Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Relativistic bound state”

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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Measurement of the mass difference and the binding energy of the hypertriton and antihypertriton

According to the CPT theorem, which states that the combined operation of charge conjugation, parity transformation and time reversal must be conserved, particles and their antiparticles should have the same mass and lifetime but opposite charge and magnetic moment. In this work, we test CPT symmetry in a nucleus containing a strange quark, more specifically in the hypertriton. This hypernucleus is the lightest one yet discovered and consists of a proton, a neutron and a Λ hyperon. With data recorded by the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, we measure the Λ hyperon binding energy B Λ for the hypertriton, and find that it differs from the widely used value and from predictions, where the hypertriton is treated as a weakly bound system. Our results place stringent constraints on the hyperon–nucleon interaction and have implications for understanding neutron star interiors, where strange matter may be present. A precise comparison of the masses of the hypertriton and the antihypertriton allows us to test CPT symmetry in a nucleus with strangeness, and we observe no deviation from the expected exact symmetry.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

New state of matter between the hadronic phase and the quark-gluon plasma?

Lattice-quantum chromodynamics (QCD) simulations and theoretical arguments hint at the existence of an intermediate phase of strongly interacting matter between a confined hadron gas and a deconfined quark-gluon plasma (QGP). We qualitatively and semiquantitatively explore and differentiate the phase structures in the temperature window from the QCD pseudocritical temperature 𝑇 c ≃ 160 MeV to the pure gluonic deconfinement temperature 𝑇 d ≃ 285 MeV. We propose a three-regime picture using a hadron resonance gas description augmented with the exponential spectrum of strings, corresponding to highly excited mesons and glueballs, based on the analysis of a large number 𝑁 c of colors. We estimate the entropy density from our model to confirm that the lattice-QCD data are bracketed with three regimes, i.e., a hadron gas, a QGP, and a new phase for 𝑇 c ≲ 𝑇 ≲ 𝑇 d . In this new phase, which we name a spaghetti of quarks with glueballs (SQGBs), thermal degrees of freedom of quarks are liberated, yet gluons remain confined in glueballs. Since the Hagedorn temperature 𝑇 H ∼ 285 MeV is universal in the meson and the glueball sectors, in the infinite-𝑁 c limit, the phase diagram in the plane of the baryon chemical potential and the temperature is reduced to one with the confined and deconfined phases and quarkyonic matter at high density. At large but finite 𝑁 c , an SQGB window may open between these phases. We point out that the SQGB has interesting similarities with quarkyonic matter and that this matter in the large-𝑁 c limit is confined as measured by the interaction between heavy quarks, but behaves in other respects like a quasifree gas of quarks. As a result of the extrapolation to 𝑁 c = 3, we present a revised phase diagram with the SQGB phase bounded by thermal crossovers. Finally, we give a quantitative analysis of chiral-symmetry restoration in the SQGB phase.

Color confinement↗
DOE OSTI2023

Recent Quarkonia Measurements in Small Systems at RHIC and LHC Energies

Heavy-ion research at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) during the first decade of data collection, approximately during the years 2000–2010, was primarily focused on the study of Au+Au collisions. The search for evidence of quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of matter where quarks and gluons become unbound within a high energy density environment, which was at the forefront of research efforts. However, studies of the azimuthal anisotropy parameter v 2 in p/d+Pb collisions from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) yielded results consistent with the hydrodynamic flow, one of the signatures of quark-gluon plasma formation in heavy-ion collisions. Since the publication of these findings, the field of heavy-ion physics has made subsequent measurements in small system collisions to study cold nuclear matter effects as well as look for additional evidence of hot nuclear matter effects. Quarkonia, a bound state of a $c\bar{c}$ or $b\bar{b}$ pair, has often been used to probe a wide range of nuclear effects in both large and small collision systems. Here we will review recent quarkonia measurements in small system collisions at RHIC and LHC energies and summarize the experimental conclusions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Explaining Snowball-in-Hell Phenomena in Heavy-Ion Collisions Using a Novel Thermodynamic Variable

