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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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71 records · Page 4

Asymptotic behavior of meson transition form factors

One of the open issues in evaluations of the contribution from hadronic light-by-light scattering to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon (g - 2)µ concerns the role of heavier scalar, axial-vector, and tensormeson intermediate states. The coupling of axial vectors to virtual photons is suppressed for small virtualities by the Landau–Yang theorem, but otherwise there are few rigorous constraints on the corresponding form factors. In this paper, we first derive the Lorentz decomposition of the two-photon matrix elements into scalar functions following the general recipe by Bardeen, Tung, and Tarrach. Based on this decomposition, we then calculate the asymptotic behavior of the meson transition form factors from a light-cone expansion in analogy to the asymptotic limits for the pseudoscalar transition form factor derived by Brodsky and Lepage. Finally, we compare our results to existing data as well as previous models employed in the literature.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

The quality/cosmology tension for a post-inflation QCD axion

Abstract It is difficult to construct a post-inflation QCD axion model that solves the axion quality problem (and hence the Strong CP problem) without introducing a cosmological disaster. In a post-inflation axion model, the axion field value is randomized during the Peccei-Quinn phase transition, and axion domain walls form at the QCD phase transition. We emphasize that the gauge equivalence of all minima of the axion potential (i.e., domain wall number equals one) is insufficient to solve the cosmological domain wall problem. The axion string on which a domain wall ends must exist as an individual object (as opposed to a multi-string state), and it must be produced in the early universe. These conditions are often not satisfied in concrete models. Post-inflation axion models also face a potential problem from fractionally charged relics; solving this problem often leads to low-energy Landau poles for Standard Model gauge couplings, reintroducing the quality problem. We study several examples, finding that models that solve the quality problem face cosmological problems, and vice versa. This is not a no-go theorem; nonetheless, we argue that it is much more difficult than generally appreciated to find a viable post-inflation QCD axion model. Successful examples may have a nonstandard cosmological history (e.g., multiple types of cosmic axion strings of different tensions), undermining the widespread expectation that the post-inflation QCD axion scenario predicts a unique mass for axion dark matter.

Physics↗

Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer Between Two α-MoO3 Biaxial Crystals

The near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) between two semi-infinite α-MoO3 biaxial crystals is investigated numerically based on the fluctuation–dissipation theorem combined with the modified 4 × 4 transfer matrix method in this paper. In the calculations, the near-field radiative heat flux (NFRHF) along each of the crystalline directions of α-MoO3 is obtained by controlling the orientation of the biaxial crystals. The results show that much larger heat flux than that between two semi-infinite hexagonal boron nitride can be achieved in the near-field regime, and the maximum heat flux is along the [001] crystalline direction. The mechanisms for the large radiative heat flux are explained as due to existence of hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs) inside α-MoO3 and excitation of hyperbolic surface phonon polaritons (HSPhPs) at the vacuum/α-MoO3 interfaces. The effect of relative rotation between the emitter and the receiver on the heat flux is also investigated. It is found that the heat flux varies significantly with the relative rotation angle. The modulation contrast can be as large as two when the heat flux is along the [010] direction. We attribute the large modulation contrast mainly to the misalignment of HSPhPs and HPPs between the emitter and the receiver. Hence, the results obtained in this work may provide a promising way for manipulating near-field radiative heat transfer between anisotropic materials.

Engineering↗

Development of a Microwave Quantum Sensing Capability

The geopolitical world is at the beginning of a quantum renaissance. Technology has reached a level of sophistication that allows the probing of a new world that operates using a different set of rules marked by quantum entanglement, superposition, and the no-cloning theorem. If we can explore this new world and its counterintuitive rules, we may be able to leverage them to build powerful tools for a wide range of applications, including enhanced encryption, computation, and sensing. Some entities have invested early and heavily in exploring this frontier: China has demonstrated quantum teleportation between a ground station and an orbiting satellite; Google recently met a computational milestone known as quantum supremacy, in which a quantum computer solves a problem that would take a classical computer an infeasible amount of time to solve. While great strides have been made, the early progress has caught many entities off guard. The scope of this project leverages an existing investment in a dilution refrigerator strategically chosen to position Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for a future in low-temperature microwave quantum sensing.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Non-intrusive reduced-order modeling for dynamical systems with spatially localized features

