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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 OSTI2023

Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy and Principal Component Analysis to Retrospectively Determine Production History of Plutonium Dioxide

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy measurements in the shortwave infrared (930–1600 nm) spectral region were acquired for Pu 2 (C 2 O 4 ) 3 •9H 2 O and its thermal decomposition product, PuO 2 . We analyzed a total of eight PuO 2 samples that were produced at different calcination temperatures (300, 350, 450, 525, 600, 675, 750, and 900 °C). Our goal was to identify spectroscopic fingerprints that could be used to gain retrospective information regarding the production parameters of these important nuclear compounds. The diffuse reflectance spectrum of Pu 2 (C 2 O 4 ) 3 •9H 2 O features several broad bands that currently preclude detailed analysis. However, all PuO 2 samples produced relatively sharp spectral features that got sharper and more intense for samples that were produced at higher calcination temperatures. The electronic band observed at 1433 nm in the diffuse reflectance spectra of PuO 2 was found to be a sensitive indicator of crystallinity; a result that is corroborated by ancillary Raman spectroscopy measurements. Principal component analysis of diffuse reflectance spectra was able to clearly rank and categorize PuO 2 samples based on the calcination temperature that was employed during their production. Thus, we show herein that important retrospective information pertaining to the process history of PuO 2 can be gained through the relatively simplistic combination of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy and principal component analysis. This discovery presents a new method for determining the provenance and process history of PuO 2 and should have an impact in the fields of nuclear forensics and nuclear nonproliferation.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Thermal transport measurements through the charge density wave transition in CsV 3 Sb 5

We study thermal transport and thermalization in single crystals of CsV 3 Sb 5 through the CDW transition by directly measuring thermal diffusivity (D), thermal conductivity (κ), specific heat (c), and resistivity (ρ). Commensurate with previous reports, we observe a sharp, narrow anomaly in specific heat associated with a first-order transition that results in a CDW state below ~94 K. While a corresponding sharp anomaly in thermal diffusivity is also observed, resistivity and thermal conductivity only exhibit small steps at the transition, where the feature is sharp for resistivity and broader for thermal conductivity. Scrutinizing the thermal Einstein relation κ = cD, we find that this relation is generally satisfied, except in the narrow two-phase regime of the putative first-order transition. Here, the Wiedemann-Franz law as well seems to work outside the two-phase regime, where strong resemblance between the specific heat and the resistivity derivative below the transition may point to a concurrent emergence of a secondary electronic order parameter.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

An end-to-end deep learning method for solving nonlocal Allen–Cahn and Cahn–Hilliard phase-field models

Here, we propose an efficient end-to-end deep learning method for solving nonlocal Allen–Cahn (AC) and Cahn–Hilliard (CH) phase-field models. One motivation for this effort emanates from the fact that discretized partial differential equation-based AC or CH phase-field models result in diffuse interfaces between phases, with the only recourse for remediation is to severely refine the spatial grids in the vicinity of the true moving sharp interface whose width is determined by a grid-independent parameter that is substantially larger than the local grid size. In this work, we introduce non-mass conserving nonlocal AC or CH phase-field models with regular, logarithmic, or obstacle double-well potentials. Because of non-locality, some of these models feature totally sharp interfaces separating phases. The discretization of such models can lead to a transition between phases whose width is only a single grid cell wide. Another motivation is to use deep learning approaches to ameliorate the otherwise high cost of solving discretized nonlocal phase-field models. To this end, loss functions of the customized neural networks are defined using the residual of the fully discrete approximations of the AC or CH models, which results from applying a Fourier collocation method and a temporal semi-implicit approximation. To address the long-range interactions in the models, we tailor the architecture of the neural network by incorporating a nonlocal kernel as an input channel to the neural network model. We then provide the results of extensive computational experiments to illustrate the accuracy, predictive capabilities, and cost reductions of the proposed method.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2016

