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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 523 records · Page 29

Rapidity evolution of TMDs with running coupling

The scale of a coupling constant for rapidity-only evolution of transverse-momentum dependent (TMD) operators in the Sudakov kinematic region is calculated using the Brodsky-Lepage-Mackenzie optimal scale setting [S. J. Brodsky et al ., Phys. Rev. D 28, 228 (1983).]. The effective argument of a coupling constant is halfway in the logarithmical scale between the transverse momentum and energy of TMD distribution. The resulting rapidity-only evolution equation is solved for quark and gluon TMDs.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Thermal false vacuum decay around black holes

In flat space and at finite temperature, there are two regimes of false vacuum decay in quantum field theory. At low temperature, the decay proceeds through thermally-assisted tunneling described by periodic Euclidean solutions—bounces—with nontrivial time dependence. On the other hand, at high temperatures the bounces are time independent and describe thermal jumps of the field over the potential barrier. Here, we argue that only solutions of the second type are relevant for false vacuum decay catalyzed by a black hole in equilibrium with thermal bath. The argument applies to a wide class of spherical black holes, including d-dimensional anti–de Sitter/de Sitter Schwarzschild black holes and Reissner-Nordström black holes sufficiently far from criticality. It does not rely on the thin-wall approximation and applies to multifield scalar theories.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Mass-induced confinement near the sill of the conformal window

We revisit standard arguments for hyperscaling of the spectrum when a nonzero fermion mass is introduced to a gauge-fermion theory which is conformal in the infrared limit. With some general assumptions, we argue that the induced confinement scale will be significantly enhanced near the edge of the conformal to confining transition. This enhancement can allow for the fermion mass to be arbitrarily small compared to the confinement scale. This scale separation may allow for apparent spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry within the conformal window, which may be of interest for construction of dilaton effective field theories in this regime.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Tremaine-Gunn limit with mass-varying particles

General classical arguments on the time evolution of the phase-space density can be used to derive constraints on the mass of particle candidates for the cosmological dark matter (DM). The resulting Tremaine-Gunn limit is extremely useful in constraining particle DM models. In certain models, however, the DM particle mass varies appreciably over time. In this work, we generalize the phase-space limits on possible DM particle masses to these scenarios. We then examine the ensuing cosmological implications on the effective DM equation of state and indirect DM detection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Signatures of primordial energy injection from axion strings

Axion strings are horizon-size topological defects that may be produced in the early Universe. Ultralight axion-like particles may form strings that persist to temperatures below that of big bang nucleosynthesis. Such strings have been considered previously as sources of gravitational waves and cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization rotation. In this work we show, through analytic arguments and dedicated adaptive mesh refinement cosmological simulations, that axion strings deposit a subdominant fraction of their energy into high-energy Standard Model (SM) final states, for example, by the direct production of heavy radial modes that subsequently decay to SM particles. This high-energy SM radiation is absorbed by the primordial plasma, leading to novel signatures in precision big bang nucleosynthesis, the CMB power spectrum, and gamma-ray surveys. In particular, we show that CMB power spectrum data constrains axion strings with decay constants f a ≲ 10 12 GeV , up to model dependence on the ultraviolet completion, for axion masses m a ≲ 10 − 29 eV ; future CMB surveys could find striking evidence of axion strings with lower decay constants. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Fuzzy gauge theory for quantum computers

Continuous gauge theories, because of their bosonic degrees of freedom, have an infinite-dimensional local Hilbert space. Encoding these degrees of freedom on qubit-based hardware demands some sort of “qubitization” scheme, where one approximates the behavior of a theory while using only finitely many degrees of freedom. We propose a novel qubitization strategy for gauge theories, called “fuzzy gauge theory,” building on the success of the fuzzy σ -model in earlier work. We provide arguments that the fuzzy gauge theory lies in the same universality class as regular gauge theory, in which case its use would obviate the need of any further limit besides the usual spatial continuum limit. Furthermore, we demonstrate that these models are relatively resource-efficient for quantum simulations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

