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At least 55 records · Page 3

Verifying the Computational Integrity of Power Grid Controls with Zero-Knowledge Proof

The control of future power grids is migrating from a centralized to a distributed/decentralized scheme to enable a massive penetration of distributed energy resources with rising dependence on communication infrastructure. A common assumption made for most existing distributed/decentralized controllers is that local controllers would faithfully follow the designated controller dynamics based on the data received from communication channels. However, with increased probability of cyberattacks on Operational Technology infrastructure, such an assumption could be risky because proper execution of the controller dynamics is then built on trust in secure communication and computation. In this work, we leverage a cryptography technology known as zero-knowledge scalable transparent arguments of knowledge (zk-STARK) to verify the computational integrity of power grid control algorithms, with projected linear dynamics-based control schemes as the initial proof-of-concept test case. The method presented here converts the cybersecurity challenge of data integrity for grid control into a subset of computational integrity.

computational integrity↗

A flexible and scalable scheme for mixing computed formation energies from different levels of theory

Abstract Computational materials discovery efforts are enabled by large databases of properties derived from high-throughput density functional theory (DFT), which now contain millions of calculations at the generalized gradient approximation (GGA) level of theory. It is now feasible to carry out high-throughput calculations using more accurate methods, such as meta-GGA DFT; however recomputing an entire database with a higher-fidelity method would not effectively leverage the enormous investment of computational resources embodied in existing (GGA) calculations. Instead, we propose here a general procedure by which higher-fidelity, low-coverage calculations (e.g., meta-GGA calculations for selected chemical systems) can be combined with lower-fidelity, high-coverage calculations (e.g., an existing database of GGA calculations) in a robust and scalable manner. We then use legacy PBE(+ U ) GGA calculations and new r 2 SCAN meta-GGA calculations from the Materials Project database to demonstrate that our scheme improves solid and aqueous phase stability predictions, and discuss practical considerations for its implementation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Peer-to-peer communication control for resilient operations of networked cyberphysical systems

This report includes two main accomplishments of the peer-to-peer communication control for resilient operation of networked microgrids project in FY24, which include a scheme for cyberattack-aware coordination of networked microgrids for supporting voltages of bulk power systems and a scheme for price signal-based operations of EV-rich networked microgrids with mixed ownership. First, the cyberattack-aware scheme enables networked microgrids to distributedly determine the amount of reactive power injection to support the voltage of bulk power system (BPS) in a fair manner. In this scheme, a risk-informed algorithm is presented to generate the peer-to- peer (P2P) communication graph with minimal risk of attack on communication links. To deal with cyberattacks on MG controllers, the resilient consensus algorithm (CA) is utilized for MG controllers to robustly estimate the total reactive power headroom, from which the MGs can accurately provide the needed amount of reactive power injection for supporting the voltage of BPS. The CA implementation and performance within the P2P communication framework are demonstrated on the IEEE 39-bus system with 6 microgrids contained in the distribution feeder under different cyberattack scenarios. Second, the price-based scheme enables the usage of the real-time price signal for the operations of electric vehicle (EV)-rich networked-microgrids with mixed ownership, in which not all the microgrids can communicate with the distribution system operator (DSO). In this scheme, a max consensus is introduced to enable the real-time price signal to be propagated from the DSO to all the microgrids, from which each microgrid controller will manage the DERs to balance the load demand and the power injection from the EV charging stations within its microgrid. Numerical results over one day with 288 slots of 5-minute intervals on the modified 123-node test feeder including 3 microgrids with high penetration of EV are presented to evaluate how the price signal affects the operations of networked microgrids under different charging strategies of the EV charging stations. The result indicates that our proposed EVCS (dis)charging strategy, which leverages the flexibility of EVs to support the grid through discharging during peak demand, proves to be a cost-effective solution that reduces operational costs while improving the social welfare of EV charging.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Wave function methods for canonical ensemble thermal averages in correlated many-fermion systems