SIMULATIONS OF LATERAL TRANSPORT AND DROPOUT STRUCTURE OF ENERGETIC PARTICLES FROM IMPULSIVE SOLAR FLARES

We simulate trajectories of energetic particles from impulsive solar flares for 2D+slab models of magnetic turbulence in spherical geometry to study dropout features, i.e., sharp, repeated changes in the particle density. Among random-phase realizations of two-dimensional (2D) turbulence, a spherical harmonic expansion can generate homogeneous turbulence over a sphere, but a 2D fast Fourier transform (FFT) locally mapped onto the lateral coordinates in the region of interest is much faster computationally, and we show that the results are qualitatively similar. We then use the 2D FFT field as input to a 2D MHD simulation, which dynamically generates realistic features of turbulence such as coherent structures. The magnetic field lines and particles spread non-diffusively (ballistically) to a patchy distribution reaching up to 25° from the injection longitude and latitude at r ∼ 1 au. This dropout pattern in field line trajectories has sharper features in the case of the more realistic 2D MHD model, in better qualitative agreement with observations. The initial dropout pattern in particle trajectories is relatively insensitive to particle energy, though the energy affects the pattern’s evolution with time. We make predictions for future observations of solar particles near the Sun (e.g., at 0.25 au), for which we expect a sharp pulse of outgoing particles along the dropout pattern, followed by backscattering that first remains close to the dropout pattern and later exhibits cross-field transport to a distribution that is more diffusive, yet mostly contained within the dropout pattern found at greater distances.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Localized Excitons in NbSe 2 -MoSe 2 Heterostructures

Neutral and charged excitons (trions) in atomically thin materials offer important capabilities for photonics, from ultrafast photodetectors to highly efficient light-emitting diodes and lasers. Recent studies of van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures comprised of dissimilar monolayer materials have uncovered a wealth of optical phenomena that are predominantly governed by interlayer interactions. Here, we examine the optical properties in NbSe 2 -MoSe 2 vdW hetero- structures, which provide an important model system to study metal–semiconductor interfaces, a common element in optoelectronics. Through low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) microscopy, we discover a sharp emission feature, L1, that is localized at the NbSe 2 -capped regions of MoSe 2 . L1 is observed at energies below the commonly studied MoSe 2 excitons and trions and exhibits temperature- and power-dependent PL consistent with exciton localization in a confining potential. This PL feature is robust, observed in a variety of samples fabricated with different stacking geometries and cleaning procedures. Using first-principles calculations, we reveal that the confinement potential required for exciton localization naturally arises from the in-plane band bending due to the changes in the electron affinity between pristine MoSe 2 and NbSe 2 -MoSe 2 heterostructure. Here, we discuss the implications of our studies for atomically thin optoelectronics devices with atomically sharp interfaces and tunable electronic structures.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Evaluation of Erosion of the Dummy “EE” Plate 19 in YA Type ATR Fuel Element During Reactor PALM Cycles

Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) Cycle 153B-1 was a 14-day, high-power, powered axial locator mechanism (PALM) operating cycle that completed on April 12, 2013. Cycle 153B-1 was a typical operating cycle for the ATR, and did not result in any unusual plant transients. ATR was started up and shut down as scheduled. The PALM drive physically moves the selected experiments into and out of the core to simulate reactor startup and heat up, and shutdown and cooldown transients, while the reactor remains in steady-state conditions. However, after the cycle was over, when the fuel elements were removed from the core and inspected, several thousand flow-assisted erosion pits and “horseshoeing” defects were readily observed on the surface of the several YA-type fuel elements (these are aluminum “dummy” plates that contain no fuel). In order to understand these erosion phenomena, a thermal-hydraulic model of coolant channel 20 on a YA-M fuel element was generated. The boundaries of the model were the aluminum EE plate of a YA-M fuel element and a beryllium reflector block with 13 horizontal saw cuts which represented regions of zero flow. The heat generated in fuel plates 1 through 18 was modeled to be passing through the aluminum EE plate. The coolant channel 20 width was set at 0.058 in. (58 mils). It was established that the horizontal saw cuts had a significant effect on the temperature of the coolant. The flow, which was expected to vary linearly with gradual heating of the coolant as it passed through the channel, was extremely turbulent. The temperature rise, which was expected to be a smooth “S” curve, was represented by a series temperature rise “humps,” which occurred at each horizontal saw cut in the beryllium reflector block. Each of the 13 saw cuts had a chamfered edge which resulted in the coolant flow being re-directed as a jet across the coolant channel into the surface of the EE plate, which explained the temperature rise and the observed scalloping and pitting degradation on the YA-M fuel elements. In the case of scalloping (horseshoeing) a surprising similarity of that defect to those appearing on aluminum plate rolled in over-lubrication conditions, were established. In turn, this made us think that the principal feature responsible for the appearance of these defects, was horizontal cuts in the beryllium reflector block created to arrest the propagation of large vertical crack(s) in Be in PALM cycles with higher overall fluence. This assumption was fully confirmed by the results of thermo-hydraulic simulations. The neutronics data for these modeling experiments were provided using advanced irradiation simulations (MCNP, HELIOS). In the case of pitting erosion the following corrective measures were proposed based upon the results of JMatPro v.8.2 modeling (TTT- and CCT-diagrams): change the fabrication process by adding blister anneal before program anneal, immediately after cold rolling of AA6061plate. This step will allow achieving complete recrystallization, eliminating of strengthening due to metastable precipitates, and reduce the possibility of forming sharp microstructural features upon the surface.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Decoupling the metal insulator transition and crystal field effects of VO 2