On the holographic dual of a topological symmetry operator

We study the holographic dual of a topological symmetry operator in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. Symmetry operators arise from topological field theories localized on a subspace of the boundary conformal field theory spacetime. We use bottom up considerations to construct the topological sector associated with their bulk counterparts. In particular, by exploiting the structure of entanglement wedge reconstruction we argue that the bulk counterpart has a nontopological world volume action, i.e., it describes a dynamical object. As a consequence, we find that there are no global 𝑝-form symmetries for 𝑝 ≥ 0 in asymptotically anti–de Sitter spacetimes, which includes the case of noninvertible symmetries. Provided one has a suitable notion of subregion-subregion duality, our argument for the absence of bulk global symmetries applies to more general spacetimes. These considerations also motivate us to consider for general QFTs (holographic or not) the notion of lower-form symmetries, namely, (−𝑚)-form symmetries for 𝑚 ≥ 2.

quantum gravity↗

Tunneling away the relic neutrino asymmetry

The Earth acts as a matter potential for relic neutrinos which modifies their index of refraction from vacuum by δ ∼ 10 − 8 . It has been argued that the refractive effects from this potential should lead to a large O ( δ ) neutrino-antineutrino asymmetry at the surface of the Earth. This result was computed by treating the Earth as flat. In this work, we revisit this calculation in the context of a perfectly spherical Earth. We demonstrate, both numerically and through analytic arguments, that the flat-Earth result is only recovered under the condition δ 3 / 2 k R ≫ 1 , where k is the typical momentum of the relic neutrinos and R is the radius of the Earth. This condition is required to prevent antineutrinos from tunneling into classically inaccessible trajectories below the Earth’s surface and washing away the large asymmetry. As the physical parameters of the Earth do not satisfy this condition, we find that the asymmetry at the surface should only be O ( δ ) . While the asphericity of the Earth may serve as a loophole to our conclusions, we argue that it is still difficult to generate a large asymmetry even in the presence of local terrain. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Current status of the light neutralino thermal dark matter in the phenomenological MSSM

In a previous publication, we studied the parameter space of the phenomenological minimal Supersymmetric standard model with a light neutralino thermal dark matter ( M χ ˜ 1 0 ≤ M h / 2 ) and observed that the recent results from the dark matter and collider experiments put strong constraints on this scenario. In this work, we present in detail the arguments behind the robustness of this result against scanning over the large number of parameters in phenomenological minimal Supersymmetric standard model. The Run 3 of LHC will be crucial in probing the surviving regions of the parameter space. We further investigate the impact of light staus on our parameter space and also provide benchmarks that can be interesting for Run 3 of LHC. We analyze these benchmarks at the LHC using the machine learning framework of . Finally, we also discuss the effect of nonstandard cosmology on the parameter space. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Barman, Rahool Kumar↗

Cosmological quasiparticles and the cosmological collider

The interplay between cosmology and strongly coupled dynamics can yield transient spectral features that vanish at late times, but which may leave behind phenomenological signatures in the spectrum of primordial fluctuations. Of particular interest are strongly coupled extensions of the standard model featuring approximate conformal invariance. In flat space, the spectral density for a scalar operator in a conformal field theory is characterized by a continuum with scaling law governed by the dimension of the operator, and is otherwise featureless. Anti–de Sitter/conformal field theory arguments suggest that for large 𝑁, in an inflationary background with Hubble rate 𝐻, this continuum is gapped. We demonstrate that there can be additional peak structures that become sharp and particlelike at phenomenologically interesting regions in parameter space, and we estimate their contribution to cosmological observables. We find phenomena that are potentially observable in future experiments that are unique to these models, including displaced oscillatory features in the squeezed limit of the bispectrum. These particles can be either fundamental, and localized to a UV brane, or composite at the Hubble scale, 𝐻, and bound to a horizon in the bulk of the 5D geometry. We comment on how stabilization of conformal symmetry breaking vacua can be correlated with these spectral features and their phenomenology.

