relationships induces sophisticated circuit designs in traditional CMOS-based implementations. In recent years, high-capacity resistive memory (RRAM, aka, memristor) has demonstrated great potential in mimicking synaptic behaviors. Several RRAM-based spiking neuromorphic designs exist, most of which focus on rate coding schemes. These designs simplify circuit implementations of neuron models and explore challenges such as unsatisfactory speed, resolution, and performance. As an alternative, we will explore temporal coding spiking neuromorphic systems that encode information as the relative timing of neuron activations (spikes), which have been proven to be more adaptive and energy-efficient. Developing a neuromorphic system for spiking neural network (SNN) inference and online training, however, faces some major technical challenges: (1) It lacks circuit implementation support for temporal-coding SNN to achieve satisfying power efficiency and accuracy; (2) Although existing research works have investigated memristive synapse and neuron designs for spike-timing-dependent plasticity, the non-ideal conditions in implementation, such as device variations and signal degradation, degrade online learning accuracy of large scale systems; and (3) Non-optimized, inter-layer data traffic in SNNs, leads to unnecessary data communication costs. In this project, we plan to address these challenges by a hardware and software co-design framework that incorporates solutions at the circuit, architecture, and algorithm levels. At the circuit-level, we will elaborate on the in-situ SNN processing element designs for supporting both inference and online training modes. Variation-aware schemes will be studied to improve reliability. At the architecture level, we propose a pipelined, asynchronous architecture to retain the timing resolution of spikes. At the algorithm level, we will investigate an innovative SNN training algorithm for enabling activation sparsification and reducing unnecessary data communication costs. This neuromorphic system will provide an effective solution to real-life energy-constrained applications and significantly contribute to the exploration of next-generation high-performance computing systems under the DOE context.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Electrical modeling of InAs/GaSb superlattice mid-wavelength infrared pin photodiode to analyze experimental dark current characteristics

Dark current characteristics of 7 Monolayers (ML) InAs/ 4 ML GaSb SL pin photodiodes are simulated using ATLAS software. Using appropriate models and material parameters, we obtain good agreement between the simulated and the experimental dark current curves of photodiodes grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The n-type non-intentionally-doped (nid) SL samples exhibit a dependence of the lifetime with temperature following the T{sup -1/2} law, signature of Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) Generation-Recombination current. We also studied the dependence of the dark current with the absorber doping level. It appears that the absorber doping level must not exceed a value of 2×10¹⁵cm⁻³, above this value the dark current is increasing with increased doping level. However for this doping value, a dark current as low as 5 × 10⁻⁹ A/cm², at 50 mV reverse bias at 77 K can be obtained.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

NSLS-II SR Commissioning Report

The NSLS-II storage ring (SR) phase I commissioning has been successfully completed in May 12, 2014. In accordance to the project milestone, 25 mA average current was achieved in the storage ring with PETRA III 500 MHz 7-cell PETRA-III RF cavity but w/o ID’s and Landau cavities. In about 5 weeks we delivered a 3 GeV beam to the ring injection straight section, made the 1st turn around the ring, achieved hundreds of turns optimizing injection, stored beam having sextupoles and RF turned ON. Injection efficiency was achieved 95%, close orbit rms value is ~100 um, tune and chromaticity were measured and adjusted as desired, and beam lifetime was a few hours depending on the stored beam current. This report consists of a summary, a chronological part, the injector system performance in Ch3, SR commissioning experience in Ch4 and the outlook of remaining work in Ch5. The SR commissioning experience includes the software experience, hardware (timing, diagnostics, RF, vacuum, PS) operation experience, the strategy for initial injection beam to the stored beam, measurement of the linear optics and control to the desired value, nonlinear beam dynamics study, beam instability study, the subsystem reliability and fault study at different scenarios.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Determing the Radiative Heat Transfer out of the Fireball of an Atmospheric Nuclear Detonation using Experimental Data

