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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

A critical analysis of U-Pu-Zr phase transitions using calorimetric, microstructural, and phase equilibria data

Metallic fuels consisting primarily of uranium, plutonium, and zirconium (U-Pu-Zr) are a leading material candidate for fast-spectrum nuclear reactors. Early demonstration programs proved the principle of safe and efficient fast reactor operation, however there is still considerable uncertainty regarding the phase equilibria and microstructural evolution across the ternary composition space. Quantitative phase formation and identification measurements are scarce and often incomplete, with studies reporting either phase transition temperatures or phase identification data, but not both from the same specimens. In this study, we critically compared experimental and calculated phase transition data and correlated with the microstructure and phase characterization data of as-cast and annealed U-Pu-Zr alloys. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to measure phase transitions in the subsolidus regions (723−948 K) of three ternary U-Pu-Zr alloys with similar plutonium concentrations but various U/Zr ratios. Due to sluggish kinetics and narrow ranges of phase stability, complex peaks required the use of a Frazier-Suzuki peak fitting algorithm to deconvolute and calculate transition peak temperatures and enthalpies. We also identified trends of phase transition behavior by critically comparing our DSC data with previous phase transition measurements as well as historical and calculated phase equilibrium diagrams. In conclusion, this provides a critical approach for benchmarking and assessing the quality of new U-Pu-Zr phase equilibria data prior to its incorporation into nuclear material databases.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

THE ACS SURVEY OF GLOBULAR CLUSTERS. XIII. PHOTOMETRIC CALIBRATION IN COMPARISON WITH STETSON STANDARDS

In this study we compare the photometric data of 34 Milky Way globular clusters, observed within the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) Treasury Program (PI: A. Sarajedini) with the corresponding ground-based data, provided by the Photometric Standard Field Catalogs of Stetson. We focus on the transformation between the Hubble Space Telescope/ACS F606W to V-band and F814W to I-band only. The goal is to assess the validity of the filter transformation equations by Sirianni et al. with respect to their dependence on metallicity, horizontal branch morphology, mass, and integrated (V – I) color of the various globular clusters. The transformation equations as recommended by Sirianni et al. are based on synthetic photometry, were mostly tested on NGC 2419, and may introduce additional uncertainties when applied to different stellar populations. Such a dependence is expected due to the fact that the transformation equations are based on the observations of only one globular cluster, i.e., NGC 2419. Surprisingly, the correlation between offset and metallicity is found to be weak, with a low level significance. The correlation between offset and horizontal branch structure, as well as total cluster mass is still weaker. Based on the available data we do not find the photometric offset to be linked to multiple stellar populations, e.g., as found in NGC 0288, NGC 1851, and NGC 5139. The results of this study show that there are small systematic offsets between the transformed ACS- and observed ground-based photometry, and that these are only weakly correlated, if at all, with various cluster parameters and their underlying stellar populations. As a result, investigators wishing to transform globular cluster photometry from the Sirianni et al. ground-based V, I system onto the Stetson system simply need to add –0.040 (±0.012) to the V magnitudes and –0.047 (±0.011) to the I magnitudes. This in turn means that the transformed ACS V – I colors match the ground-based values from Stetson to within ∼0.01 mag.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Implementing Superresolution of Nonstationary Tides with Wavelets: An Introduction to CWT_Multi