VO 2 is a highly correlated electron system which has a metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) with a dramatic change of conductivity accompanied by a first-order structural phase transition (SPT) near room temperature. The origin of the MIT is still controversial and there is ongoing debate over whether an SPT induces the MIT and whether the T c can be engineered using artificial parameters. We examined the electrical and local structural properties of Cr- and Co-ion implanted VO 2 (Cr-VO 2 and Co-VO 2 ) films using temperature-dependent resistance and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) measurements at the V K edge. The temperature-dependent electrical resistance measurements of both Cr-VO 2 and Co-VO 2 films showed sharp MIT features. The T c values of the Cr-VO 2 and Co-VO 2 films first decreased and then increased relative to that of pristine VO 2 as the ion flux was increased. The pre-edge peak of the V K edge from the Cr-VO 2 films with a Cr ion flux ≥ 10 13 ions/cm 2 showed no temperature-dependent behavior, implying no changes in the local density of states of V 3d t 2g and e g orbitals during MIT. Extended XAFS (EXAFS) revealed that implanted Cr and Co ions and their tracks caused a substantial amount of structural disorder and distortion at both vanadium and oxygen sites. The resistance and XAFS measurements revealed that VO 2 experiences a sharp MIT when the distance of V–V pairs undergoes an SPT without any transitions in either the VO 6 octahedrons or the V 3d t 2g and eg states. This indicates that the MIT of VO 2 occurs with no changes of the crystal fields.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Lines of Bound States in the Continuum in Monodisperse Microsphere Structures

Incorporating epitaxially grown active semiconductor media into self-assembled microsphere crystals has remained a major challenge as the curved geometry of the spheres is incompatible with conventional planar growth and patterning techniques. As a result, active photonic devices based on such self-assembled structures, which have other desirable properties such as enabling the rapid assembly of large area systems, have been elusive. Here, we numerically demonstrate an alternative route to creating high-Q resonances in microsphere-based nanophotonic assemblies compatible with standard optical gain materials. We show that close-packed layers of monodisperse microspheres can exhibit symmetry bandgaps, regardless of their layer stacking order. Thus, this microsphere environment can be used to create lines of bound states in the continuum (BICs) of an embedded slab made of active material. Using a realistic ZnS@SiO 2 (core-shell) architecture and sphere diameters compatible with scalable colloidal assembly, we predict sharp spectral features in angle-resolved transmission that trace these lines of BICs and persist in the presence of some fabrication disorder. Altogether, in enabling the integration of unpatterned epitaxial gain slabs with large-area colloidal microsphere assemblies, this approach opens a practical path toward active, dynamically reconfigurable photonic devices that leverage BIC physics for narrow-linewidth lasing and enhanced light–matter interactions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

