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At least 757 records · Page 42

The coronal transport of the flare associated scatter free electrons

A total of 11 scatter-free electron events from McMath plage region 8905 were observed by IMP 4 during the period from 29 July to 3 August 1967. The transit times and duration of these electron events are examined in detail. The duration of 170- to 1000-keV electrons shows a strong dependence upon the heliolongitude of the associated flare. Typical values of the duration full width at half maximum vary from 4 min at 50 deg W to 12 min at 10 deg and 90 deg W heliolongitudes. In addition, the difference in times at which the maximum intensities of the 22- to 45-keV and 170- to 1000-keV electrons occur is observed to change from 18 min near 50 deg W to 13 min at 10 deg and 90 deg W heliolongitudes. An idealized two-dimensional diffusion model for the transport of these electrons in the solar corona is proposed. The 22- to 45-keV electrons escape promptly from flare site to the feet of the interplanetary magnetic field lines, whereas 170- to 1000-keV electrons suffer slight scattering. The diffusion coefficient for 170- to 1000-keV electrons is estimated to be 3 X 10 to the 18th power sq cm/sec. Finally, a possible relation between the scatter-free and the classical diffusive-type electron events is discussed.

Wang, J. R.↗

A model of the diffuse galactic gamma ray emission

The galaxy was observed to be a source of high energy gamma rays as shown by the two successful satellite experiments, SAS-2 and COS-B. It is generally understood that these diffuse gamma rays result from interactions between energetic cosmic rays and interstellar gas. This work makes use of the most recent data on the distribution of atomic and molecular hydrogen in the galaxy along with new estimates of gamma ray production functions to model the diffuse galactic gamma ray emission. The model allows various spatial distributions for cosmic rays in the Galaxy including non-axisymmetric ones. In the light of the expected data from EGRET (Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope), an improved model of cosmic ray-matter-gamma ray interaction will provide new insights into the distribution of cosmic rays and the strength of its coupling to matter.

Sreekumar, Parameswaran↗

Anticipated Electrical Environment at Phobos: Nominal and Solar Storm Conditions

A passing coronal mass ejection (CME) will manifest a different response at an airless body compared to a magnetized planet. Specifically,because the regolith-rich surfaces of airless bodies are directly exposed to the variations in the plasma flow, the surfaces are found to undergo anomalous surface charging during the passing of CME fast plasma events. In this study, we model the surface charging expected at Phobos for nominal solar wind conditions and also those associated with disturbed solar wind conditions during the passage of a CME similar to that observed by MAVEN at Mars in early March 2015. We use an ambipolar diffusion model to examine the development of the trailing wake void in the plasma flow behind Phobos and the formation of mini-wakes within obstruction regions like Stickney Crater. We also consider the roving of an astronaut in Stickney Crater for Phobos positioned near 10 hours Local Time relative to Mars. We examine the plasma dissipation of the collected astronaut charge from contact electrification with the regolith.

Phobos; Surface chargin↗

Numerical investigation of the spatiotemporal distribution of chemical species in an atmospheric surface barrier-discharge

Using a one dimensional time dependent convection-reaction-diffusion model, the temporal and spatial distributions of species propagating downstream of an atmospheric pressure air surface barrier discharge was studied. It was found that the distribution of negatively charged species is more spatially spread compared to positive ions species, which is attributed to the diffusion of electrons that cool down and attach to background gas molecules, creating different negative ions downstream of the discharge region. Given the widespread use of such discharges in applications involving the remote microbial decontamination of surfaces and liquids, the transport of plasma generated reactive species away from the discharge region was studied by implementing mechanical convection through the discharge region. It was shown that increased convection causes the spatial distribution of species density to become uniform. It was also found that many species have a lower density close to the surface of the discharge as convection prevents their accumulation. While for some species, such as NO{sub 2}, convection causes a general increase in the density due to a reduced residence time close to the discharge region, where it is rapidly lost through reactions with OH. The impact of the applied power was also investigated, and it was found that the densities of most species, whether charged or neutral, are directly proportional to the applied power.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Environment hazard estimates

Emission into the atmosphere of aerospace vehicle exhaust effluents and by-products is considered by using atmospheric diffusion models to calculate downwind concentrations and dosages from various engine and solid rocket booster (SRB) exhaust by-products. A major effort is being made to gather detailed data on the chemical reactions that take place between the exhaust effluents and the atmosphere. Basic diffusion estimation formulas consider normal exhaust releases, abnormal releases, leaks, and inadvertent spills. Cloud rise formulas for use in source identification are included and meteorological inputs covered.