Abstract Tides are often nonstationary due to nonastronomical influences. Investigating variable tidal properties implies a trade-off between separating adjacent frequencies (using long analysis windows) and resolving their time variations (short analysis windows). Previous continuous wavelet transform (CWT) tidal methods resolved tidal species. Here, we present CWT_Multi, a MATLAB code that 1) uses CWT linearity (via the “response coefficient method”) to implement superresolution, i.e., resolving tidal constituents beyond the Rayleigh criterion; 2) provides a Munk–Hasselmann constituent selection criterion appropriate for superresolution; and 3) introduces an objective, time-variable form of inference (“dynamic inference”) based on time-varying data properties. CWT_Multi resolves tidal species on time scales of days, and multiple constituents per species with fortnightly filters. It outputs astronomical phase lags and admittances, analyzes multiple records, and provides power spectra of the signal(s), residual(s), and reconstruction(s); confidence limits; and signal-to-noise ratios. Artificial data and water levels from the Lower Columbia River Estuary (LCRE) and San Francisco Bay Delta (SFBD) are used to test CWT_Multi and compare it to harmonic analysis programs NS_Tide and UTide. CWT_Multi provides superior reconstruction, detiding, dynamic analysis utility, and time resolution of constituents (but with broader confidence limits). Dynamic inference resolves closely spaced constituents (like K 1 , S 1 , and P 1 ) on fortnightly time scales, quantifying impacts of diel power peaking (with a 24-h period, like S 1 ) on water levels in the LCRE. CWT_Multi also helps quantify the impacts of high flows and a salt barrier closing on tidal properties in the SFBD. On the other hand, CWT_Multi does not excel at prediction, and results depend on analysis details, as for any method applied to nonstationary data. Significance Statement Ocean tides, especially in coastal and estuarine systems, are often nonstationary, in the sense that the mean and standard deviation of tidal properties vary over time, usually in response to some nontidal process. We introduce here a MATLAB code, CWT_Multi, that uses wavelet transforms to resolve both tidal species and constituents on time scales from a few days to months. Our code accommodates multiple scalar time series and has typical tidal analysis features like constituent selection and inference, plus two forms of uncertainty analyses. It is flexible, allowing the user to adapt analysis properties to diverse datasets. CWT_Multi is applicable to many problems involving time-variable tides, including sea level rise, compound flooding, sediment transport, and wetland habitat analyses. Application to vector data is a straightforward extension, but further development of our uncertainty analysis is merited. Because nonstationary tidal analysis is rapidly advancing, we also define the features of a “well-formed” analysis code.

Lobo, Matthew↗
DOE OSTI2016

OLYMPEX Counterflow Spectrometer and Impactor Field Campaign Report

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s ARM Aerial Facility (AAF) Counterflow Spectrometer and Impactor (CSI) probe was flown on the University of North Dakota Cessna Citation research aircraft during the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX). The field campaign took place from November 12 through December 19, 2015, over the Olympic Mountains and coastal waters of Washington State as part of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) validation campaign. The CSI was added to the Citation instrument suite to support the NASA Aerosol-Cloud Ecosystem (ACE) satellite program and flights of the NASA Lockheed Earth Resources (ER-2) aircraft. ACE funded extra ER-2 flights to focus on clouds that are weakly precipitating, which are also of interest to the DOE Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2019

High Momentum Transfer Nucleon Elastic Electromagnetic Form Factor Measurements Using Super BigBite Spectrometer at Jefferson Lab