All-quad meshing without cleanup

Here, we present an all-quad meshing algorithm for general domains. We start with a strongly balanced quadtree. In contrast to snapping the quadtree corners onto the geometric domain boundaries, we move them away from the geometry. Then we intersect the moved grid with the geometry. The resulting polygons are converted into quads with midpoint subdivision. Moving away avoids creating any flat angles, either at a quadtree corner or at a geometry–quadtree intersection. We are able to handle two-sided domains, and more complex topologies than prior methods. The algorithm is provably correct and robust in practice. It is cleanup-free, meaning we have angle and edge length bounds without the use of any pillowing, swapping, or smoothing. Thus, our simple algorithm is fast and predictable. This paper has better quality bounds, and the algorithm is demonstrated over more complex domains, than our prior version.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Bedrock architecture, soil texture, and hyporheic zone characterization combining electrical resistivity and induced polarization imaging

The shallow (<15 m depth) subsurface environment of a short reach along a bedrock stream was investigated with electrical resistivity and induced polarization (IP) to map details of bedrock and soil sediments. The bedrock is mostly comprised of limestone, and is generally resistive compared to the overlying soil. The soil-bedrock interface was determined through a trial and error approach using a sharp boundary feature in the inversion model. The inferred bedrock surface determined from the inversions exhibited undulating patterns with troughs and ridges. A near continuous trough ran alongside the stream within the floodplain, and is suggestive of a paleochannel among other interpretations of this feature. The structure of the electrical resistivity above the bedrock showed small-scale elongated features. The chargeability from the IP method showed larger scale features. High values of chargeability were associated with the sediments in the floodplain, and low values were associated with bedrock, stream, and soil on the elevated banks above the stream. If the chargeability is associated with membrane polarization characteristic of clayey soils, then IP seems to highlight the mere existence of clay, while the resistivity may be more discernable of the relative proportion of clay. Vegetation differences may also explain the chargeability distribution, where parts of the survey with high chargeability had dense pine with no understory making the soils more organically rich.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dijet Acoplanarity in CUJET3 as a Probe of the Nonperturbative Color Structure of QCD Perfect Fluids

Using the CUJET3=DGLV+VISHNU jet-medium interaction framework, we show that dijet azimuthal acoplanarity in high energy A + A collisions is sensitive to possible non-perturbative enhancement of the jet transport coefficient, $\hat{q}$(T,E), in the QCD crossover temperature T ~ 150–300 MeV range. With jet-medium couplings constrained by global RHIC& LHC χ 2 fits to nuclear modification data on R AA (p T > 20) GeV, we compare predictions of the medium induced dijet transverse momentum squared, $Q_s^2~\langle \hat{q}L\rangle~ΔΦ^2E^2$, in two models of the temperature, T, and jet energy E dependence of the jet medium transport coefficient, $\hat{q}$(T,E)). In one model, wQGP, the chromo degrees of freedom (dof) are approximated by a perturbative dielectric gas of quark and gluons dof. In the second model, sQGMP, we consider a nonperturbative partially confined semi-Quark-Gluon-Monopole-Plasma with emergent color magnetic dof constrained by lattice QCD data. Unlike the slow variation of the scaled jet transport coefficient, $\hat{q}_{wQGP}/T^3$, the sQGMP model $\hat{q}_{sQGMP}/T^3$ features a sharp maximum in the QCD confinement crossover T range. We show that the dijet path averaged medium induced azimuthal acoplanarity, Δφ 2 , in sQGMP is robustly ~ 2 times larger than in perturbative wQGP. even though the radiative energy loss in both models is very similar as needed to fit the same R AA data. Future A+A dijet acoplanarity measurements constrained together with single jet R AA and ν n measurements therefore appears to be a promising strategy to search for possible signatures of critical opalescence like phenomena in the QCD confinement temperature range.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Accelerating Embedding Potential Optimization by Reconstructing the Pseudo-Valence Electron Density