When Edgerton, Germeshausen and Grier, Inc. (EG&G) conducted the atmospheric nuclear tests in the 1950s, they made several continuous records of the light output over time with special "streak cameras." Once processed, these "streak films" contained long bands of varying optical density on black-and-white 35mm film. The purpose for creating them was to determine the time-dependent rate of radiative heat transfer out of the fireball. Back then, EG&G's manual examination methods were not precise enough to make complete analysis worthwhile, so the data was never fully analyzed. With the advent of new computer software, recently developed analysis techniques have reduced uncertainty in the data to where re-analysis is providing results far more reliable than anything EG&G published. Previously inaccessible information can now be accurately gathered from the original films. The method described here allows the streak films to be analyzed so a radiative power curve for an atmospheric nuclear detonation can be constructed using only experimental data. It was applied to five streak films here, though it may be applicable to other types of films as well. The data was plotted and compared to solutions generated with the Hybrid Chemistry (HYCHEM) software. The results are explained, and uncertainty values are provided. If the results from more films show consistency and the sources of uncertainty are mitigated, enough data may be discovered to create a correction factor for HYCHEM or to make more accurate yield determinations using G.I. Taylor's equations. Several other conclusions and recommendations are also posed.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

sppIDer: A Species Identification Tool to Investigate Hybrid Genomes with High-Throughput Sequencing

The genomics era has expanded our knowledge about the diversity of the living world, yet harnessing high-throughput sequencing data to investigate alternative evolutionary trajectories, such as hybridization, is still challenging. Here we present sppIDer, a pipeline for the characterization of interspecies hybrids and pure species, that illuminates the complete composition of genomes. sppIDer maps short-read sequencing data to a combination genome built from reference genomes of several species of interest and assesses the genomic contribution and relative ploidy of each parental species, producing a series of colorful graphical outputs ready for publication. As a proof-of-concept, we use the genus Saccharomyces to detect and visualize both interspecies hybrids and pure strains, even with missing parental reference genomes. Through simulation, we show that sppIDer is robust to variable reference genome qualities and performs well with low-coverage data. We further demonstrate the power of this approach in plants, animals, and other fungi. sppIDer is robust to many different inputs and provides visually intuitive insight into genome composition that enables the rapid identification of species and their interspecies hybrids. sppIDer exists as a Docker image, which is a reusable, reproducible, transparent, and simple-to-run package that automates the pipeline and installation of the required dependencies (https://github.com/GLBRC/sppIDer; last accessed September 6, 2018).

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Electron–phonon physics from first principles using the EPW code

EPW is an open-source software for ab initio calculations of electron–phonon interactions and related materials properties. The code combines density functional perturbation theory and maximally localized Wannier functions to efficiently compute electron–phonon coupling matrix elements, and to perform predictive calculations of temperature-dependent properties and phonon-assisted quantum processes in bulk solids and low-dimensional materials. Here, we report on significant developments in the code since 2016, namely: a transport module for the calculation of charge carrier mobility under electric and magnetic fields using the Boltzmann transport equation; a superconductivity module for calculations of phonon-mediated superconductors using the anisotropic multi-band Eliashberg theory; an optics module for calculations of phonon-assisted indirect transitions; a module for the calculation of small and large polarons without supercells; and a module for calculating band structure renormalization and temperature-dependent optical spectra using the special displacement method. For each capability, we outline the methodology and implementation and provide example calculations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Collection: TD-DFT and EOM-CCSD Calculations for the GDB-9-Ex Dataset

We present two datasets that contain quantum chemical electronic structure calculations for organic molecules from the GDB-9-Ex dataset. The “GDB-9-Ex_TD-DFT-PBE0” dataset contains calculations performed using the time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) first principles method, and the “GDB-9-Ex_EOMCCSD” dataset contains calculations performed using the equation-of-motion coupled cluster (EOM-CCSD) method. Both types of calculations were performed using the ORCA software and provided ultraviolet-visible spectra with a high level of accuracy.

Mehta, Kshitij [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORN↗

WE-D-204-03: A Six-Year Longitudinal Evaluation of the DICOM GSDF Conformance Stability of LCD Monitors