Kaufman, J. W.↗

Antiproton signatures from astrophysical and dark matter sources at the galactic center

The center of our Galaxy is a complex region characterized by extreme phenomena. The presence of the supermassive Sagittarius A* black hole, a high dark matter density and an even higher baryonic density are able to produce very energetic processes. Indeed, high energetic gamma-rays have been observed by different telescopes, although their origin is not clear. In this work, we estimate the possible antiproton flux component associated with this signal. The expected secondary astrophysical antiproton background already saturates the observed data. It implies that any other important astrophysical source leads to an inconsistent excess. We estimate the sensitivity of PAMELA to this new primary antiproton source, which depends on the diffusion model and its spectral features. In particular, we consider antiproton spectra described by a power-law, a monochromatic signal and a Standard Model particle-antiparticle channel production. This latter spectrum is typical in the production from annihilating or decaying dark matter. We pay particular attention to the case of a heavy dark matter candidate, which could be associated with the High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS) data observed from the J1745-290 source.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

CaloChallenge 2022: a community challenge for fast calorimeter simulation

Here, we present the results of the ‘Fast Calorimeter Simulation Challenge 2022’—the CaloChallenge. We study state-of-the-art generative models on four calorimeter shower datasets of increasing dimensionality, ranging from a few hundred voxels to a few tens of thousand voxels. The 31 individual submissions span a wide range of current popular generative architectures, including variational autoencoders (VAEs), generative adversarial networks (GANs), normalizing flows, diffusion models, and models based on conditional flow matching. We compare all submissions in terms of quality of generated calorimeter showers, as well as shower generation time and model size. To assess the quality we use a broad range of different metrics including differences in one-dimensional histograms of observables, KPD/FPD scores, AUCs of binary classifiers, and the log-posterior of a multiclass classifier. The results of the CaloChallenge provide the most complete and comprehensive survey of cutting-edge approaches to calorimeter fast simulation to date. In addition, our work provides a uniquely detailed perspective on the important problem of how to evaluate generative models. As such, the results presented here should be applicable for other domains that use generative AI and require fast and faithful generation of samples in a large phase space.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Prospects of antideuteron detection from dark matter annihilations or decays at AMS-02 and GAPS

The search for cosmic antideuterons has been proposed as a promising method to indirectly detect dark matter, due to the very small background flux from spallations expected at the energies relevant to experiments. The antideuteron flux from dark matter annihilations or decays is, however, severely constrained by the non-observation of an excess in the antiproton-to-proton fraction measured by PAMELA. In this paper we calculate, for representative dark matter annihilation and decay channels, upper limits on the number of antideuteron events at AMS-02 and GAPS from requiring that the associated antiproton flux is in agreement with the PAMELA data. To this end, we first analyze in detail the formation of antideuterons in the coalescence model using an event-by-event Monte Carlo simulation and using data from various high energy experiments. We find that the resulting coalescence momentum shows a dependence on the underlying process and on the center of mass energy involved. Then, we calculate, using a diffusion model, the flux of antideuterons at the Earth from dark matter annihilations or decays. Our results indicate that, despite the various sources of uncertainty, the observation of an antideuteron flux at AMS-02 or GAPS from dark matter annihilations or decays will be challenging.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Effects of high doping levels silicon solar cell performance

The significance of the heavy doping effects (HDE) on the open-circuit voltage of silicon solar cells is assessed. Voltage calculations based on diffusion theory are modified to include the first order features of the HDE. Comparisions of the open-circuit voltage measured for cells of various base resistivities are made with those calculated using the diffusion model with and without the HDE. Results indicate that the observed variation of voltage with base resistivity is predicted by these effects. A maximum efficiency of 19% (AM0) and a voltage of 0.7 volts are calculated for 0.1 omega-cm cells assuming an optimum diffused layer impurity profile.

