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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 559 records · Page 31

Thermal relaxation and the complete set of second-order transport coefficients for the unitary Fermi gas from kinetic theory

We compute the complete set of second-order transport coefficients of the unitary Fermi gas, a dilute gas of spin-1/2 particles interacting via an 𝑠 -wave interaction tuned to infinite scattering length. The calculation is based on kinetic theory and the Chapman-Enskog method at second order in the Knudsen expansion. We take into account the exact two-body collision integral. We extend previous results on second-order coefficients related to shear stress by including terms related to heat flow and gradients of the fugacity. We confirm that the thermal relaxation time is given by the simple estimate 𝜏 𝜅 = 𝜅⁢𝑚/(𝑐 𝑃 ⁢𝑇) even if the full collision kernel is taken into account. Furthermore, 𝜅 is the thermal conductivity, 𝑚 is the mass of the particles, 𝑐𝑃 is the specific heat at constant pressure, and 𝑇 is the temperature.

Kinetic theory↗

Good plasmons in a bad metal

Correlated metals may exhibit unusually high resistivity that increases linearly in temperature, breaking through the Mott-Ioffe-Regel bound, above which coherent quasiparticles are destroyed. The fate of collective charge excitations, or plasmons, in these systems is a subject of debate. Several studies have suggested that plasmons are overdamped, whereas other studies have detected propagating plasmons. Here, in this work, we present direct nano-optical images of low-loss hyperbolic plasmon polaritons (HPPs) in the correlated van der Waals metal MoOCl 2 . HPPs are plasmon-photon modes that waveguide through extremely anisotropic media and are remarkably long-lived in MoOCl 2 . Photoemission data presented here reveal a highly anisotropic Fermi surface, reconstructed and made partly incoherent, likely through electronic interactions as explained by many-body theory. HPPs remain long-lived despite this, revealing previously unseen imprints of many-body effects on plasmonic collective modes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Molecular-beam spectrum of the 970/cm Fermi triad of CF3CH3

A tunable MW-sideband CO2 laser is used with an electric-resonance optothermal spectrometer to investigate the IR spectrum of CF3CH3 near 970/cm. A Fermi-coupled triad of states is observed, resulting from the interactions of 2nu6+nu11 and nu5+nu12 with the fundamental vibration, nu10, which is assumed to carry the oscillator strength in this region. The high resolution (about 3 MHz) of the spectrometer allows the observation of tunneling splittings associated with the nu6 torsional vibration. These splittings are used to identify the torsional character of the states observed. At the normal-mode level the nu10 and nu5+nu12 states are found to be nearly degenerate and interacting by an anharmonic matrix element of about 3/cm. The present investigation illustrates the utility of using resolved torsional splittings to unravel complex vibrational couplings in molecules.

Fraser, G. T.↗

Phase-separated ferromagnetism in a spin-imbalanced system of Fermi atoms loaded in an optical ladder: A density-matrix renormalization-group study

We consider repulsively interacting, cold fermionic atoms loaded on an optical ladder lattice in a trapping potential. The density-matrix renormalization-group method is used to numerically calculate the ground state for systematically varied values of interaction U and spin imbalance p in the Hubbard model on the ladder. The system exhibits rich structures, where a fully spin-polarized phase, spatially separated from other domains in the trapping potential, appears for large enough U and p. The phase-separated ferromagnetism can be captured as a real-space image of the energy gap between the ferromagnetic and other states arising from the combined effect of the Nagaoka ferromagnetism extended to the ladder and the density dependence of the energy separation between competing states. We also predict how to maximize the ferromagnetic region.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopic study of boron adsorption and surface segregation on Si(111)