A loosely bound hadronic molecule produced by a relativistic heavy-ion collision has been described as a “snowball in hell” since it emerges from a hadron resonance gas whose temperature is orders of magnitude larger than the binding energy of the molecule. This remarkable phenomenon can be explained in terms of a novel thermodynamic variable called the “contact” that is conjugate to the binding momentum of the molecule. The production rate of the molecule can be expressed in terms of the contact density at the kinetic freeze-out of the hadron resonance gas. It approaches a nonzero limit as the binding energy goes to 0.

Relativistic heavy-ion collisions↗
DOE OSTI2025

A moment-conserving discontinuous Galerkin representation of the relativistic Maxwellian distribution

Kinetic simulations of relativistic gases and plasmas are critical for understanding diverse astrophysical and terrestrial systems, but the accurate construction of the relativistic Maxwellian, the Maxwell–Jüttner distribution, on a discrete simulation grid is challenging. Difficulties arise from the finite velocity bounds of the domain, which may not capture the entire distribution function, as well as errors introduced by projecting the function onto a discrete grid. Here, we present a novel scheme for iteratively correcting the moments of the projected distribution applicable to all grid-based discretizations of the relativistic kinetic equation. In addition, we describe how to compute the needed nonlinear quantities, such as Lorentz boost factors, in a discontinuous Galerkin scheme through a combination of numerical quadrature and weak operations. The resulting method accurately captures the distribution function and ensures that the moments match the desired values to machine precision.

astrophysical plasmas↗
DOE OSTI2026

Nonlinear causality of Israel-Stewart theory with diffusion

We present the first fully nonlinear causality constraints in D = 3 + 1 dimensions for Israel-Stewart theory in the presence of energy and number diffusion in the Eckart and Landau hydrodynamic frames, respectively. These constraints are algebraic inequalities that make no assumption on the underlying geometry of the spacetime or the equation of state. In order to highlight the distinct physical and structural behavior of the two hydrodynamic frames, we discuss the special ultrarelativistic ideal gas equation of state considered in earlier literature in D = 1 + 1 dimensions, and show that our general D = 3 + 1 constraints reduce to their results upon an appropriate choice of angles. For this equation of state in both D = 1 + 1 and D = 3 + 1 dimensions one can show that: (i) there exists a region allowed by nonlinear causality in which the baryon current transitions into a spacelike vector in the Landau frame, and (ii) an analogous argument shows that the solutions of the Eckart frame equations of motion never violate the dominant energy condition, assuming nonlinear causality holds. Furthermore, we then compare our results with those from linearized Israel-Stewart theory and show that the linear causality bounds fail to capture the new physical constraints on energy and number diffusion that are successfully obtained through our nonlinear causality approach.

Quark-gluon plasma↗
DOE OSTI2025

Warm and fuzzy dark matter: Free streaming of wave dark matter

Wave or fuzzy dark matter that is produced with relativistic wave numbers exhibits free-streaming effects analogous to warm or hot particle dark matter with relativistic momenta. Axions produced after inflation provide such a warm or mildly relativistic candidate, where the enhanced suppression and observational bounds are only moderately stronger than that from wave propagation of initially cold axions. More generally, the free-streaming damping also impacts isocurvature fluctuations from generation in causally disconnected patches. As coherent spatial fluctuations free stream away they leave incoherent and transient superpositions in their wakes. These multiple wave momentum streams are the wave analog of particle phase space fluctuations or directional collisionless damping of massive neutrinos or hot dark matter. The observable impact on both adiabatic and isocurvature fluctuations of fuzzy dark matter can differ from their cold dark matter counterparts due to free streaming depending on how warm or hot is their momentum distribution.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Observable signatures of enhanced axion emission from protoneutron stars