Godlewski, M. P.↗

A new continuum approach for nonlinear kinetic simulation and transport analysis

A numerical code based on the I-transform approach is developed to solve the nonlinear Vlasov equation and carry out the transport analysis. The numerical results given by the I-transform approach agree with the conservative semi-Lagrangian approach in the Landau damping case and the bump-on-tail instability case. The diffusivities induced by the random fields and the quasilinear transport are also successfully demonstrated by using the new approach. It is found that the nonlinear transport in the one-dimensional Langmuir turbulence cannot be well-described by a simple diffusion model, due to the strong particle trapping at the nonlinear stage.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Joint state-parameter estimation for the reduced fracture model via the united filter

Here, in this paper, we introduce an effective United Filter method for jointly estimating the solution state and physical parameters in flow and transport problems within fractured porous media. Fluid flow and transport in fractured porous media are critical in subsurface hydrology, geophysics, and reservoir geomechanics. Reduced fracture models, which represent fractures as lower-dimensional interfaces, enable efficient multi-scale simulations. However, reduced fracture models also face accuracy challenges due to modeling errors and uncertainties in physical parameters such as permeability and fracture geometry. To address these challenges, we propose a United Filter method, which integrates the Ensemble Score Filter (EnSF) for state estimation with the Direct Filter for parameter estimation. EnSF, based on a score-based diffusion model framework, produces ensemble representations of the state distribution without deep learning. Meanwhile, the Direct Filter, a recursive Bayesian inference method, estimates parameters directly from state observations. The United Filter combines these methods iteratively: EnSF estimates are used to refine parameter values, which are then fed back to improve state estimation. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the United Filter method surpasses the state-of-the-art Augmented Ensemble Kalman Filter, delivering more accurate state and parameter estimation for reduced fracture models. This framework also provides a robust and efficient solution for PDE-constrained inverse problems with uncertainties and sparse observations.

Bayesian inference↗

Effects of temperature and carbon source on the isotopic fractionations associated with O 2 respiration for 17 O/ 16 O and 18 O/ 16 O ratios in E. coli

18 O/ 16 O and 17 O/ 16 O ratios of atmospheric and dissolved oceanic O 2 are used as biogeochemical tracers of photosynthesis and respiration. Critical to this approach is a quantitative understanding of the isotopic fractionations associated with production, consumption, and transport of O 2 in the ocean both at the surface and at depth. We made measurements of isotopic fractionations associated with O 2 respiration by E. coli . Our study included wild-type strains and mutants with only a single respiratory O 2 reductase in their electron transport chains (either a heme-copper oxygen reductase or a bd oxygen reductase). We tested two common assumptions made in interpretations of O 2 isotope variations and in isotope-enabled models of the O 2 cycle: (i) laboratory-measured respiratory 18 O/ 16 O isotopic fractionation factors ( 18 α) of microorganisms are independent of environmental and experimental conditions including temperature, carbon source, and growth rate; And ( ii ) the respiratory ‘mass law’ exponent, θ, between 18 O/ 16 O and 17 O/ 16 O, 17α = ( 18 α) θ , is universal for aerobic respiration. Results demonstrated that experimental temperatures have an effect on both 18α and θ for aerobic respiration. Specifically, lowering temperatures from 37 to 15 °C decreased the absolute magnitude of 18 α by 0.0025 (2.5‰), and caused the mass law slope to decrease by 0.005. We propose a possible biochemical basis for these variations using a model of O 2 reduction that incorporates two isotopically discriminating steps: the reversible binding and unbinding of O 2 to a terminal reductase, and the irreversible reduction of that O 2 to water. In conclusion, we cast our results in a one-dimensional isopycnal reaction-advection-diffusion model, which demonstrates that enigmatic δ 18 O and Δ 17 O variations of dissolved O 2 in the dark ocean can be understood by invoking the observed temperature dependence of these isotope effects.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Interfacial contributions to spin-orbit torque and magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/heavy-metal bilayers