We present a wave function representation for the canonical ensemble thermal density matrix by projecting the thermofield double state against the desired number of particles. Furthermore, the resulting canonical thermal state obeys an imaginary-time evolution equation. Starting with the mean-field approximation, where the canonical thermal state becomes an antisymmetrized geminal power (AGP) wave function, we explore two different schemes to add correlation: by number-projecting a correlated grand-canonical thermal state and by adding correlation to the number-projected mean-field state. As benchmark examples, we use number-projected configuration interaction and an AGP-based perturbation theory to study the hydrogen molecule in a minimal basis and the six-site Hubbard model.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A fourth order sharp immersed method for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with stationary and moving boundaries and interfaces

We propose a fourth order Navier-Stokes solver based on the immersed interface method (IIM), for flow problems with stationary and one-way coupled moving boundaries and interfaces. Our algorithm employs a Runge-Kutta-based projection method that maintains high-order temporal accuracy in both velocity and pressure for steady and unsteady velocity boundary conditions. Fourth order spatial accuracy is achieved through a novel fifth order IIM discretization scheme for the advection term, as well as existing high-order interface-corrected finite difference schemes for the other differential operators. Using a set of manufactured flow problems with stationary and moving boundaries, we demonstrate fourth order convergence of velocity and pressure in the infinity norm, both inside the domain and on the immersed boundaries. The solver’s performance is further validated through a range of practical flow simulations, highlighting its efficiency over a second order scheme. Finally, we showcase the ability of our immersed discretization scheme to handle interface-coupled multiphysics problems by solving a conjugate heat transfer problem with multiple immersed solids. Overall, the proposed approach robustly combines the efficiency of high order discretization schemes with the flexibility of immersed discretizations for flow problems with complex, moving boundaries and interfaces.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Adaptive Protection and Validated Models to Enable Deployment of High Penetrations of Solar PV (PV-MOD)