Here we perform general relativistic one-dimensional supernova (SN) simulations to identify observable signatures of enhanced axion emission from the pion-induced reaction π - + p →n + a inside a newly born protoneutron star (PNS). We focus on the early evolution after the onset of the supernova explosion to predict the temporal and spectral features of the neutrino and axion emission during the first 10 s. Pions are included as explicit new degrees of freedom in hot and dense matter. Their thermal population and their role in axion production are both determined consistently to include effects due to their interactions with nucleons. For a wide range of ambient conditions encountered inside a PNS, we find that the pion-induced axion production dominates over nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung processes. By consistently including the role of pions on the dense matter equation of state and on the energy loss, our simulations predict robust discernible features of neutrino and axion emission from a galactic supernova that can be observed in terrestrial detectors. For axion couplings that are compatible with current bounds, we find a significant suppression with time of the neutrino luminosity during the first 10 s. This suggests that current bounds derived from the neutrino signal from SN 1987A can be improved and that future galactic supernovae may provide significantly more stringent constraints.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Influence of the symmetry energy on the nuclear binding energies and the neutron drip line position

A clear connection can be established between properties of nuclear matter and finite-nuclei observables, such as the correlation between the slope of the symmetry energy and the dipole polarizability, or between compressibility and the isoscalar monopole giant resonance excitation energy. Establishing a connection between realistic atomic nuclei and an idealized infinite nuclear matter leads to a better understanding of underlying physical mechanisms that govern nuclear dynamics. In this work, we aim to study the dependence of the binding energies and related quantities (e.g., location of drip lines, the total number of bound even-even nuclei) on the symmetry energy S 2 (ρ). The properties of finite nuclei are calculated by employing the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model, assuming even-even axial and reflection symmetric nuclei. Calculations are performed by employing two families of relativistic energy density functionals, based on different effective Lagrangians, constrained to a specific symmetry energy at the saturation density J within the interval of 30–36 MeV. Nuclear binding energies and related quantities of bound nuclei are calculated between 8 ≤ Z ≤ 104 from the two-proton to the two-neutron drip line. As the neutron drip line is approached, the interactions with stiffer J tend to predict more bound nuclei, resulting in a systematic shift of the two-neutron drip line towards more neutron-rich nuclei. Consequentially, a correlation between the number of bound nuclei N nucl and S 2 (ρ) is established for a set of functionals constrained using the similar optimization procedures. Furthermore the direction of the relationship between the number of bound nuclei and the symmetry energy highly depends on the density under consideration.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bottomonium properties in the quark-gluon plasma from a lattice-QCD informed 𝑇-matrix approach

Recent computations of bottomonium correlation functions with extended sources in lattice-discretized quantum chromodynamics (lQCD) provide new insights into heavy-quark dynamics at distance scales which are of the order of the inverse temperature. We analyze these results employing the thermodynamic 𝑇-matrix framework, in a continued effort to interpret lQCD data for quarkonium correlation functions in a nonperturbative and self-consistently solved quantum-many-body approach to a strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Its key inputs are the in-medium driving kernel (potential) of the scattering equation and an interference function which implements 3-body effects in the quarkonium coupling to the thermal medium. A simultaneous description of lQCD results for the bottomonium correlators with extended operators and the previously analyzed Wilson line correlators only requires minor refinements of the potential but calls for stronger interference effects at larger separation of the bottom quark and antiquark. We then analyze the poles of the self-consistent 𝑇 matrices on the real axis to assess the survival of the various bound states. Here, we estimate the pertinent temperatures where the poles disappear for the various bottomonium states and discuss the relation to the corresponding peaks in the bottomonium spectral functions. We also recalculate the spatial diffusion coefficient of the QGP and find it to be similar to that in our previous study.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

