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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Is imaginary Starobinsky model real?

We investigate the recently proposed possibility of chaotic inflation with respect to the imaginary part of the field T in a supersymmetric embedding of the Starobinsky model. We show that the stage of rapid expansion driven by Im T in this model ends almost instantly, and the subsequent stages of inflation are driven by the real part of the field T, as in the standard Starobinsky model. Thus, the Starobinsky model and its supersymmetric generalizations remain disfavored by the recent BICEP2 data.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2026

Deterministic Quantum Trajectory via Imaginary Time Evolution

Stochastic quantum trajectories, such as pure state evolutions under unitary dynamics and random measurements, offer a crucial ensemble description of many-body open system dynamics. Recent studies have highlighted that individual quantum trajectories also encode essential physical information. Prominent examples include measurement-induced phase transitions, where a pure quantum state corresponding to fixed measurement outcomes (trajectories) exhibits distinct entanglement phases, depending on the measurement rate. However, direct observation of this effect is hindered by an exponential postselection barrier, whereby the probability of realizing a specific trajectory is exponentially small. We propose a deterministic method to efficiently prepare quantum trajectories in polynomial time using imaginary time evolution and, thus, overcome this fundamental challenge. Here, we demonstrate that our method applies to a certain class of quantum states, and argue that universal approaches do not exist for any quantum trajectories. Our result paves the way for experimentally exploring the physics of individual quantum trajectories at scale and enables direct observation of certain postselection-dependent phenomena.

Mittal, Shivan [Los Alamos National Laboratory (LA↗
DOE OSTI2024

Imaginary phonon modes and phonon-mediated superconductivity in Y 2 C 3

For Y 2 C 3 with a superconducting critical temperature ($T_c$) ~18 K, zone-center imaginary optical phonon modes have been found for the high-symmetry I-43d structure due to C dimer wobbling motion and electronic instability from a flat band near Fermi energy. After lattice distortion to the more stable lowest-symmetry P1 structure, these stabilized low-energy phonon modes with a mixed C and Y character carry a strong electronphonon coupling to give rise to the observed sizable $T_c$. Our work shows that compounds with the calculated dynamical instability should not be simply excluded in the high-throughput search for new phonon-mediated superconductors. Moreover, we have studied the phase stability of the I-43d structure by calculating the enthalpy of different structural motifs of binary compounds containing group-IV elements at the 2:3 composition and also exploring the energy landscapes via ab initio molecular dynamics near and out of the I-43d structure. Here, our results show that the I-43d-type structures with C dimers are preferred in the low to medium pressure range. Because of the wobbling motion of the C dimers, there are many local energy minimums with degenerated energies. Thus, the ensemble average of many I-43d-distorted structures with C dimer wobbling motion at finite temperature still gives an overall I-43d structure.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Chebyshev polynomial representation of imaginary-time response functions

Problems of finite-temperature quantum statistical mechanics can be formulated in terms of imaginary (Euclidean) -time Green's functions and self-energies. In the context of realistic Hamiltonians, the large energy scale of the Hamiltonian (as compared to temperature) necessitates a very precise representation of these functions. In this paper, we explore the representation of Green's functions and self-energies in terms of a series of Chebyshev polynomials. Here we show that many operations, including convolutions, Fourier transforms, and the solution of the Dyson equation, can straightforwardly be expressed in terms of the series expansion coefficients. We then compare the accuracy of the Chebyshev representation for realistic systems with the uniform-power grid representation, which is most commonly used in this context.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Toward quantum tunneling from excited states: Recovering imaginary-time instantons from a real-time analysis

We revisit the path integral description of quantum tunneling and its generalization to excited states. For clarity, we focus on the simple toy model of a point particle in a double-well potential, for which we perform all steps explicitly. Instead of performing the familiar Wick rotation from physical to imaginary time—which is inconsistent with the requisite boundary conditions when treating tunneling from excited states—we regularize the path integral by adding an infinitesimal complex contribution to the Hamiltonian, while keeping time strictly real. We find that this gives rise to a complex stationary-phase solution, in agreement with recent insights from Picard-Lefshetz theory. We then show that there exists a class of analytic solutions for the corresponding equations of motion, which can be made to match the appropriate boundary conditions in the physically relevant limits of a vanishing regulator and an infinite physical time. We provide a detailed discussion of this nontrivial limit. We find that, for systems without an explicit time-dependence, our approach reproduces the picture of an instantonlike solution defined on a finite Euclidean-time interval. Lastly, we discuss the generalization of our approach to broader classes of systems, for which it serves as a reliable framework for high-precision calculations. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Steingasser, Thomas (ORCID:0000000217262117)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Robust preparation of ground state phases under noisy imaginary time evolution