The availability and validation of various PV models in commercial tools differ, with some models not yet thoroughly validated for advanced inverter functionalities and reliable performance under weak system conditions. Many existing models do not fully incorporate new inverter control functions, which can affect system stability. The increasing deployment of solar PV and other inverter-based resources (IBRs), including distributed energy resources (DERs), is influencing the reliable operation of protection schemes in distribution systems and microgrids. Emerging adaptive protection schemes (APS) offer new opportunities for protecting these systems during varying configurations and DER operating conditions, though their demonstration and validation remain limited. Adaptive protection schemes face similar challenges, as they are typically designed for specific configurations. There is a growing need for tools and methodologies to streamline the deployment of adaptive protection for safe and reliable DER integration. The project main objective was to develop and validate high-fidelity generic models of solar PV facilities for stability, protection, EMT, and QSTS analyses. This objective was achieved, and these models can now be integrated into commercial software tools, enabling utilities, vendors, and developers to study high-penetration PV systems more confidently. The project also demonstrated advanced applications of these models, including the design and deployment of adaptive protection schemes in high-penetration field applications and microgrids, supporting grid safety and reliability. Several milestones were reached by the end of the project. A sophisticated inverter test plan was developed, and inverters representative of the North American marketplace were selected. EPRI and NREL tested various inverters, conforming to IEEE standards. Improvements were made to existing generic models of IBR units, IBR plants, and aggregated feeders for various analyses. The first generic electromagnetic transient (EMT) model for a solar PV plant was developed, conforming to IEEE Std 2800™-2022 and validated against laboratory measurements of a 2.2 MVA large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) inverter. That model was then used to produce reference responses illustrating examples of validated and verified IBR plant models that pass or fail tests for technical minimum capability and performance as specified in the IEEE standard. The developed, tested, and validated generic models can be used for transmission planning, stability assessments, expansion planning, and evaluating potential future IBR interconnection requirements. They can also support interconnection screens and conformity assessments of IBR plants, including solar PV. The project significantly contributed to the ongoing standardization and model-based representation and verification of IBR responses. The project further addressed challenges of common distribution protection schemes with increasing deployment of DER by developing, validating, and demonstrating adaptive protection schemes (APS) that can improve the reliable and safe integration of DER into distribution systems. New APS were designed using improved DER models for three common distribution systems: a radial feeder, a meshed network, and a microgrid. Modeling and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing of the APS were conducted, successfully showing their effectiveness and selectivity. Proof-of-concept field demonstration was achieved for two APS, i.e., one on a radial feeder and another one in a microgrid. Field demonstration could not be achieved for the APS on a meshed network, primarily due apprehension of one utility partner and also due to limited access to the protective algorithms in the network protectors. Guidelines developed from the lessons learned in the project lay out the general process followed in the design, installation, and commissioning of APS for various distribution systems. Distribution utility partners’ apprehension about field demonstration of the new APS were addressed—with varying success—by taking a stepped risk-management approach of modeling of a wide range of sensitivities first, performing in-depth proof-of-concept testing in the laboratory including HIL next, and finally deliberately implementing and commissioning the actual protection equipment and algorithms into parts of—or in parallel operation to—the three real distribution systems. Future work should include pilot projects that further show the acceptable performance of the developed APS before these schemes be rolled out more widely. Inclusion of both utility and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in future projects could increase chances of successful field demonstration. Despite challenges in achieving the field demonstration goal of the project for all three APS, the research significantly contributed to the innovation of adaptive protection solutions for scalable and reliable DER integration into distribution systems. This project significantly enhances the understanding of the impact of using appropriate inverter models on distribution and transmission (T&D) systems. By addressing the limitations of existing generic models, the project introduces high-fidelity models for stability, protection, electromagnetic transient (EMT), and quasi-static time series (QSTS) analyses. These models, integrated into commercial software tools, enable utilities, vendors, and developers to confidently study high-penetration PV systems. The project also demonstrates advanced applications, including adaptive protection schemes (APS) for distribution systems and microgrids, ensuring grid safety and reliability. The technical effectiveness and economic feasibility of the methods are evident through the development and validation of sophisticated inverter test plans and the selection of representative inverters. Testing by EPRI and NREL on retail, commercial, and utility-scale inverters, conforming to IEEE standards, underscores the robustness of the models. Improvements to existing generic models for various analyses further enhance their validity and applicability. The project also identifies gaps in common distribution protection schemes and designed new APS using improved DER models, demonstrating their effectiveness through modeling and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing. The project’s benefits to the public are manifold. By advancing the standardization and model-based representation of IBR response, it supports transmission planning, stability assessments, and future IBR interconnection requirements. The generic models can facilitate better communication between transmission planners and developers, supporting expected IBR plant capability and performance. Additionally, the development of APS for radial feeders, meshed networks, and microgrids supports the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) into distribution systems, enhancing grid reliability and safety. The project’s emphasis on thorough testing and simplicity in design ensures practical and scalable solutions for DER integration.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Evaluating the 3D PBL scheme for wind energy applications in the complex terrain of Altamont Pass, CA

In this study, the 3D PBL scheme, developed and tested during previous WETO projects, was used to simulate daily speedup flows in the Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area of California. These flows were observed as part of the WFIP2 companion experiment HilFlowS, which examined potential power output from taller turbines in the Altamont region. The regularity of the observed speedup events during the summer months, combined with the importance of terrain-induced wind acceleration, makes them a useful case study for evaluating mesoscale forecast models, which often underperform in regions of complex terrain. Compared to a traditional one-dimensional PBL scheme, the 3D PBL scheme shows evidence of improved wind speed predictions, including an ability to capture atypical wind speed profiles and reduce model overestimates of wind speed across the turbine rotor region. Such improvements will be necessary for wind farm siting and power forecasting, especially as taller turbines are deployed in complex terrain.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Role of Forest Carbon Change in Shaping Future Land Use and Land Cover Change