The adsorption and surface segregation behavior of elemental boron (B) deposited on Si(111) have been studied by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and accompanying reflection high-energy electron diffraction as a function of the B coverage (c{sub B}) and annealing temperature (T). Our results clearly demonstrate an effective incorporation of B into subsurface sites at T > 800 K and formation of a well-ordered ({radical}(3)x{radical}(3))R30 deg. surface superstructure. Thereby, a critical c{sub B} of about 0.6 monolayers (ML) was determined for different conditions to prevent surface defects resulting from Si dangling bonds, which appear as surface states at 0.4 eV below the Fermi level. Annealing of the defect-free ({radical}(3)x{radical}(3))R30 deg. superstructure covered by several MLs Si at T{>=} 1040 K results in a renewal of the perfect B-induced Si surface structure, even after several deposition and annealing cycles. This indicates a dominance of B surface segregation over bulk diffusion. Significant B bulk diffusion commences only above 1100 K. Differences were found for spectra obtained for the B-induced surface structures formed after deposition and surface segregation, respectively. An additional surface state appeared at 2.1 eV below the Fermi level after deposition of 0.6 ML B. The state could be attributed to boron-boron interaction due to the presence of small clusters at the surface. This surface state did not disappear after high-T annealing and was not observed for lower c{sub B} and after B surface segregation, respectively.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Indications for Lifshitz transitions in the nodal-line semimetal ZrSiTe induced by interlayer interaction

The layered material ZrSiTe is currently extensively investigated as a nodal-line semimetal with Dirac-like band crossings protected by nonsymmorphic symmetry close to the Fermi energy. A recent infrared spectroscopy study on ZrSiTe under external pressure found anomalies in the optical response, providing hints for pressure-induced phase transitions at ≈4.1 and ≈ 6.5GPa. By pressure-dependent Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction measurements combined with electronic band structure calculations we find indications for two pressure-induced Lifshitz transitions with major changes in the Fermi surface topology in the absence of lattice symmetry changes. These electronic phase transitions can be attributed to the enhanced interlayer interaction induced by external pressure. Overall, our findings demonstrate the crucial role of the interlayer distance for the electronic properties of layered van der Waals topological materials.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Density response of a trapped Fermi gas: A crossover from the pair vibration mode to the Goldstone mode

We consider the density response of a trapped two-component Fermi gas. Combining the Bogoliubov-deGennes method with the random phase approximation allows the study of both collective and single-particle excitations. Calculating the density response across a wide range of interactions, we observe a crossover from a weakly interacting pair vibration mode to a strongly interacting Goldstone mode. The crossover is associated with a depressed collective mode frequency and an increased damping rate, in agreement with density response experiments performed in strongly interacting atomic gases.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Acceleration of relativistic electrons by magnetohydrodynamic turbulence: Implications for non-thermal emission from black hole accretion disks

We use analytic estimates and numerical simulations of test particles interacting with magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence to show that subsonic MHD turbulence produces efficient second-order Fermi acceleration of relativistic particles. This acceleration is not well described by standard quasi-linear theory but is a consequence of resonance broadening of wave-particle interactions in MHD turbulence. We provide momentum diffusion coefficients that can be used for astrophysical and heliospheric applications and discuss the implications of our results for accretion flows onto black holes. In particular, we show that particle acceleration by subsonic turbulence in radiatively inefficient accretion flows can produce a non-thermal tail in the electron distribution function that is likely important for modeling and interpreting the emission from low-luminosity systems such as Sgr A* and M87.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Dependence of Kambersky damping on Fermi level and spin orientation

Kambersky damping represents the loss of magnetic energy from the electrons to the lattice through the spin orbit interaction. It is demonstrated that, for bcc Fe-based transition metal alloys, the logarithm of the energy loss is proportional to the density of states at the Fermi level. Both inter and intraband damping are calculated for spins at arbitrary angle to the previously examined [001] direction. Although the easy axis 〈100〉 shows isotropic relaxation and achieves the minimum damping value of 0.002, other directions, such as 〈110〉, show substantial anisotropic damping.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Four-Spin Terms and the Origin of the Chiral Spin Liquid in Mott Insulators on the Triangular Lattice