The nucleons - protons and neutrons - are the basic building blocks of atomic nuclei. We now know that the nucleon consists of fundamental particles called quarks and gluons. The quarks interact with each other by exchanging gluons via the strong interaction. Understanding the quark-gluon structure of the nucleon, especially the confinement of quarks within the nucleon in its ground state, remains one of the main unsolved puzzles of particle physics. The nucleon electromagnetic form factors are directly related to the internal structure of the nucleon. A new generation of high precision experiments, GEp-V, GEn-II, GEn-RP, and GMn, measuring the ground state nucleon space-like electro-magnetic form factor at high momentum transfer is underway at Jefferson Lab experimental Hall-A as part of the Super Bigbite Spectrometer (SBS) program. This series of experiments will provide a new level of understanding of the nucleon structure. These experiments are highly demanding due to the extremely fast drop off of the elastic cross section with the increasing four-momentum transfer squared(Q2). This thesis provides an overview of the SBS physics program and reports on the extensive R&D program carried out to achieve the high rate running conditions essential for carrying out the SBS experiments. SBS will provide an intermediate solid angle of approximately 35 msr, which is significantly larger than the solid angle of other dipole based spectrometers at Jefferson lab. Of course, there are much larger acceptance spectrometers at Jefferson Lab, CLAS12 for example. What is special about SBS is that it provides a sizable acceptance while operating at the highest possible luminosity at Jefferson Lab. With this combination of medium acceptance and the highest available luminosity, SBS provides an unparalleled opportunity to explore the nucleon in its ground state with unprecedented resolution. The relatively large acceptance of SBS is achieved by using a large gap dipole magnet and placing it close to the target. An unavoidable consequence of this is that the SBS GEM trackers and other detectors have a clear line-of-sight view of the target and a portion of the beam-line. As a result, the background hit rate in the SBS front GEM trackers is expected to be up to 500 kHz/cm2, over the entire active area of 6000 cm2. To the best of our knowledge, this extremely high rate over such a large area is unprecedented in any particle tracking system used anywhere in the world before. Correctly reconstructing the particle tracks of interest in this very high background environment is achieved by using especially adapted high rate techniques at every step of the tracking process: optimizing the GEM module and tracker design at the hardware level, using high bandwidth electronics and real time Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) based background suppression techniques at the Data Acquisition (DAQ) level, and developing highly specialized tracking algorithms to pick out the signal hits from among the vast amount of background hits. In order to ensure a smooth start and running of the SBS experiments, it is extremely crucial that these techniques are developed, implemented, and tested under realistic conditions well before the actual start of the SBS experimental program. A detailed Geant4 simulation of the experiment was combined with a digitization package to generate the detector level pseudodata similar to what is expected in the actual experiments. The digitization procedures were calibrated against actual GEM data from cosmic-ray runs, X-ray tests, beam test runs in experimental Hall-A, and the PRad experiment in Hall B. Then, optimized tracking algorithms were developed and implemented in an analysis program used to analyze these pseudo-data and to extract expected high-level parameters. These extracted quantities were then compared with the input parameters from the simulation to verify and determine the performance characteristics for the SBS tracker. From this work, a final tracking efficiency of 69% at 25% occupancy was achieved, with the required reconstruction accuracy, for the GMn experiment, the first experiment in the SBS program, with background level at 100 kHz/cm2. These demonstrated parameters are adequate for the successful running of not only the GMn experiment but as well as for GEn-RP and GEn-II experiments, the second and third experiments in the program. This work builds the solid ground to further improve the tracking performance for these experiments and achieve similar conditions for the running of the GEp-V experiment, the most demanding experiment in the SBS program, with an expected background level at 500 kHz/cm2.

Di, Danning↗
DOE OSTI2021

Gimballed Tracking Mount Pointing Angle Qualification

Tonopah Test Range (TTR), in support of its testing mission and modernization effort acquired a fleet of new gimballed tracking mounts (GTMs) manufactured by BAE Systems. The new GTMs can be operated remotely during flight tests and provide near real-time target tracking data. Furthermore, test vehicle Time-Space-Position-Information (TSPI) is evaluated using post-test synchronized imagery and pointing angle measurements acquired from each tracking mount. To comply with the Nuclear Enterprise Assurance Program (NEAP), all measurements devices must be certified. In keeping with the NEAP program, qualification of the new GTMs have been assessed to confirm that their pointing angle measurements produce acceptable TSPI results. This study only evaluated the four GTMs as a stand-alone solution and found that the GTMs meet their performance requirement of 0.006 degrees RMS error (or less) for post-processed pointing angles and produced TSPI solution with error volumes on the order of one meter or less. The new GTMs will be utilized in combination with existing optical tracking mounts, which will only improve the accuracy of the resulting TSPI data product. Details regarding the approach, analysis, summary results, and conclusions are presented.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Overview of SoLID

SoLID spectrometer was proposed to fully exploit the potential of JLab 12 GeV energy upgrade. It is a large acceptance detector which can handle very high luminosity. An overview of the rich physics program will be given, which includes number of planned measurements: a multi-dimensional mapping of semi-inclusive DIS asymmetries for tomography of the nucleon in momentum space in the high-x region and precision determination of the tensor charge; a measurement of parity-violating DIS to provide a precision test of the Standard Model, reaching a sensitivity to new physics at 10-20 TeV level; a precision measurement of J/psi photo- and electro-production cross sections in the threshold region to probe the strong color fields in the nucleon and to study the origin of the proton mass. The current status and the plan of the project will be discussed.