Global change, particularly the changes in atmospheric CO 2 concentration, climatic variables, and nitrogen deposition, has been widely recognized and examined to have worldwide impacts on forest carbon. However, its influence on forest area required to meet the demand for timber and carbon storage and subsequent land use and land cover change (LULCC) is rarely studied. This study explores the role of global change-driven forest carbon change in shaping future global LULCC projections and investigates underlying drivers. We incorporated the global change impacts on forest carbon from the Canadian Land Surface Scheme Including Biogeochemical Cycles model simulations (driven by meteorological forcing projections from two Earth system models [ESMs]) into the Global Change Analysis Model, under three combinations of shared socioeconomic pathways and representative concentration pathways (SSP126, SSP370, and SSP585). Including forest carbon change decreases the projected expansion of managed forest and managed pasture, reduces the loss of unmanaged pastures and forests, and provides more cropland. The relative change in managed forest by 2100 is -4.0%, -21.7%, and -31.9%, under SSP126, SSP370, and SSP585, respectively, when forest carbon change is considered. CO 2 fertilization is the dominant driver, increasing forest vegetation and soil carbon by 37% and 4.1%, and leading to 78.6% of the total area with a change in land use types by 2100 under SSP585. In comparison, climate change reduces forest vegetation and soil carbon by -3.5% and -0.8%, influencing 23.9% of the total area with a change in land use types by 2100 under SSP585, while nitrogen deposition has minor impacts. Using meteorological forcing data from two ESMs leads to similar impacts of forest carbon change on LULCC in terms of sign and trend but different magnitudes. This study highlights the large impact of forest carbon change on shaping future LULCC dynamics and the critical role of CO 2 fertilization.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Twisted bilayer graphene. I. Matrix elements, approximations, perturbation theory, and a k · p two-band model

We investigate the twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) model of Bistritzer and MacDonald (BM) [Bistritzer and MacDonald, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 108, 12233 (2011)] to obtain an analytic understanding of its energetics and wave functions needed for many-body calculations. We provide an approximation scheme for the wave functions of the BM model, which first elucidates why the BM K M -point centered original calculation containing only four plane waves provides a good analytical value for the first magic angle (θ M ≈ 1°). The approximation scheme also elucidates why most of the many-body matrix elements in the Coulomb Hamiltonian projected to the active bands can be neglected. By applying our approximation scheme at the first magic angle to a Γ M -point centered model of six plane waves, we analytically understand the reason for the small Γ M -point gap between the active and passive bands in the isotropic limit w 0 = w 1 . Furthermore, we analytically calculate the group velocities of the passive bands in the isotropic limit, and show that they are almost doubly degenerate, even away from the Γ M point, where no symmetry forces them to be. Furthermore, moving away from the Γ M and K M points, we provide an explicit analytical perturbative understanding as to why the TBG bands are flat at the first magic angle, despite the first magic angle is defined by only requiring a vanishing K M -point Dirac velocity. We derive analytically a connected “magic manifold” w 1 = $2\sqrt{1 + w^{2}_{0}}$ $-\sqrt{2 + 3w^2_0}$, on which the bands remain extremely flat as w 0 is tuned between the isotropic (w 0 = w 1 ) and chiral (w 0 = 0) limits. We analytically show why going away from the isotropic limit by making w 0 less (but not larger) than w 1 increases the Γ M -point gap between the active and the passive bands. Finally, by perturbation theory, we provide an analytic Γ M point k ∙ p two-band model that reproduces the TBG band structure and eigenstates within a certain w 0 , w 1 parameter range. Further refinement of this model are discussed, which suggest a possible faithful representation of the TBG bands by a two-band Γ M point k ∙ p model in the full w 0 , w 1 parameter range.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Isolating the effect of biomass burning aerosol emissions on 20th century hydroclimate in South America and Southeast Asia