EFT approach to the endpoint of muon decay-in-orbit

As upcoming experiments aim to probe muon conversion with unprecedented precision, equally precise theoretical predictions are crucial to maximize discovery potential. This applies not only to the new physics signal, muon-electron conversion, but also to its only irreducible background, muon decay-in-orbit (DIO) near the endpoint. Accurate computation of higher-order corrections in bound states is a long-standing challenge due to the difficulty of systematically organizing contributions. In previous work, we developed an Effective Field Theory framework to address this issue and applied it to muon conversion. Here, we extend this approach to the DIO endpoint, a more complex problem due to the presence of a neutrino-antineutrino pair in the final state. We present the most precise prediction to date of the background spectrum relevant for future muon conversion searches, achieving next-to-leading logarithmic prime accuracy for QED corrections.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Transition to Petschek Reconnection in Subrelativistic Pair Plasmas: Implications for Particle Acceleration

While relativistic magnetic reconnection in pair plasmas has emerged in recent years as a candidate for the origin of radiation from extreme astrophysical environments, the corresponding subrelativistic pair-plasma regime has remained less explored, leaving open the question of how relativistic physics affects reconnection. In this paper, we investigate the differences between these regimes by contrasting two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations of reconnection in pair plasmas with relativistic magnetization (σ ≫ 1) and subrelativistic magnetization (σ < 1). By utilizing unprecedentedly large domain sizes and outflow boundary conditions, we demonstrate that lowering the magnetization results in a change in the reconnection geometry from a plasmoid chain to a Petschek geometry, where laminar exhausts bounded by slow-mode shocks emanate from a single diffusion region. We attribute this change to the reduced plasmoid production rate in the low-σ case: When the secondary tearing rate is sufficiently low, plasmoids are too few in number to prevent the system from relaxing into a stable Petschek configuration. This geometric change also affects particle energization: We show that while high-σ plasmoid chains generate power-law energy spectra, low-σ Petschek exhausts merely heat incoming plasma and yield negligible nonthermal acceleration. These results have implications for predicting the global current sheet geometry and the resulting energy spectra in a variety of systems.

Plasma astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Particle-in-Cell Method for Plasmas with a Generalized Momentum Formulation, Part I: Model Formulation

Here, this paper formulates a new particle-in-cell method for the Vlasov–Maxwell system. Under the Lorenz gauge condition, Maxwell’s equations for the electromagnetic fields can be written as a collection of scalar and vector wave equations. The use of potentials for the fields motivates the adoption of a Hamiltonian formulation for particles that employs the generalized (conjugate) momentum. A notable advantage offered by the Hamiltonian formulation is the elimination of time derivatives in the Lorenz gauge formulation that are required by the standard Newton–Lorentz treatment of the particles. This allows the fields to retain the full time-accuracy guaranteed by the field solver. The resulting updates for particles require only knowledge of the fields and their spatial derivatives. An analytical method for constructing these spatial derivatives is presented that exploits the underlying integral solution used in the field solver for the wave equations. Moreover, these derivatives are demonstrated to converge at the same rate as the fields in both time and space. The Method of Lines Transpose field solver we consider in this work is globally first-order accurate in time and high-order accurate in space (e.g., fourth- and fifth-order) and belongs to a larger class of methods which are unconditionally stable, can address geometry, and leverage $\mathcal {O}(N)$ fast summation methods for efficiency. We demonstrate the method on several well-established benchmark problems on bounded domains, including a plasma sheath as well as a relativistic particle beam. The efficacy of the proposed formulation is established by comparing with a second-order accurate finite-difference time-domain method that employs a leapfrog time advance for particles and a charge conserving map suitable for bounded domains. The new method shows mesh-independent numerical heating properties even in cases where the plasma Debye length is smaller than the grid spacing. This is an important feature of the new method for problems defined on bounded domains, because it permits the use of coarser grids in space in the representation of the fields. Such a capability has significant implications for the simulation of plasmas in bounded domains with complex geometry, where the ratio between the largest and smallest cells can vary significantly. The use of high-order spatial approximations in the new method also means that fewer grid points are required in order to achieve a fixed accuracy. Our results also suggest that the new method can be used with fewer simulation particles per cell compared to the benchmark explicit method, which permits further computational savings.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Binding energy of the 𝑇 𝑏⁢𝑏 tetraquark from lattice QCD with relativistic and nonrelativistic heavy-quark actions