Chen, Jian-Ping↗
DOE OSTI2019

Low-Level Waste Minimization and Management Planning at the Western Waste Management Facility, Ontario Power Generation - 19235

The purpose of this study was to examine the strategies intended to mitigate the temporary storage restrictions for Low-Level radioactive waste at the Western Waste Management Facility to enable continued accommodation of waste generation rates, and to recover storage capacity from 2018-2023 to optimize long-term sustainability for radioactive waste management. The management options considered were based on existing waste processing technologies and programs available at the Western Waste Management Facility, in combination with third party volume-reduction services. Completed analysis measured the consumption of Low-Level Waste storage space as influenced by the projected volumes from nuclear generating stations, and the various processing scenarios developed; such as reducing the volume of surplus processable waste on-site, and the reduction of specific waste streams previously considered to be non-processable. Results from the quantitative analysis indicated which strategies will be most effective for minimizing waste volumes for long-term storage and for recovering low-level storage space at the Western Waste Management Facility. The strategic path forward is presented in short- to long-term management objectives. Results from this study will contribute to the waste stream planning and management of major reactor refurbishment projects and to the technological advancements and innovation of radioactive waste processing and minimization. With further understanding of the refurbishment-specific waste types and volumes, it is expected that Nuclear Waste Management and the nuclear generating stations will achieve increasingly improved minimization results with the progression of each refurbished reactor. (author)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2015

An efficient matrix product operator representation of the quantum chemical Hamiltonian

We describe how to efficiently construct the quantum chemical Hamiltonian operator in matrix product form. We present its implementation as a density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm for quantum chemical applications. Existing implementations of DMRG for quantum chemistry are based on the traditional formulation of the method, which was developed from the point of view of Hilbert space decimation and attained higher performance compared to straightforward implementations of matrix product based DMRG. The latter variationally optimizes a class of ansatz states known as matrix product states, where operators are correspondingly represented as matrix product operators (MPOs). The MPO construction scheme presented here eliminates the previous performance disadvantages while retaining the additional flexibility provided by a matrix product approach, for example, the specification of expectation values becomes an input parameter. In this way, MPOs for different symmetries — abelian and non-abelian — and different relativistic and non-relativistic models may be solved by an otherwise unmodified program.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Overview of the SIDIS/TMD program at Jefferson Lab

The study of the single-hadron semi-inclusive deep inelastic scattering process (SIDIS) is a rapidly developing and expanding area of inquiry in hadronic physics, owing to the prospect of realizing a precision three-dimensional imaging of the quark structure of the nucleon in momentum space. Measurements of the azimuthal angular distributions of hadrons produced at large values of z = Eh=? and "small" transverse momentum pT ~ \Lambda_?QCD in deep inelastic lepton-nucleon scattering provides access to novel features of nucleon structure that are inaccessible in traditional inclusive DIS, including the e?ects of initial-state quark transverse momentum, transverse polarization of the parent nucleon and the struck quark, and "flavor tagging" due to the varying sensitivity of di?erent hadron species to di?fferent quark flavors. The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Je?erson Lab has recently completed an upgrade to a maximum beam energy of 11 GeV at ?ve passes for electron scattering experiments. The energy upgrade of CEBAF, combined with its already unrivaled intensity, duty cycle and polarization, facilitates a three-dimensional nucleon imaging program of unprecedented precision in the valence region. In this talk,I will present a brief overview of the planned CEBAF SIDIS program in experimental Halls A, B and C.