conformal field theory↗

Operator origin of anomalous dimensions in de Sitter space

The late-time limit of the power spectrum for heavy (principal series) fields in de Sitter (dS) space yields a series of polynomial terms with complex scaling dimensions. Such scaling behavior is expected to result from an associated operator with a complex dimension. In a free theory, these complex dimensions are known to match the constraints imposed by unitarity on the space of states. Yet, perturbative corrections to the scaling behavior of operators are naively inconsistent with unitary evolution of the quantum fields in dS space. This paper demonstrates how to compute one-loop corrections to the scaling dimensions that appear in the two-point function from the field theory description in terms of local operators. We first show how to evaluate these anomalous dimensions using Mellin space, which has the feature that it naturally accommodates a scaleless regulator. We then explore the consequences for the soft de Sitter effective theory (SdSET) description that emerges in the long wavelength limit. Carefully matching between the UV and SdSET descriptions requires the introduction of novel nondynamical “operators” in the effective theory. This is not only necessary to reproduce results extracted from the Källén-Lehmann representation (that use the space of unitary states directly), but it is also required by general arguments that invoke positivity. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Cohen, Timothy↗

Superexponential primordial black hole production via delayed vacuum decay

If a cosmological first-order phase transition occurs sufficiently slowly, delayed vacuum decay may lead to the formation of primordial black holes. Here we consider a simple model as a case study of how the abundance of the produced black holes depends on the model’s input parameters. We demonstrate, using both numerical and analytical arguments and methods, that the black hole abundance is controlled by a double, “super”-exponential dependence on the three-dimensional Euclidean action over temperature at its minimal value. We show that a modified expansion rate during the phase transition, such as one driven by an additional energy density component, leads to a weaker dependence on the underlying model parameters, but maintains the same superexponential structure. We argue that our findings generalize to any framework of black hole production via delayed vacuum decay. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Wu, Yanda (ORCID:000000034487305X)↗

Catalystlike role of impurities in speeding layer-by-layer growth

Molecular self-assembly is usually done at low supersaturation, leading to low rates of growth, in order to allow time for binding mistakes to anneal. However, such conditions can lead to prohibitively long assembly times where growth proceeds by the slow nucleation of successive layers. Here we use a lattice model of molecular self-assembly to show that growth in this regime can be sped up by impurities, which lower the free-energy cost of layer nucleation. Under certain conditions impurities behave almost as a catalyst in that they are present at high concentration at the surface of the assembling structure, but at low concentration in the bulk of the assembled structure. In this work, extrapolation of our numerics using simple analytic arguments suggests that this mechanism can reduce growth times by orders of magnitude in parameter regimes applicable to molecular systems.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Electron acceleration at oblique angles via stimulated Raman scattering at laser irradiance >10 16 W cm –2 μm 2

The generation of hot, directional electrons via laser-driven stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is a topic of great importance in inertial confinement fusion (ICF) schemes. Little recent research has been dedicated to this process at high laser intensity, in which back, side, and forward scatter simultaneously occur in high energy density plasmas, of relevance to, for example, shock ignition ICF. In this paper, we present an experimental and particle-in-cell (PIC) investigation of hot electron production from SRS in the forward and near-forward directions from a single speckle laser of wavelength λ 0 = 1.053μm, peak laser intensities in the range I 0 = 0.2–1.0×10 17 Wcm –2 and target electron densities between ne = 0.3–1.6% n c , where n c is the plasma critical density. As the intensity and density are increased, the hot electron spectrum changes from a sharp cutoff to an extended spectrum with a slope temperature T = 34 ± 1 keV and maximum measured energy of 350 keV experimentally. Multidimensional PIC simulations indicate that the high energy electrons are primarily generated from SRS-driven electron plasma wave phase fronts with k vectors angled ~50° with respect to the laser axis. These results are consistent with analytical arguments that the spatial gain is maximized at an angle which balances the tendency for the growth rate to be larger for larger scattered light wave angles until the kinetic damping of the plasma wave becomes important. The efficiency of generated high energy electrons drops significantly with a reduction in either laser intensity or target electron density, which is a result of the rapid drop in growth rate of Raman scattering at angles in the forward direction.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Pore occupancy of gas hydrate