This work presents a non-intrusive reduced-order modeling framework for dynamical systems with spatially localized features characterized by slow singular value decay. The proposed approach builds upon two existing methodologies for reduced and full-order non-intrusive modeling, namely Operator Inference (OpInf) and sparse Full-Order Model (sFOM) inference. We decompose the domain into two complementary subdomains that exhibit fast and slow singular value decay. The dynamics of the subdomain exhibiting slow singular value decay are learned with sFOM while the dynamics with intrinsically low dimensionality on the complementary subdomain are learned with OpInf. The resulting, coupled OpInf-sFOM formulation leverages the computational efficiency of OpInf and the high resolution of sFOM, and thus enables fast non-intrusive predictions for conditions beyond those sampled in the training data set. A novel regularization technique with a closed-form solution based on the Gershgorin disk theorem is introduced to promote stable sFOM and OpInf models. We also provide a data-driven indicator for subdomain selection and ensure solution smoothness over the interface via a post-processing interpolation step. We evaluate the efficiency of the approach in terms of offline and online speedup through a quantitative, parametric computational cost analysis. We demonstrate the coupled OpInf-sFOM formulation for two test cases: a one-dimensional Burgers’ model for which accurate predictions beyond the span of the training snapshots are presented, and a two-dimensional parametric model for the Pine Island Glacier ice thickness dynamics, for which the OpInf-sFOM model achieves an average prediction error on the order of 1% with an online speedup factor of approximately 8$\times$ compared to the numerical simulation.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Geometric Delocalization in Two Dimensions

We demonstrate the existence of transient two-dimensional surfaces where a random-walking particle escapes to infinity in contrast to localization in standard flat two-dimensional space. We first prove that any rotationally symmetric two-dimensional membrane embedded in flat three-dimensional space cannot be transient. Then we formulate a criterion for the transience of a general asymmetric two-dimensional membrane. We use it to explicitly construct a class of transient two-dimensional manifolds with a nontrivial metric and height function but “zero average curvature,” which we dub “tablecloth manifolds.” The absence of the logarithmic infrared divergence of the Laplace-Beltrami operator in turn implies the absence of weak localization, nonexistence of bound states in shallow potentials, and breakdown of the Mermin-Wagner theorem and Kosterlitz-Thouless transition on the tablecloth manifolds, which may be realizable in both quantum simulators and corrugated two-dimensional materials.

Anderson localization↗

A consistent, Bayesian, approach to the cross section probability distribution in the unresolved resonance region

The cross sections of neutron-induced reactions can be divided into three energy ranges: the resolved resonance region (RRR), the unresolved resonance region (URR), and the fast region. In general, the cross sections in the URR show significant fluctuations that cannot be predicted and cannot be experimentally resolved, thus, it is commonly assumed that the cross section at a specific energy is given by a probability distribution function (PDF) over a range of values that can span several orders of magnitude. The current methodology used to describe such behavior is to construct the PDF by stochastically generating resonance ladders and numerically measuring the PDF. The resonance ladders are sampled using known resonance statistical properties and average resonance widths and spacings extrapolated from the RRR. Although this is a standard and widely used technique, it is computationally very expensive, therefore, an alternative, analytical, approach would be preferable due to the considerable speed up of the computational time in real life applications. Moreover, the current methodology does not take into account existing experimental data, such for total and capture cross sections, that are available for many nuclei. Finally, this approach was developed to be used in reactor-scale applications and it is not suited for use in single-event applications. In this work we will rethink the entire approach to the PDF construction using a Bayesian mindset. This will allow us to provide a different definition of the PDF that allows a much faster calculation of the higher-temperature PDFs and a proper combination of theoretical and experimental PDFs following the probability theory. We will also show that our definition is well suited for single-event applications and we will make an explicit connection between our method and the standard approach. We do this by showing that the central limit theorem applies and our method leads to the same PDF obtained with the standard methodology, for a large number of events per history.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Observing Profiles of Derived Kinematic Field Quantities Using a Network of Profiling Sites