Puckett, Andrew↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE BRIGHTEST YOUNG STAR CLUSTERS IN NGC 5253

The nearby dwarf starburst galaxy NGC 5253 hosts a number of young, massive star clusters, the two youngest of which are centrally concentrated and surrounded by thermal radio emission (the “radio nebula”). To investigate the role of these clusters in the starburst energetics, we combine new and archival Hubble Space Telescope images of NGC 5253 with wavelength coverage from 1500 Å to 1.9 μm in 13 filters. These include Hα, Pβ, and Pα, and the imaging from the Hubble Treasury Program LEGUS (Legacy Extragalactic UV Survey). The extraordinarily well-sampled spectral energy distributions enable modeling with unprecedented accuracy the ages, masses, and extinctions of the nine optically brightest clusters (M{sub V} < −8.8) and the two young radio nebula clusters. The clusters have ages ∼1–15 Myr and masses ∼1 × 10{sup 4}–2.5 × 10{sup 5} M{sub ⊙}. The clusters’ spatial location and ages indicate that star formation has become more concentrated toward the radio nebula over the last ∼15 Myr. The most massive cluster is in the radio nebula; with a mass ∼2.5 × 10{sup 5} M{sub ⊙} and an age ∼1 Myr, it is 2–4 times less massive and younger than previously estimated. It is within a dust cloud with A{sub V} ∼ 50 mag, and shows a clear near-IR excess, likely from hot dust. The second radio nebula cluster is also ∼1 Myr old, confirming the extreme youth of the starburst region. These two clusters account for about half of the ionizing photon rate in the radio nebula, and will eventually supply about 2/3 of the mechanical energy in present-day shocks. Additional sources are required to supply the remaining ionizing radiation, and may include very massive stars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Recent developments in the PySCF program package

PySCF is a Python-based general-purpose electronic structure platform that supports first-principles simulations of molecules and solids as well as accelerates the development of new methodology and complex computational workflows. Here, we explain the design and philosophy behind PySCF that enables it to meet these twin objectives. With several case studies, we show how users can easily implement their own methods using PySCF as a development environment. We then summarize the capabilities of PySCF for molecular and solid-state simulations. Finally, we describe the growing ecosystem of projects that use PySCF across the domains of quantum chemistry, materials science, machine learning, and quantum information science.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

FPDetect: Efficient Reasoning About Stencil Programs Using Selective Direct Evaluation

We present FPDetect, a low-overhead approach for detecting logical errors and soft errors affecting stencil computations without generating false positives. We develop an offline analysis that tightly estimates the number of floating-point bits preserved across stencil applications. This estimate rigorously bounds the values expected in the data space of the computation. Violations of this bound can be attributed with certainty to errors. FPDetect helps synthesize error detectors customized for user-specified levels of accuracy and coverage. FPDetect also enables overhead reduction techniques based on deploying these detectors coarsely in space and time. Experimental evaluations demonstrate the practicality of our approach.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

ACCOUNTING FOR COSMIC VARIANCE IN STUDIES OF GRAVITATIONALLY LENSED HIGH-REDSHIFT GALAXIES IN THE HUBBLE FRONTIER FIELD CLUSTERS

Strong gravitational lensing provides a powerful means for studying faint galaxies in the distant universe. By magnifying the apparent brightness of background sources, massive clusters enable the detection of galaxies fainter than the usual sensitivity limit for blank fields. However, this gain in effective sensitivity comes at the cost of a reduced survey volume and, in this Letter, we demonstrate that there is an associated increase in the cosmic variance uncertainty. As an example, we show that the cosmic variance uncertainty of the high-redshift population viewed through the Hubble Space Telescope Frontier Field cluster Abell 2744 increases from ∼35% at redshift z ∼ 7 to ≳ 65% at z ∼ 10. Previous studies of high-redshift galaxies identified in the Frontier Fields have underestimated the cosmic variance uncertainty that will affect the ultimate constraints on both the faint-end slope of the high-redshift luminosity function and the cosmic star formation rate density, key goals of the Frontier Field program.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