Purpose: The calibration of monitors in radiology is critical to ensure a standardized reading environment. If left unchecked, monitors initially calibrated to follow the DICOM Grayscale Standard Display Function (GSDF) can fall out of calibration. This work presents a quantitative evaluation of the stability of a cohort of monitors with similar deployment times and clinical utilization. Methods: Fifty-four liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors (NEC L200ME) were deployed for clinical use in 2009. At that time, a subset of eight of these monitors were used to generate a look-up table (LUT) using the open-source software pacsDisplay. The software was used to load the LUT to the graphics card of the computer in order to make the monitors compliant with the GSDF. The luminance response of the monitors was evaluated twice over six years, once in 2011 and again in 2015. Results: As expected, the maximum luminance of the monitors decreased over time, with an average reduction from 2009 of 35% in 2011, and 53% in 2015. The luminance ratio (maximum luminance divided by the minimum) also decreased, with the all of the decrease occurring in the first two years (average 20%). There was an overall increase in relative error compared with the DICOM GSDF from measurement to measurement, indicating that deviation from the GSDF increases with monitor luminance reduction. Along with changes in luminance, several other issues were identified during the testing, including non-uniformities, bad pixels, and missing calibration software. Conclusion: From the initial installation of these monitors, most of the degradation occurred during the first two years, highlighting the importance of routine clinical testing of displays. Following such quality assurance, displays could be either re-calibrated or replaced depending on different thresholds. In addition, other issues not related to luminance could be identified and corrected.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

LANL Summer 2016 Report

The Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) transport code developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) utilizes nuclear cross-section data in a compact ENDF (ACE) format. The accuracy of MCNP calculations depends on the accuracy of nuclear ACE data tables, which depends on the accuracy of the original ENDF files. There are some noticeable differences in ENDF files from one generation to the next, even among the more common fissile materials. As the next generation of ENDF files is being prepared, several software tools were developed to simulate a large number of benchmarks in MCNP (over 1000), collect data from these simulations, and visually represent the results.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

SU-F-T-301: Planar Dose Pass Rate Inflation Due to the MapCHECK Measurement Uncertainty Function

Purpose: To quantify the effect of the Measurement Uncertainty function on planar dosimetry pass rates, as analyzed with Sun Nuclear Corporation analytic software (“MapCHECK” or “SNC Patient”). This optional function is toggled on by default upon software installation, and automatically increases the user-defined dose percent difference (%Diff) tolerance for each planar dose comparison. Methods: Dose planes from 109 IMRT fields and 40 VMAT arcs were measured with the MapCHECK 2 diode array, and compared to calculated planes from a commercial treatment planning system. Pass rates were calculated within the SNC analytic software using varying calculation parameters, including Measurement Uncertainty on and off. By varying the %Diff criterion for each dose comparison performed with Measurement Uncertainty turned off, an effective %Diff criterion was defined for each field/arc corresponding to the pass rate achieved with MapCHECK Uncertainty turned on. Results: For 3%/3mm analysis, the Measurement Uncertainty function increases the user-defined %Diff by 0.8–1.1% average, depending on plan type and calculation technique, for an average pass rate increase of 1.0–3.5% (maximum +8.7%). For 2%, 2 mm analysis, the Measurement Uncertainty function increases the user-defined %Diff by 0.7–1.2% average, for an average pass rate increase of 3.5–8.1% (maximum +14.2%). The largest increases in pass rate are generally seen with poorly-matched planar dose comparisons; the MapCHECK Uncertainty effect is markedly smaller as pass rates approach 100%. Conclusion: The Measurement Uncertainty function may substantially inflate planar dose comparison pass rates for typical IMRT and VMAT planes. The types of uncertainties incorporated into the function (and their associated quantitative estimates) as described in the software user’s manual may not accurately estimate realistic measurement uncertainty for the user’s measurement conditions. Pass rates listed in published reports or otherwise compared to the results of other users or vendors should clearly indicate whether the Measurement Uncertainty function is used.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Temperature dependent simulation of diamond depleted Schottky PIN diodes

Diamond is considered as an ideal material for high field and high power devices due to its high breakdown field, high lightly doped carrier mobility, and high thermal conductivity. The modeling and simulation of diamond devices are therefore important to predict the performances of diamond based devices. In this context, we use Silvaco{sup ®} Atlas, a drift-diffusion based commercial software, to model diamond based power devices. The models used in Atlas were modified to account for both variable range and nearest neighbor hopping transport in the impurity bands associated with high activation energies for boron doped and phosphorus doped diamond. The models were fit to experimentally reported resistivity data over a wide range of doping concentrations and temperatures. We compare to recent data on depleted diamond Schottky PIN diodes demonstrating low turn-on voltages and high reverse breakdown voltages, which could be useful for high power rectifying applications due to the low turn-on voltage enabling high forward current densities. Three dimensional simulations of the depleted Schottky PIN diamond devices were performed and the results are verified with experimental data at different operating temperatures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