We present a new determination of the $b\bar{b}$𝑢⁢𝑑 (𝐽 𝑃 = 1 + , 𝐼 = 0) tetraquark binding energy using lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD) with domain-wall light quarks and a nonperturbatively tuned three-parameter anisotropic-clover “relativistic” action for the 𝑏 quarks. We also perform a direct comparison with a reanalysis of data generated in prior work using a lattice-nonrelativistic QCD (NRQCD) action for the 𝑏 quarks and otherwise identical parameters. Using the new data with relativistic 𝑏 quarks from seven different ensembles with multiple lattice spacings and pion masses, we perform combined chiral and continuum extrapolations and obtain (𝑚 𝑇 𝑏⁢𝑏 −𝑚 𝐵 −𝑚 𝐵* ) RHQ =(−76 ±23) MeV. For the NRQCD data from five ensembles, we perform chiral-only extrapolations and obtain (𝑚 𝑇 𝑏⁢𝑏 −𝑚 𝐵 −𝑚 𝐵* ) NRQCD = (−74 ±17 ±10) MeV. The lower magnitude of the results obtained here, compared to the original analysis in [Phys. Rev. D 100, 014503 (2019)], is due to the use of the symmetric parts of the correlation matrices with local four-quark operators only.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Maximum Energy of Particles Accelerated in Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglow Shocks

Particle acceleration in relativistic collisionless shocks remains an open problem in high-energy astrophysics. Particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations predict that electron acceleration in weakly magnetized shocks proceeds via small-angle scattering, leading to a maximum electron energy significantly below the Bohm limit. This upper bound on electron energy manifests observationally as a characteristic synchrotron cutoff, providing a direct probe of the underlying acceleration physics. Gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows offer an exceptional laboratory for testing these predictions. Here, we model the spectral evolution of GRB afterglows during the relativistic deceleration phase, incorporating PIC-motivated acceleration prescriptions and self-consistently computing synchrotron and synchrotron self-Compton emission. We find that low-energy bursts in low-density environments, typical of short GRBs, exhibit a pronounced synchrotron cutoff in the GeV band within minutes to hours after the trigger. Applying our framework to GRB 190114C and GRB 130427A, we find that current observations are insufficient to discriminate between PIC-motivated acceleration and the Bohm limit, primarily due to poor photon statistics in the Fermi-Large Area Telescope band. Nevertheless, future MeV–TeV afterglow observations can break model degeneracies and place substantially tighter constraints on the mechanisms responsible for particle acceleration in relativistic shocks. To this end, we simulate a fiducial nearby short GRB as a promising probe of the cutoff location, for which the two acceleration scenarios are cleanly distinguishable and the detection of such an event in the near future remains feasible.

Wu, Zhao-Feng [Purdue University, West Lafayette, ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bond Dissociation Energies and Electronic Calculations on the Actinide Halides ThX and UX (X = Cl, Br, I)

Resonant two-photon ionization spectroscopy has been used to locate predissociation thresholds in the spectra of the actinide halides ThX and UX, where X = Cl, Br, and I. These predissociation thresholds are identified as the bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of the molecules. The resulting values show very similar BDEs for the corresponding ThX and UX species, with the thorium molecules being slightly more strongly bound: D 0 (ThCl) = 5.077(6) eV, D 0 (ThBr) = 4.391(4) eV, D 0 (ThI) = 3.537(8) eV, D 0 (UCl) = 4.989(3) eV, D 0 (UBr) = 4.313(3) eV, and D 0 (UI) = 3.449(8) eV. Here, the estimated error limit is given in parentheses in units of the last reported digit. Spinor-based coupled cluster calculations have also been carried out on the halides of this work, including also ThF and UF. Here, the final D 0 values after including contributions due to basis set incompleteness, outer-core-correlation, picture-change, and QED effects are within 0.04 eV of the present experimental values in each case.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Cold freeze out of superheavy dark matter and Hubble tension