Density functional embedding theory (DFET) enables use of electronic structure methods with higher accuracy than density functional theory in a local region, with applications thus far ranging from (photo/electro)catalysis to reactions in solution. DFET partitions a large collection of atoms into smaller groups that interact via a shared embedding (interaction) potential V emb , determined via functional optimization. The optimized effective potential (OEP) process used to optimize V emb is time-consuming and becomes a computational bottleneck due to sharp, oscillating features of V emb near nuclei. Here, similar to pseudopotential theory, by reconstructing electron densities used in the OEP process from smoother pseudo-valence-only (PVO) electron densities as proxies for total densities of the full system and subsystems, we can retain accuracy in the embedded electronic structure calculations while potentially reducing the overhead of V emb construction, within the projector augmented-wave (PAW) formalism. We explore three different chemical reactions as exemplars to test PVO–DFET, namely, H 2 dissociative adsorption on a Cu(111) surface, H 2 O adsorption on a Pt(111) surface, and aqueous [Ca 2+ –SO 4 2– ] ion-pair formation. The PVO approximation works well for all three systems with minimal loss of accuracy (∼10–70 meV error relative to the original exact-derivative (ED) approach) while accelerating V emb generation for the Cu and Pt systems respectively by 20× and 5×. Given proper numerical convergence parameters, the spatial distributions of differences between PVO- and ED-based V emb outside the core regions are small, explaining the exceptional agreement between the two approaches. Finally, we anticipate that this more efficient PVO–DFET approximation will be useful whenever computation of V emb is much more expensive than subsequent embedded high-level electron correlation calculations.

approximation↗
DOE OSTI2017

Distinguishing Surface versus Bulk Hydroxyl Groups of Cellulose Nanocrystals Using Vibrational Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

In plant cell walls and cellulose-containing composites, nanocrystalline cellulose interacts with water molecules or matrix polymers through hydrogen bonding of the hydroxyl groups at the cellulose surface. These interactions play key roles in cellulose assembly in plant cell walls and mechanical properties of cellulose composites; however, they could not be studied properly due to the spectroscopic difficulty of selectively detecting the surface hydroxyl groups of nanocrystalline domains. This study employed the sum frequency scattering principle to distinguish the hydroxyl groups inside of the crystalline nanodomain of cellulose and those exposed at the surface of crystalline domains. The comparison of the spectra at various scattering angles revealed that the OH peak near ~3450 cm –1 comes from the weakly hydrogen-bonded OH groups at the surface of crystalline cellulose. Also, a time delay measurement found that the sharp vibrational features observed near 3700 cm–1 can be attributed to isolated OH groups not accessible by ambient water molecules. These findings allow the distinction of surface versus bulk OH groups in sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Large polarization-dependent exciton optical Stark effect in lead iodide perovskites

A strong interaction of a semiconductor with a below-bandgap laser pulse causes a blue-shift of the bandgap transition energy, known as the optical Stark effect. The energy shift persists only during the pulse duration with an instantaneous response time. The optical Stark effect has practical relevance for applications, including quantum information processing and communication, and passively mode-locked femtosecond lasers. Here we demonstrate that solution-processable lead-halide perovskites exhibit a large optical Stark effect that is easily resolved at room temperature resulting from the sharp excitonic feature near the bandedge. We also demonstrate that a polarized pump pulse selectively shifts one spin state producing a spin splitting of the degenerate excitonic states. Such selective spin manipulation is an important prerequisite for spintronic applications. Lastly, our result implies that such hybrid semiconductors may have great potential for optoelectronic applications beyond photovoltaics.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Resonance Raman signature of intertube excitons in compositionally-defined carbon nanotube bundles

Electronic interactions in low-dimensional nanomaterial heterostructures can lead to novel optical responses arising from exciton delocalization over the constituent materials. Similar phenomena have been suggested to arise between closely interacting semiconducting carbon nanotubes of identical structure. Such behavior in carbon nanotubes has potential to generate new exciton physics, impact exciton transport mechanisms in nanotube networks, and place nanotubes as one-dimensional models for such behaviors in systems of higher dimensionality. Here we use resonance Raman spectroscopy to probe intertube interactions in (6,5) chirality-enriched bundles. Raman excitation profiles for the radial breathing mode and G-mode display a previously unobserved sharp resonance feature. We show the feature is evidence for creation of intertube excitons and is identified as a Fano resonance arising from the interaction between intratube and intertube excitons. The universality of the model suggests that similar Raman excitation profile features may be observed for interlayer exciton resonances in 2D multilayered systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Controlling laser-dressed resonance line shape using attosecond extreme-ultraviolet pulse with a spectral minimum