Abstract Observations of thermodynamic and kinematic parameters associated with derivatives of the thermodynamics and wind fields, namely, advection, vorticity, divergence, and deformation, can be obtained by applying Green’s theorem to a network of observing sites. The five nodes that comprise the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) profiling network, spaced 50–80 km apart, are used to obtain measurements of these parameters over a finite region. To demonstrate the applicability of this technique at this location, it is first applied to gridded model output from the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) numerical weather prediction model, using profiles from the locations of ARM network sites, so that values calculated from this method can be directly compared to finite difference calculations. Good agreement is found between both approaches as well as between the model and values calculated from the observations. Uncertainties for the observations are obtained via a Monte Carlo process in which the profiles are randomly perturbed in accordance with their known error characteristics. The existing size of the ARM network is well suited to capturing these parameters, with strong correlations to model values and smaller uncertainties than a more closely spaced network, yet it is small enough that it avoids the tendency for advection to go to zero over a large area.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Numerical Solution of the Steady-State Network Flow Equations for a Non-Ideal Gas

Herein we formulate a steady-state network flow problem for non-ideal gas that relates injection rates and nodal pressures in the network to flows in pipes. For this problem, we present and prove a theorem on uniqueness of generalized solution for a broad class of non-ideal pressure-density relations that satisfy a monotonicity property. Further, we develop a Newton-Raphson algorithm for numerical solution of the steady-state problem, which is made possible by a systematic non-dimensionalization of the equations. The developed algorithm has been extensively tested on benchmark instances and shown to converge robustly to a generalized solution. Previous results [1]-[4], indicate that the steady-state network flow equations for an ideal gas are difficult to solve by the Newton-Raphson method because of its extreme sensitivity to the initial guess. In contrast, we find that non-dimensionalization of the steady-state problem is key to robust convergence of the Newton-Raphson method. We identify criteria based on the uniqueness of solutions under which the existence of a non-physical generalized solution found by a non-linear solver implies non-existence of a physical solution, i.e., infeasibility of the problem. Finally, we compare pressure and flow solutions based on ideal and non-ideal equations of state to demonstrate the need to apply the latter in practice. The solver developed in this article is open-source and is made available for both the academic and research communities as well as the industry.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Numerical fluid dynamics for FRG flow equations: Zero-dimensional QFTs as numerical test cases. II. Entropy production and irreversibility of RG flows

Herein we demonstrate that the reformulation of renormalization group (RG) flow equations as nonlinear heat equations has severe implications on the understanding of RG flows in general. We demonstrate by explicitly constructing an entropy function for a zero-dimensional Z 2 -symmetric model that the dissipative character of generic nonlinear diffusion equations is also hard-coded in the functional RG equation. This renders RG flows manifestly irreversible, revealing the semigroup property of RG transformations on the level of the flow equation itself. Additionally, we argue that the dissipative character of RG flows, its irreversibility and the entropy production during the RG flow may be linked to the existence of a so-called C– / A-function. In total, this introduces an asymmetry in the so-called RG time—in complete analogy to the thermodynamic arrow of time—and allows for an interpretation of infrared actions as equilibrium solutions of dissipative RG flows equations. The impossibility of resolving microphysics from macrophysics is evident in this framework. Furthermore, we directly link the irreversibility and the entropy production in RG flows to an explicit numerical entropy production, which is manifest in diffusive and non-linear partial differential equations (PDEs) and a standard mathematical tool for the analysis of PDEs. Using exactly solvable zero-dimensional Z 2 -symmetric models, we explicitly compute the (numerical) entropy production related to the total variation nonincreasing property of the PDE during RG flows toward the infrared limit. Finally, we discuss generalizations of our findings and relations to the C– / A-theorem as well as how our work may help to construct truncations of RG flow equations in the future, including numerically stable schemes for solving the corresponding PDEs.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Floquet topological systems with flat bands: Edge modes, Berry curvature, and orbital magnetization

Results are presented for Floquet systems in two spatial dimensions where the Floquet driving breaks an effective time reversal symmetry. The driving protocol also induces flat bands that correspond to anomalous Floquet phases where the Chern number is zero and yet chiral edge modes exist. Analytic expressions for the edge modes, Berry curvature, and the orbital magnetization are derived for the flat bands. Results are also presented for the static Haldane model for parameters when the bands are flat. Floquet driving of the same model is shown to give rise to Chern insulators as well as anomalous Floquet phases. As a result, the orbital magnetization for these different topological phases are presented and are found to be enhanced at half filling by the broken particle-hole symmetry of the Haldane model.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Downward quantum learning from element 118: Automated generation of Fermi–Löwdin orbitals for all atoms