We present a unified framework, the "X miracle", in which dark matter consists of superheavy, nonthermal X particles whose relic abundance is determined not by the conventional weak-scale, semi-relativistic ("hot") freeze-out of WIMPs, but by annihilation or decay occurring within the smallest and earliest gravitationally bound objects. Unlike thermal WIMPs, which decouple at velocities of order 0.3c with relic abundance ρ∞ set by weak-scale interactions, X particles are produced nonthermally with an initial overabun dance ρ ini >> ρ ∞ . They become nonrelativistic extremely early, redshift to ultra-cold velocities, allowing collapse into compact bound structures characterized by a novel quantum gravitational scale, r X = 4$\hbar$ 2 $/Gm^3_X$ = 10 −13 m $\hbar$$/m_Xc$, much larger than the Compton wavelength. The framework predicts a particle mass of 10 12 GeV and an enhanced cross section of 10 −21 m 3 /s. Overlapping particle wavefunctions in these compact structures drive annihilation or decay into additional radiation, leading to a "cold" freeze-out that converts most of ρ ini into radiation while leaving a relic density ρ ∞ . Solutions to the Boltzmann equation indicate that an extreme ("big") depletion, with only one particle in a billion surviving, yields an additional radiation contribution $ΔN_{eff}$ ≈ 0.4, which could help alleviate the Hubble tension. For particles of 10 12 GeV, the scenario predicts a dark coupling constant α X = 0.09 that is responsible for an instanton-induced decay process, consistent with current UHECR bounds. Early collapse at 10 −6 s may release binding energy as high-frequency (100kHz) gravitational waves or ultralight GUT-scale axions (10 −9 eV). Superheavy sterile neutrinos provide a natural particle realization, linking dark matter to neutrino mass and baryogenesis. If gravitationally produced, this framework favors high-scale inflation and effi cient reheating. The "X miracle" thus demonstrates that dark matter need not be weak-scale: gravitational dynamics can control freeze-out and evolution, producing multi-messenger observational signatures in UHECRs, axions, gravitational waves, and small-scale structures.

Xu, Zhijie Jay [Pacific Northwest National Laborat↗
DOE OSTI2025

Orientation-dependent enhanced ionization in acetylene revealed by ultrafast cross-polarized pulse pairs

We investigate the orientation dependence of enhanced ionization (EI) during strong-field-driven nuclear motion in acetylene (C 2 ⁢H 2 ). Here, we both initiate and probe molecular dynamics in acetylene with intense 6-fs cross-polarized pulse pairs, separated by a variable delay. Following multiple ionization by the first pulse, acetylene undergoes simultaneous elongation of the carbon-carbon and carbon-hydrogen bonds, enabling further ionization by the second pulse and the formation of a very highly charged state, [C 2 ⁢H 2 ] 6+ . At small interpulse delays (< 20 fs), this enhancement occurs when the molecule is aligned to the probe pulse. Conversely, at large delays (> 40 fs), formation of [C 2 ⁢H 2 ] 6+ occurs when the molecule is aligned to the pump pulse. By analyzing the polarization and time dependence of sequentially ionized [C 2 ⁢H 2 ] 6+ , we resolve two transient alignments that both contribute to a large increase in the multiple ionization yield. In conclusion, this cross-polarized pulse pair scheme uniquely enables selective probing of deeply bound orbitals, providing new insights on orientation-dependent EI in highly charged hydrocarbons.

Atomic & molecular clusters↗