Abstract Biomass burning is a significant source of aerosol emissions in some regions and has a considerable impact on regional climate. Earth system model simulations indicate that increased biomass burning aerosol emissions contributed to statistically significant decreases in tropical precipitation over the 20th century. In this study, we use the Community Earth System Model version 1 Large Ensemble (CESM1-LENS) experiment to evaluate the mechanisms by which biomass burning aerosol contributed to decreased tropical precipitation, with a focus on South America and Southeast Asia. We analyze the all-but-one forcing simulations in which biomass burning aerosol emissions are held constant while other forcings (e.g., greenhouse gas concentrations) vary throughout the 20th century. This allows us to isolate the influence of biomass burning aerosol on processes that contribute to decreasing precipitation, including cloud microphysics, the radiative effects of absorbing aerosol particles, and alterations in regional circulation. We also show that the 20th century reduction in precipitation identified in the CESM1-LENS historical and biomass burning experiments is consistent across Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 models with interactive aerosol schemes and the CESM2 single-forcing experiment. Our results demonstrate that higher concentrations of biomass burning aerosol increases the quantity of cloud condensation nuclei and cloud droplets, limiting cloud droplet size and precipitation formation. Additionally, absorbing aerosols (e.g., black carbon) contribute to a warmer cloud layer, which promotes cloud evaporation, increases atmospheric stability, and alters regional circulation patterns. Corresponding convectively coupled circulation responses, particularly over the tropical Andes, contribute to further reducing the flow of moisture and moisture convergence over tropical land. These results elucidate the processes that affect the water cycle in regions prone to biomass burning and inform our understanding of how future changes in aerosol emissions may impact tropical precipitation over the 21st century.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗

Boosting Energy Efficiency of Heterogeneous Connected Automated Vehicle (CAV) Fleets via Anticipative and Cooperative Vehicle Guidance

In 2017, the Department of Energy funded a team at Clemson University and Argonne National Laboratory to develop collaborative perception and anticipative/predictive vehicle guidance schemes for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) and to quantify the energy saving potential of this technology in large scale traffic microsimulations at different levels of technology penetration and also experimentally. The project goal was demonstrating up to a 10% energy saving potential from different aspects of the implementation with a focus on reducing unnecessary braking events by anticipatory speed and lane selection. This project introduced novel anticipative car following and lane selection schemes for Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs). Our control schemes benefited from prediction of human driver behavior, information exchange between CAVs, and sometimes from collaboration to save energy, reduce braking events, and harmonize traffic. The energy savings was first demonstrated by traffic micro-simulations and then via a novel Vehicle-In-the-Loop (VIL) experimental testbed.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

A simple improved low temperature correction for the hierarchical equations of motion

The study of open system quantum dynamics has been transformed by the hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM) method, which gives the exact dynamics for a system coupled to a harmonic bath at arbitrary temperature and system–bath coupling strength. However, in its standard form, this method is only consistent with the weak-coupling quantum master equation at all temperatures when many auxiliary density operators are included in the hierarchy, even when low temperature corrections are included. Here, we propose a new low temperature correction scheme for the termination of the hierarchy based on Zwanzig projection, which alleviates this problem and restores consistency with the weak-coupling master equation with a minimal hierarchy. The utility of the new correction scheme is demonstrated on a range of model systems, including the Fenna–Matthews–Olson complex. The new closure is found to improve convergence of the HEOM even beyond the weak-coupling limit and is very straightforward to implement in existing HEOM codes.

Fay, Thomas P. (ORCID:000000030625731X)↗

Connecting the Radiative Influences of Aerosol upon the Mass Flux Profiles of Shallow Cumuli across the Southeast Atlantic Ocean Basin and its Boundaries (Final Report)