Methane hydrate deposits are one of the largest fractions of hydrocarbons in the Earth's crust. They are found mainly in ocean sediments, and the configuration of the deposits—at the largest (kilometer) and smallest (micrometer) scales—determines how and when gaseous methane is released. Here, in this work, using thermodynamic arguments, we show how the confined spaces of the sediment allow methane hydrate to coexist with both water and gas to create a three-phase region. We find that the hydrate pore occupancy changes depending on the depth of the three-phase region, due to changes in methane density of the gas phase. We estimate the thickness of three-phase regions (hydrate, gas, and water) within ocean sediments. We further show how this directly predicts how the presence of hydrate affects the flow properties of gaseous methane and water through porous media.

flows in porous media↗

Pressure fields produced by single-bubble collapse near a corner

Damage produced by repeated bubble collapse to neighboring rigid objects in hydraulic systems is an important consequence of cavitation. Although bubble collapse near a single wall has received significant attention in the past, few studies exist on the dynamics of bubbles collapsing near a corner, i.e., two flat rigid surfaces intersecting at a right angle. In this work we quantify the pressure fields produced by a single bubble collapsing near two perpendicular rigid walls. Using a high-order accurate shock- and interface-capturing method to solve the three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations for gas and liquid flows, we simulate the dynamics of a single bubble collapsing at different initial stand-off distances from the two walls. In contrast to a bubble collapsing near a single wall, the collapse of bubbles within a critical stand-off distance is not symmetric about the bisecting plane due to the interaction between the bubble and the second wall. The second wall affects the pressure produced during the collapse in the following ways: (i) For bubbles initially located sufficiently close to both walls, the reentrant jet produced during collapse no longer points in the direction normal to the closest wall but at an angle toward the corner, (ii) the part of the emitted shock with the highest amplitude propagates in line with the jet, and (iii) the bubble migrates in that same direction during its collapse with a dependence on the stand-off distance, consistent with predictions made using Kelvin impulse. The location of maximum pressure along the walls is measured for the different initial stand-off distances. Using acoustic arguments, we find a semiempirical relationship to predict the initial stand-off distances for which the maximum pressure occurs in the corner. Here we find that when the bubble is sufficiently close to equidistant from each boundary, the maximum pressure is observed in the corner due to the water-hammer and implosion shocks reflecting off the boundaries and intersecting in the corner. We also show that when bubbles are initially attached to either wall the wall pressure produced can be significantly increased compared to bubbles detached from either wall.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Thermal Hall Effect Induced by Magnon-Phonon Interactions

We propose a new mechanism for the thermal Hall effect in exchange spin-wave systems, which is induced by the magnon-phonon interaction. Using symmetry arguments, we first show that this effect is quite general, and exists whenever the mirror symmetry in the direction of the magnetization is broken. We then demonstrate our result in a collinear ferromagnet on a square lattice, with perpendicular easy-axis anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction from mirror symmetry breaking. Here, we show that the thermal Hall conductivity is controlled by the resonant contribution from the anticrossing points between the magnon and phonon branches, and estimate its size to be comparable to that of the magnon-mediated thermal Hall effect.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Tunable Magnon Interactions in a Ferromagnetic Spin-1 Chain

NiNb 2 O 6 is an almost ideal realization of a 1D spin-1 ferromagnetic Heisenberg chain compound with weak unidirectional anisotropy. Using time-domain THz spectroscopy, we measure the low-energy electrodynamic response of NiNb 2 O 6 as a function of temperature and external magnetic field. At low temperatures, we find a magnonlike spin excitation, which corresponds to the lowest energy excitation at q ~ 0. At higher temperatures, we unexpectedly observe a temperature-dependent renormalization of the spin-excitation energy, which has a strong dependence on field direction. Using theoretical arguments, exact diagonalizations, and finite temperature dynamical Lanczos calculations, we construct a picture of magnon-magnon interactions that naturally explains the observed renormalization. In this work, we show how magnetic field strength and direction may be used to directly tune the sign of the magnon-magnon interaction. This unique scenario is a consequence of the spin-1 nature and has no analog in the more widely studied spin-1/2 systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