High pressure elastic properties of minerals from ab initio simulations: The case of pyrope, grossular and andradite silicate garnets

A computational strategy is devised for the accurate ab initio simulation of elastic properties of crystalline materials under pressure. The proposed scheme, based on the evaluation of the analytical stress tensor and on the automated computation of pressure-dependent elastic stiffness constants, is implemented in the CRYSTAL solid state quantum-chemical program. Elastic constants and related properties (bulk, shear and Young moduli, directional seismic wave velocities, elastic anisotropy index, Poisson's ratio, etc.) can be computed for crystals of any space group of symmetry. We apply such a technique to the study of high-pressure elastic properties of three silicate garnet end-members (namely, pyrope, grossular, and andradite) which are of great geophysical interest, being among the most important rock-forming minerals. The reliability of this theoretical approach is proved by comparing with available experimental measurements. The description of high-pressure properties provided by several equations of state is also critically discussed.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

THE SPITZER ARCHIVAL FAR-INFRARED EXTRAGALACTIC SURVEY

We present the Spitzer Archival Far-InfraRed Extragalactic Survey (SAFIRES). This program produces refined mosaics and source lists for all far-infrared (FIR) extragalactic data taken during the more than six years of the cryogenic operation of the Spitzer Space Telescope. The SAFIRES products consist of FIR data in two wavelength bands (70 and 160 μm) across approximately 180 square degrees of sky, with source lists containing far-infrared fluxes for almost 40,000 extragalactic point sources. Thus, SAFIRES provides a large, robust archival far-infrared data set suitable for many scientific goals.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Experimental targets for dark photon dark matter

Ultralight dark photon dark matter features distinctive cosmological and astrophysical signatures and is also supported by a burgeoning direct-detection program searching for its kinetic mixing with the ordinary photon over a wide mass range. Dark photons, however, cannot necessarily constitute the dark matter in all of this parameter space. In minimal models where the dark photon mass arises from a dark Higgs mechanism, early-Universe dynamics can easily breach the regime of validity of the low-energy effective theory for a massive vector field. In the process, the dark sector can collapse into a cosmic string network, precluding dark photons as viable dark matter. We establish the general conditions under which dark photon production avoids significant backreaction on the dark Higgs and identify regions of parameter space that naturally circumvent these constraints. After surveying implications for known dark photon production mechanisms, we propose novel models that set well-motivated experimental targets across much of the accessible parameter space. We also discuss complementary cosmological and astrophysical signatures that can probe the dark sector physics responsible for dark photon production.

Dark matter↗
DOE OSTI2015

Status of the 11 T Nb$_{3}$Sn Dipole Project for the LHC

The planned upgrade of the LHC collimation system includes additional collimators in the LHC lattice. The longitudinal space for the collimators could be obtained by replacing some LHC main dipoles with shorter but stronger dipoles compatible with the LHC lattice and main systems. A joint development program with the goal of building a 5.5 m long two-in-one aperture Nb_3Sn dipole prototype suitable for installation in the LHC is being conducted by FNAL and CERN magnet groups. As part of the first phase of the program, 1 m long and 2 m long single aperture models are being built and tested, and the collared coils from these magnets will be assembled and tested in two-in-one configuration in both laboratories. In parallel with the short model magnet activities, the work has started on the production line in view of the scale-up to 5.5 m long prototype magnet. The development of the final cryo-assembly comprising two 5.5 m long 11 T dipole cold masses and the warm collimator in the middle, fully compatible with the LHC main systems and the existing machine interfaces, has also started at CERN. This paper summarizes the progress made at CERN and FNAL towards the construction of 5.5 m long 11 T Nb_3Sn dipole prototype and the present status of the activities related to the integration of the 11 T dipole and collimator in the LHC.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