Nonunitary state preparation protocols such as imaginary time evolution (ITE) offer substantial advantages relative to unitary ones, including the ability to prepare certain long-range correlated states more efficiently. Here, we ask whether such protocols are also robust to noise arising due to coupling to the environment. We consider a nonunitary ITE “circuit” subjected to a variety of noise models and investigate whether the resulting steady state remains in the same phase as the target state of the ITE at finite noise strength. Taking the one-dimensional quantum Ising model as a concrete example, we find that the ground-state order and associated phase transition persist in the presence of noise, provided the noise does not explicitly break the symmetry that protects the phase transition. That is, the noise must possess the protecting symmetry in a weak (or average) form. Our analysis is facilitated by a mapping to an effective Hamiltonian picture in a doubled Hilbert space. We discuss possible implications of these findings for quantum simulation on noisy quantum hardware. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Eigenfunction expansions in the imaginary Lobachevsky space

Eigenfunctions of the Schrödinger equation with the Coulomb potential in the imaginary Lobachevsky space are studied in two coordinate systems admitting solutions in terms of hypergeometric functions. Normalization and coefficients of mutual expansions for some sets of solutions are found.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1974

A model for jet-noise analysis using pressure-gradient correlations on an imaginary cone

The technique for determining the near and far acoustic field of a jet through measurements of pressure-gradient correlations on an imaginary conical surface surrounding the jet is discussed. The necessary analytical developments are presented, and their feasibility is checked by using a point source as the sound generator. The distribution of the apparent sources on the cone, equivalent to the point source, is determined in terms of the pressure-gradient correlations.

Norum, T. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Computation of imaginary-side pressure distributions over the flexible walls of the test section insert for the 0.3-M transonic cryogenic tunnel

Two dimensional airfoil testing in an adaptive wall test-section wind tunnel requires the computation of the imaginary flow fields extending outward from the top and bottom test section walls. A computer program was developed to compute the flow field which would be associated with an arbitrary test section wall shape. The program is based on incompressible flow theory with a Prandtl-Glauert compressibility correction. The program was validated by comparing the streamline and the pressure field generated by a source in uniform flow with the results from the computer program. A listing of the program, the validation test results, and a sample program are included.

Goodyer, M. J.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Imaginary admittance and charge transfer resistance correlate to the physiological status of Shewanella oneidensis cultures in real time

Monitoring microbial activity is essential for industrial and environmental applications to proceed efficiently. To minimize time and labor-intensive monitoring, a new paradigm is required for in-situ, real time analysis. Since bioconversion of organics is accomplished by microorganisms through the oxidation of feedstocks linked to the reduction of electron acceptors, microorganisms can be viewed as electrochemical catalysts. In this respect, cell membranes have an electrical potential, which is analogous to a conventional capacitor and linked dynamically to cellular activity. Here, in this study, we demonstrate the use of electrochemical impedance spectrometry (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) for monitoring microbial metabolic activity in real time, in-situ. The effect of organic electron donors as a function of concentration to the physiological status of strains of Shewanella oneidensis was determined. In this study, the pyomelanin overproducer (S. oneidensis ΔhmgA) and the pyomelanin deficient mutant (S. oneidensis ΔmelA) were chosen due to different surface electrochemical characteristics along with differences in oxygen utilization efficiency. CV, relative admittance, phase shift and permittivity changed with growth status and correlated with electron flow from organic carbon sources and terminal electron acceptor availability. This work offers a novel and inexpensive approach to real time monitoring with the advantage of abundant data.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Imaginary-time correlation function thermometry: A new, high-accuracy and model-free temperature analysis technique for x-ray Thomson scattering data

The accurate interpretation of experiments with matter at extreme densities and pressures is a notoriously difficult challenge. In a recent work [Dornheim et al., Nat. Commun. 13, 7911 (2022)], we have introduced a formally exact methodology that allows extracting the temperature of arbitrary complex materials without any model assumptions or simulations. Here, we provide a more detailed introduction to this approach and analyze the impact of experimental noise on the extracted temperatures. In particular, we extensively apply our method both to synthetic scattering data and to previous experimental measurements over a broad range of temperatures and wave numbers. We expect that our approach will be of high interest to a gamut of applications, including inertial confinement fusion, laboratory astrophysics, and the compilation of highly accurate equation-of-state databases.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