At strong repulsion, the triangular-lattice Hubbard model is described by s=1/2 spins with nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic Heisenberg interactions and exhibits conventional 120° order. Using the infinite density matrix renormalization group and exact diagonalization, we study the effect of the additional four-spin interactions naturally generated from the underlying Mott-insulator physics of electrons as the repulsion decreases. Although these interactions have historically been connected with a gapless ground state with emergent spinon Fermi surface, we find that, at physically relevant parameters, they stabilize a chiral spin liquid (CSL) of Kalmeyer-Laughlin (KL) type, clarifying observations in recent studies of the Hubbard model. Finally, we present a self-consistent solution based on a mean-field rewriting of the interaction to obtain a Hamiltonian with similarities to the parent Hamiltonian of the KL state, providing a physical understanding for the origin of the CSL.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Fractionalized Fermi liquid in a Kondo-Heisenberg model

The Kondo-Heisenberg model is used as a controllable tool to demonstrate the existence of a peculiar metallic state with unbroken translational symmetry where the Fermi surface volume is not controlled by the total electron density. Here, I use a nonperturbative approach where the strongest interactions are taken into account by means of exact solution, and corrections are controllable. The resulting metallic state represents a fractionalized Fermi liquid where well defined quasiparticles coexist with gapped fractionalized collective excitations, in agreement with the general requirements formulated by T. Senthil et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 216403 (2003)]. Furthermore, the system undergoes a phase transition to an ordered phase (charge density wave or superconducting), at the transition temperature which is parametrically small in comparison to the quasiparticle Fermi energy.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Development of the Model of Galactic Interstellar Emission for Standard Point-Source Analysis of Fermi Large Area Telescope Data

Most of the celestial γ rays detected by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope originate from the interstellar medium when energetic cosmic rays interact with interstellar nucleons and photons. Conventional point and extended source studies rely on the modeling of this diffuse emission for accurate characterization. We describe here the development of the Galactic Interstellar Emission Model (GIEM) that is the standard adopted by the LAT Collaboration and is publicly available. The model is based on a linear combination of maps for interstellar gas column density in Galactocentric annuli and for the inverse Compton emission produced in the Galaxy. We also include in the GIEM large-scale structures like Loop I and the Fermi bubbles. The measured gas emissivity spectra con rm that the cosmic-ray proton density decreases with Galactocentric distance beyond 5 kpc from the Galactic Center. The measurements also suggest a softening of the proton spectrum with Galactocentric distance. We observe that the Fermi bubbles have boundaries with a shape similar to a catenary at latitudes below 20° and we observe an enhanced emission toward their base extending in the North and South Galactic direction and located within ~4° of the Galactic Center.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer pairing of composite fermions

Topological pairing of composite fermions has led to remarkable ideas, such as excitations obeying non-Abelian braid statistics and topological quantum computation. Here, we construct a p-wave paired Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) wave function for composite fermions in the torus geometry, which is a convenient geometry for formulating momentum space pairing as well as for revealing the underlying composite-fermion Fermi sea. Following the standard BCS approach, we minimize the Coulomb interaction energy at half filling in the lowest and the second Landau levels, which correspond to filling factors ν = 1/2 and ν = 5/2 in GaAs quantum wells, by optimizing two variational parameters that are analogous to the gap and the Debye cut-off energy of the BCS theory. Our results show no evidence for pairing at ν = 1/2 but a clear evidence for pairing at ν = 5/2. To a good approximation, the highest overlap between the exact Coulomb ground state at ν = 5/2 and the BCS state is obtained for parameters that minimize the energy of the latter, thereby providing support for the physics of composite-fermion pairing as the mechanism for the 5/2 fractional quantum Hall effect. We discuss the issue of modular covariance of the composite-fermion BCS wave function, and calculate its Hall viscosity and pair correlation function. By similar methods, we look for but do not find an instability to s-wave pairing for a spin-singlet composite-fermion Fermi sea at half-filled lowest Landau level in a system where the Zeeman splitting has been set to zero.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Water-Gas Shift and CO Methanation Reactions over Ni-CeO2(111) Catalysts