A new algorithm based on a rigorous theorem and quantum data computationally mined from element 118 guarantees automated construction of initial Fermi–Löwdin-Orbital (FLO) starting points for all elements in the Periodic Table. It defines a means for constructing a small library of scalable FLOs for universal use in molecular and solid-state calculations. The method can be systematically improved for greater efficiency and for applications to excited states such as x-ray excitations and optically silent excitations. FLOs were introduced to recast the Perdew–Zunger self-interaction correction (PZSIC) into an explicit unitarily invariant form. The FLOs are generated from a set of N quasi-classical electron positions, referred to as Fermi-Orbital descriptors (FODs), and a set of N-orthonormal single-electron orbitals. FOD positions, when optimized, minimize the PZSIC total energy. However, creating sets of starting FODs that lead to a positive definite Fermi orbital overlap matrix has proven to be challenging for systems composed of open-shell atoms and ions. The proof herein guarantees the existence of a FLOSIC solution and further guarantees that if a solution for N electrons is found, it can be used to generate a minimum of N – 1 and a maximum of 2 N – 2 initial starting points for systems composed of a smaller number of electrons. As a result, applications to heavy and super-heavy atoms are presented. All starting solutions reported here were obtained from a solution for element 118, Oganesson.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Factorization at subleading power and endpoint divergences in h → γγ decay. Part II. Renormalization and scale evolution

Building on the recent derivation of a bare factorization theorem for the b-quark induced contribution to the h → γγ decay amplitude based on soft-collinear effective theory, we derive the first renormalized factorization theorem for a process described at subleading power in scale ratios, where λ = m b /M h « 1 in our case. We prove two refactorization conditions for a matching coefficient and an operator matrix element in the endpoint region, where they exhibit singularities giving rise to divergent convolution integrals. The refactorization conditions ensure that the dependence of the decay amplitude on the rapidity regulator, which regularizes the endpoint singularities, cancels out to all orders of perturbation theory. We establish the renormalized form of the factorization formula, proving that extra contributions arising from the fact that “endpoint regularization” does not commute with renormalization can be absorbed, to all orders, by a redefinition of one of the matching coefficients. We derive the renormalization-group evolution equation satisfied by all quantities in the factorization formula and use them to predict the large logarithms of order $αα^2_sL^k$ in the three-loop decay amplitude, where $L=ln(-M^2_h/m^2_b)$ and k = 6, 5, 4, 3. We find perfect agreement with existing numerical results for the amplitude and analytical results for the three-loop contributions involving a massless quark loop. On the other hand, we disagree with the results of previous attempts to predict the series of subleading logarithms $~αα^n_sL^{2n+1}$

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Stability of trapped solutions of a nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a nonlocal nonlinear self-interaction potential

This work focuses on the study of the stability of trapped soliton-like solutions of a (1 + 1)-dimensional nonlinear Schrödinger equation (NLSE) in a nonlocal, nonlinear, self-interaction potential of the form [|Ψ(x,t)| 2 +|Ψ(-x,t)| 2 ] κ where κ is an arbitrary nonlinearity parameter. Although the system with κ = 1 (i.e. fully integrable case) was first reported by Yang (2018 Phys. Rev. E 98 042202), here in the present work, we extend this model to the one in which κ is arbitrary. This allows us to compare the stability properties of the now trapped solutions to previously found solutions of the more usual NLSE with κ ≠ 1 which are moving soliton solutions. We show that there is a simple, one-component, nonlocal Lagrangian and corresponding action governing the dynamics of the system. Using a collective coordinate method derived from the action as well as assuming the validity of Derrick's theorem, we find that these trapped solutions are stable for 0 < κ < 2 and unstable when κ > 2. At the critical value of κ, i.e. κ = 2, the solution can either collapse or blowup linearly in time when q 0 = 0, where q 0 is the center of the initial density ρ(x, t = 0) = ψ*ψ of the solution. For q 0 ≠ 0 the displaced solution collapses. When κ > 2 initial small displacements from the origin also lead to collapse of the wave function. This phenomenon is not seen in the usual NLSE.