High-harmonic generation from a gas target exhibits sharp spectral features and rapid phase variation near the Cooper minimum. By applying spectral filtering, shaped isolated attosecond pulses can be generated where the pulse is split into two in the time domain. Using such shaped extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) pulses, we theoretically study attosecond transient absorption (ATA) spectra of helium 2s2p autoionizing state which is resonantly coupled to the 2s 2 dark state by a time-delayed infrared laser. Our simulations show that the asymmetric 2s2p Fano line shape can be readily tuned into symmetric Lorentzian within the time delay of a few tens of attoseconds. Such efficient control is due to the destructive interference in the generation of the 2s2p state when it is excited by a strongly shaped XUV pulse. This is to be compared to prior experiments where tuning the line shape of a Fano resonance would take tens of femtoseconds. We also show that the predicted ATA spectral line shape can be observed experimentally after propagation in a gas medium. Our results suggest that strongly shaped attosecond XUV pulses offer the opportunity for controlling and probing fine features of narrow resonances on the few-ten attoseconds timescale.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Anisotropic non-gaussianity from rotational symmetry breaking excited initial states

If the initial quantum state of the primordial perturbations broke rotational invariance, that would be seen as a statistical anisotropy in the angular correlations of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) temperature fluctuations. This can be described by a general parameterisation of the initial conditions that takes into account the possible direction-dependence of both the amplitude and the phase of particle creation during inflation. The leading effect in the CMBR two-point function is typically a quadrupole modulation, whose coefficient is analytically constrained here to be |B|≲0.06. The CMBR three-point function then acquires enhanced non-gaussianity, especially for the local configurations. In the large occupation number limit, a distinctive prediction is a modulation of the non-gaussianity around a mean value depending on the angle that short and long wavelength modes make with the preferred direction. The maximal variations with respect to the mean value occur for the configurations which are coplanar with the preferred direction and the amplitude of the non-gaussianity increases (decreases) for the short wavelength modes aligned with (perpendicular to) the preferred direction. For a high scale model of inflation with maximally pumped up isotropic occupation and ϵ≃0.01 the difference between these two configurations is about 0.27, which could be detectable in the future. For purely anisotropic particle creation, the non-Gaussianity can be larger and its anisotropic feature very sharp. The non-gaussianity can then reach f{sub NL}∼30 in the preferred direction while disappearing from the correlations in the orthogonal plane.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Prospects for discovering a neutrino line induced by dark matter annihilation

In the near future, neutrino telescopes are expected to improve their sensitivity to the flux of monochromatic neutrinos produced by dark matter (DM) in our galaxy. This is illustrated by a new limit on the corresponding cross section that we derive from public IceCube data. In this context, we study which DM models could produce an observable flux of monochromatic neutrinos from DM annihilations. To this end, we proceed in two steps. First, within a set of simple and minimal assumptions concerning the properties of the DM particle, we determine the models that could give rise to a significant annihilation into monochromatic neutrinos at the freeze-out epoch. The list of models turns out to be very limited as a result of various constraints, in particular direct detection and neutrino masses at loop level. Given the fact that, even if largely improved, the sensitivities will be far from reaching the thermal annihilation cross section soon, a signal could only be observed if the annihilation into neutrinos today is boosted with respect to the freeze-out epoch. This is why, in a second step, we analyze the possibility of having such a large enhancement from the Sommerfeld effect. For each scenario, we also compute the cross sections into other annihilation products and confront our results with experimental constraints. We find that, within our simple and minimal assumptions, the expectation to observe monochromatic neutrinos is only possible in very specific scenarios. Some will be confirmed or excluded in the near future because they predict signals slightly below the current experimental sensitivities. We also discuss how these prospects change by relaxing our assumptions as well as by considering other types of sharp spectral features. For the latter, we consider boxed-shaped and bremsstrahlung spectra and provide the corresponding limits from IceCube data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