The Atlantic Ocean covers approximately 25% of Earth’s surface and the atmosphere above it is home to a complex array of clouds and aerosols that have important influences on regional and global weather and climate. These influences must be accurately depicted in short range, medium range, seasonal, and climate forecast models. Conditions over the tropical Atlantic are particularly complex due to continental scale plumes of dust from the Sahara Desert and smoke from agricultural burning in Africa that drift across the Atlantic Ocean basin toward the Americas. These plumes are often found meandering in the lower atmosphere above shallow tropical clouds that form above the ocean surface, presumably mingling with these clouds on occasion due to convective mixing processes. Elevated dust and smoke particles absorb incoming sunlight and substantially warm the marine atmosphere in the layer in which they are present. This warming may alter the thermal stability of the marine atmosphere and may throttle or enhance the development of clouds, change their internal structure and the rate at which they precipitate. Alternatively, it may isolate the lower atmosphere from drier layers above enabling water vapor to accumulate near the ocean surface potentially leading to the development of deeper convection. Our study was organized around the principal concept of determining the impact of African smoke and dust plumes upon cloud development at ASI and understanding how a popular shallow convection parameterization used in models responds to the presence of this aerosol. We analyzed observations collected during the US Department of Energy (DOE) Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC) campaign using the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program’s Mobile Facility #1 (AMF-1), which was deployed to Ascension Island (ASI) in Southeastern Atlantic for a one-year period. Ascension Island is immediately downwind from an African source of these plumes, but far enough removed to enable the lower atmosphere to have reacted to their presence. A main goal of our study was to compute radiative heating rate profiles over Ascension Island and along the trajectory from the biomass burning regions along coastal Africa to Ascension Island. To compute the radiative heating rate due to aerosols and clouds, we employed observed profiles of temperature, humidity, and clouds from LASIC alongside aerosol optical properties from the Modern-era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), as input for the Rapid Radiation Transfer Model (RRTM). Radiative heating was also assessed across the southeast Atlantic Ocean using an ensemble of back trajectories from the Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. We were successful in this effort and the resulting publication is already being cited despite its relatively short lifetime in the literature. The second part of our study involved the process-level representation of the clouds observed over the Southeastern Atlantic in models. Our initial task, upon which the balance of this portion of the study depended, was to evaluate the representativeness of the clouds observed by AMF-1. What orographic influence did Ascension Island have on the measured cloud structure? We set out to answer this question by trying to separate observations that were clearly indicative of orographic forcing from those that were representative of open ocean. The siting of AMF-1, which was 340-m above sea-level on the slope of a steep escarpment, proved demonstrably problematic for cloud process measurements. Despite considerable effort using multiple approaches including artificial intelligence (AI), we were unable to successfully compensate for the orographic forcing present at the AMF-1 site on ASI and, hence, produce process-level summaries of the convective mass flux representative of open ocean over the Southeastern Atlantic. Even though the project has officially ended, we are making a final attempt using two new types of clustering algorithm (i.e., AI) on the recommendation of a former student, who is an expert in this area. Since we have only recently begun to test these new AI schemes, the recommendations from the second part of our project outlined below are based on our experience at the time of this report.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Reconciling Work Functions and Adsorption Enthalpies for Implicit Solvent Models: A Pt (111)/Water Interface Case Study

Implicit solvent models are a computationally efficient method of representing solid/liquid interfaces prevalent in electrocatalysis, energy storage, and materials science. However, electronic structure changes induced at the metallic surface by the dielectric continuum are not fully understood. To address this, we perform DFT calculations for the Pt(111)/water interface, in order to compare Poisson–Boltzmann continuum solvation methods with ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations of explicit solvent. We show that the implicit solvent cavity can be parametrized in terms of the electric dipole moment change at the equilibrated explicit Pt/water interface to obtain the potential of zero charge (PZC). We also compare the accuracy of aqueous enthalpies of adsorption of phenol on Pt(111) using geometry and charge density based dielectric cavitation methods. The ability to parametrize the cavity according to individual atoms, as afforded in the geometry based approach, is key to obtaining accurate enthalpy changes of adsorption under aqueous conditions. Additionally, we show that the electronic structure changes induced by explicit solvent and our proposed implicit solvent parametrization scheme yield comparable density difference profiles and d-band projected density of states. We therefore demonstrate the capability of implicit solvent approaches to capture both the energetics of adsorption processes and the main electronic effects of aqueous solvent on the metallic surface. Therefore, this work provides a scheme for computationally efficient simulations of interfacial processes for applications in areas such as heterogeneous catalysis and electrochemistry.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Light Transfers Through a Koch Shape Cloud

Abstract Modeling radiative transfer in a 3D cloudy atmosphere is critical to climate projections. A recently developed fast 3D radiation parameterization scheme gains some success in quantifying horizontal radiative transfer through cloud sides using cloud area fraction. Based on 3D Monte Carlo simulations of radiative transfer through an idealized single‐layer cloud with Koch‐shaped fractal geometry edges, here we show that radiative energy transport through cloud sides correlates more significantly with cloud area fraction than with cloud perimeter length. The results exemplify the importance of accounting for the horizontal radiative energy exchanges between cloud‐free and cloudy regions with cloud area fraction. Results from additional sensitivity simulations show that increased cloud vertical extent often enhances cloud‐side sunlight leak more significantly than cloud‐side sunlight interception. At low sun elevations, cloud‐side sunlight interception is enhanced more than cloud‐side sunlight leak does with the increase of cloud mass.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Seamless Hybrid-integrated Interconnect NEtwork (SHINE)