collective coordinates↗

Protected fermionic zero modes in periodic gauge fields

It is well known that macroscopically normalizable zero-energy wave functions of spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ particles in a two-dimensional inhomogeneous magnetic field are spin-polarized and exactly calculable with degeneracy equaling the number of flux quanta linking the whole system. Here, extending this argument to massless Dirac fermions subjected to magnetic fields that have zero net flux but are doubly periodic in real space, we show that there exist only two Bloch-normalizable zero-energy eigenstates, one for each spin flavor. This result is immediately relevant to graphene multilayer systems subjected to doubly periodic strain fields, which at low energies enter the Hamiltonian as periodic pseudogauge vector potentials. Furthermore, we explore various related settings including nonlinearly dispersing band structure models and systems with singly periodic magnetic fields.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Quantum Time-Space Tradeoffs for Matrix Problems

We consider the time and space required for quantum computers to solve a wide variety of problems involving matrices, many of which have only been analyzed classically in prior work. Our main results show that for a range of linear algebra problems—including matrix-vector product, matrix inversion, matrix multiplication and powering—existing classical time-space tradeoffs, several of which are tight for every space bound, also apply to quantum algorithms with at most a constant factor loss. For example, for almost all fixed matrices 𝐴, including the discrete Fourier transform matrix, we prove that quantum circuits with at most 𝑇 input queries and 𝑆 qubits of memory require 𝑇 = Ω⁢(𝑛 2 /𝑆) to compute matrix-vector product 𝐴⁢𝑥 for 𝑥 ∈{0,1 𝑛 . We similarly prove that matrix multiplication for 𝑛 ×𝑛 binary matrices requires 𝑇 = Ω⁢(𝑛 3 /$\sqrt{𝑆}$). Because many of our lower bounds are matched by deterministic algorithms with the same time and space complexity, our results show that quantum computers cannot provide any asymptotic advantage for these problems with any space bound. We obtain matching lower bounds for the stronger notion of quantum cumulative memory complexity—the sum of the space per layer of a circuit. We also consider Boolean (i.e., AND-OR) matrix multiplication and matrix-vector products, improving the previous quantum time-space tradeoff lower bounds for 𝑛 × 𝑛 Boolean matrix multiplication to 𝑇 = Ω⁢(𝑛 2.5 /𝑆 1/4 ) from 𝑇 = Ω⁢(𝑛 2.5 /𝑆 1/2 ). Our improved lower bound for Boolean matrix multiplication is based on a new coloring argument that extracts more from the strong direct product theorem that was the basis for prior work. To obtain our tight lower bounds for linear algebra problems, we require much stronger bounds than strong direct product theorems. We obtain these bounds by adding a new bucketing method to the quantum recording-query technique of Zhandry that lets us apply classical arguments to upper bound the success probability of quantum circuits.

lower bounds↗

Numerical modelling of impact seismic sources using the stress glut theory

SUMMARY Meteorite impacts have proved to be a significant source of seismic signal on the Moon, and have now been recorded on Mars by InSight seismometers. Understanding how impacts produce seismic signal is key to the interpretation of this unique data, and to improve their identification in continuous seismic records. Here, we use the seismic Representation Theorem, and particularly the stress glut theory, to model the seismic motion resulting from impact cratering. The source is described by equivalent forces, some resulting from the impactor momentum transfer, and others from the stress glut, which represents the mechanical effect of plasticity and non linear processes in the source region. We condense these equivalent forces into a point-source with a time-varying single force and nine-component moment tensor. This analytical representation bridges the gap between the complex dynamics of crater formation, and the linear point-source representation classically used in seismology. Using the multiphysics modelling software HOSS, we develop a method to compute the stress glut of an impact, and the associated point-source from hypervelocity impact simulations. For a vertical and an oblique impact at 1000 m s−1, we show that the moment tensor presents a significant deviatoric component. Hence, the source is not an ideal isotropic explosion contrary to previous assumptions, and draws closer to a double couple for the oblique impact. The contribution of the point force to the seismic signal appears negligible. We verify this model by comparing two signals: (1) HOSS is coupled to SPECFEM3D to propagate the near-source signal elastically to remote seismic stations; (2) the point-source model derived from the stress-glut theory is used to generate displacements at the same distance. The comparison shows that the point-source model is accurately simulating the low-frequency impact seismic waveform, and its seismic moment is in trend with Lunar and Martian impact data. High-frequencies discrepancies exist, which are partly related to finite-source effects, but might be further explained by the difference in mathematical framework between classical seismology and HOSS’ numerical modelling.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