X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopies were used to study the interaction of Ni atoms with CeO{sub 2}(111) surfaces. Upon adsorption on CeO{sub 2}(111) at 300 K, nickel remains in a metallic state. Heating to elevated temperatures (500-800 K) leads to partial reduction of the ceria substrate with the formation of Ni{sup 2+} species that exists as NiO and/or Ce{sub 1-x}Ni{sub x}O{sub 2-y}. Interactions of nickel with the oxide substrate significantly reduce the density of occupied Ni 3d states near the Fermi level. The results of core-level photoemission and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure point to weakly bound CO species on CeO{sub 2}(111) which are clearly distinguishable from the formation of chemisorbed carbonates. In the presence of Ni, a stronger interaction is observed with chemisorption of CO on the admetal. When the Ni is in contact with Ce{sup +3} cations, CO dissociates on the surface at 300 K forming NiC{sub x} compounds that may be involved in the formation of CH{sub 4} at higher temperatures. At medium and large Ni coverages (>0.3 ML), the Ni/CeO{sub 2}(111) surfaces are able to catalyze the production of methane from CO and H{sub 2}, with an activity slightly higher than that of Ni(100) or Ni(111). On the other hand, at small coverages of Ni (<0.3 ML), the Ni/CeO{sub 2}(111) surfaces exhibit a very low activity for CO methanation but are very good catalysts for the water-gas shift reaction.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

Disentangling the Hadronic Components in NGC 1068

The recent detection of high-energy neutrinos by IceCube in the direction of the nearby Seyfert/starburst galaxy NGC 1068 implies that radio-quiet active galactic nuclei can accelerate cosmic-ray ions. Dedicated multimessenger analyses suggest that the interaction of these high-energy ions with ambient gas or photons happens in a region of the galaxy that is highly opaque for GeV–TeV gamma rays. Otherwise, the GeV–TeV emission would violate existing constraints provided by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) and the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov. The conditions of high optical depth are realized near the central supermassive black hole (SMBH). At the same time, the GeV emission detected by the Fermi LAT is likely related to the galaxy’s sustained star formation activity. In this work, we derive a 20 MeV–1 TeV spectrum of NGC 1068 using 14 yr of Fermi LAT observations. We find that the starburst hadronic component is responsible for NGC 1068's emission above ~500 MeV. However, below this energy, an additional component is required. In the 20–500 MeV range, the Fermi LAT data are consistent with hadronic emission initiated by non-thermal ions interacting with gas or photons in the vicinity of the central SMBH. This highlights the importance of the MeV band to discover hidden cosmic-ray accelerators.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Resonant magneto-optic Kerr effect in the magnetic topological insulator Cr:(Sb x ,Bi 1–x ) 2 Te 3

Here, we report measurements of the polar Kerr effect, proportional to the out-of-plane component of the magnetization, in thin films of the magnetically doped topological insulator (Cr 0.12 Bi 0.26 Sb 0.62 ) 2 Te 3 . Measurements of the complex Kerr angle ΘK were performed as a function of photon energy in the range 0.8eV < ℏω < 3.0eV. We observed a peak in the real part of Θ K (ω) and zero crossing in the imaginary part that we attribute to a resonant interaction with a spin-orbit avoided crossing located ≈ 1.6 eV above the Fermi energy. The resonant enhancement allows measurement of the temperature and magnetic field dependence of Θ K in the ultrathin film limit, d ≥ 2 quintuple layers (QL). We find a sharp transition to zero remanent magnetization at 6 K for d < 8 QL, consistent with theories of the dependence of impurity spin interactions on film thickness and their location relative to topological insulator surfaces.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Constraining Dark Matter Models from a Combined Analysis of Milky Way Satellites with the Fermi Large Area Telescope

Satellite galaxies of the Milky Way are among the most promising targets for dark matter searches in gamma rays. We present a search for dark matter consisting of weakly interacting massive particles, applying a joint likelihood analysis to 10 satellite galaxies with 24 months of data of the Fermi Large Area Telescope. No dark matter signal is detected. Including the uncertainty in the dark matter distribution, robust upper limits are placed on dark matter annihilation cross sections. The 95% con dence level upper limits range from about 10 -26 cm3s -1 at 5 GeV to about 5 X10 -23 cm3s -1 at 1 TeV, depending on the dark matter annihilation nal state. For the rst time, using gamma rays, we are able to rule out models with the most generic cross section (~ 3 X 10 -26 cm 3 s -1 for a purely s-wave cross section), without assuming additional boost factors.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