Large-scale date centers are becoming increasingly limited by the capacity of interconnects due to the rapid increasing power consumption and bandwidth demands driven by the rigorous down scaling of CMOS critical dimensions in according with the Moore’s Law. As a result of the continuing bandwidth scaling, optical interconnects based on parallel optics, where data are simultaneously transmitted along more than one lane, have becoming a preferred interconnected solution over copper cables. To building an efficient optical interconnect system, optical coupling between different elements, such as optical fibers, photonics chips, is a critical step, which is challenging due to the mode mismatch of varies optical ports. In this project, we proposed and demonstrated an optical interfacing scheme, which provided a light coupling approach with low energy loss, broadband operation, high alignment tolerance and compatible with scalable fabrication and testing. Here, the mode transformation is achieved by a total internal reflection from a chip integrated microscale freefrom surface. Due to the enormous light wavefront manipulating ability associated with the gigantic design space, the freeform couplers platform is universally applicable to a wide range of optical coupling scenarios, such as the interfacing between a waveguide to a fiber, another waveguide, surface normal device, or free space.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Validation of a Co-Optimized, Smart Hybrid Heat Pump Control

This study examines a residential dual fuel (DF) heating system that integrates heat pump and gas furnace technology with a home’s forced-air distribution ducts. Specifically, it explores a retrofit where an “add-on” heat pump replaces the air conditioning (A/C) system and is combined with the home’s existing furnace and air handler. The research team developed and validated an innovative control scheme for this integrated DF system that selected the more economical heating source (furnace or heat pump) while maintaining comfort in the home. The project’s field study and subsequent modeling analysis show that this control scheme can decrease energy use, cost, and emissions compared to a furnace-only system. As homes in mixed and cold climates transition to more electric space heating, furnace-to-dual fuel system retrofits offer a solution that can alleviate the retrofit costs, energy cost concerns, and peak load impacts of full electrification.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Tunable-fidelity wave functions for the ab initio description of scattering and reactions

Here, the no-core shell model (NCSM) is an ab initio method that solves the nuclear many-body problem by expanding the many-particle wave function into a (typically) harmonic oscillator basis and minimizing the energy to obtain the expansion coefficients. Extensions of the NCSM, such as its coupling with microscopic-cluster basis states, further allow for an ab initio treatment of light-ion nuclear reactions of interest for both astrophysics and nuclear technology applications. A downside of the method is the exponential scaling of the basis size with increasing number of nucleons and excitation quanta, which limits its applicability to mass A ≲ 16 nuclei, except for variants where the basis is further down-selected via some truncation scheme. We consider a basis selection method for the NCSM that was first introduced in the context of the large-scale shell model and captures the essential degrees of freedom of the nuclear wave function leading to a favorable complexity scaling for calculations and enabling ab initio reaction calculations in sd-shell nuclei. The particle configurations within the NCSM basis are ordered based on their contribution to the first moment of the Hamiltonian matrix that results from the projection onto the many-body basis. The truncation scheme then consists in retaining only the lowest-first-moment configurations, which typically contain only few many-body basis states (Slater determinants). As the energy threshold above which configurations are disregarded is increased, the size of the basis becomes an almost-continuous variable, allowing for tunable fidelity in the obtained wave functions. The resulting wave functions can then be used directly in ab initio reaction calculations. We present calculations for 7 Li and n + 12 C scattering using nucleon-nucleon interactions derived from chiral effective field theory and softened using the similarity renormalization group method. The obtained energy levels invariably demonstrate exponential convergence with the size of the basis, and we find improved convergence in scattering calculations. To demonstrate the possibilities enabled by the approach, we also present a first calculation for the scattering of neutrons from 24 Mg. The method presented in this work appears promising for future studies of nuclei with mass A > 16, opening multiple future research directions impacting both nuclear astrophysics and nuclear technology applications.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