The thickness dependence of spin-orbit torque and magnetoresistance in ferromagnet/heavy-metal bilayers is studied here using the first-principles nonequilibrium Green's function formalism combined with the Anderson disorder model. A systematic expansion in orthogonal vector spherical harmonics is used for the angular dependence of the torque. The dampinglike torque in Co/Pt and Co/Au bilayers can be described as a sum of the spin-Hall contribution, which increases with thickness in agreement with the spin-diffusion model, and a comparable interfacial contribution. The magnetoconductance in the plane perpendicular to the current in Co/Pt bilayers is of the order of a conductance quantum per interfacial atom, exceeding the prediction of the spin-Hall model by more than an order of magnitude. This indicates that the “spin-Hall magnetoresistance,” similarly to the dampinglike torque, has a large interfacial contribution unrelated to the spin-Hall effect.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION OF THE MAGNETIC FIELD BARRIER AND SOLAR WIND SPEED IN ICME-ASSOCIATED FORBUSH DECREASES

We study 50 cosmic-ray Forbush decreases (FDs) from the Oulu neutron monitor data during 1997–2005 that were associated with Earth-directed interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). Such events are generally thought to arise due to the shielding of cosmic rays by a propagating diffusive barrier. The main processes at work are the diffusion of cosmic rays across the large-scale magnetic fields carried by the ICME and their advection by the solar wind. In an attempt to better understand the relative importance of these effects, we analyze the relationship between the FD profiles and those of the interplanetary magnetic field (B) and the solar wind speed (V {sub sw}). Over the entire duration of a given FD, we find that the FD profile is generally (anti)correlated with the B and V {sub sw} profiles. This trend holds separately for the FD main and recovery phases too. For the recovery phases, however, the FD profile is highly anti-correlated with the V {sub sw} profile, but not with the B profile. While the total duration of the FD profile is similar to that of the V {sub sw} profile, it is significantly longer than that of the B profile. Using the convection–diffusion model, a significant contribution of advection by solar wind is found during the recovery phases of the FD.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Modeling the corrosion of steel casing and the damage of well cement in a borehole system

This work presents the effect of chloride-induced corrosion in an underground borehole system, specifically considering the steel casing and further damage to the surrounding cement. In the past four decades, oil well cement has been successfully used for underground construction. However, high concentrations of chloride ions gradually degrade the functionality and durability of well cement. Gasses and liquids can leak from deterioration caused by chloride ions, and thus motivate this study. The chemo-mechanical coupling diffusion model and a classical fracture mechanics model are applied. The model is validated with OPC concrete corrosion data from literature, and then applied to well cement using experimentally obtained material property data. The time when crack initiation, peak pressure, and complete fracture is reached in the model of the cement sheath provides a quantification of the expected service life of the borehole system.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Modeling the Simultaneous Dropout of Energetic Electrons and Protons by Magnetopause Shadowing

Abstract Magnetopause shadowing (MPS) effect could drive a concurrent dropout of radiation belt electrons and ring current protons. However, its relative role in the dropout of both plasma populations has not been well quantified. In this work, we study the simultaneous dropout of MeV electrons and 100s keV protons during an intense geomagnetic storm in May 2017. A radial diffusion model with an event‐specific last closed drift shell is used to simulate the MPS loss of both populations. The model well captures the fast shadowing loss of both populations at L * > 4.6, while the loss at L * < 4.6, possibly due to the electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave scattering, is not captured. The observed butterfly pitch angle distributions of electron fluxes in the initial loss phase are well reproduced by the model. The initial proton losses at low pitch angles are underestimated, potentially also contributed by other mechanisms such as field line curvature scattering.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Cu Migration in Polycrystalline CdTe Solar Cells

An impurity reaction-diffusion model is applied to Cu defects and related intrinsic defects in polycrystalline CdTe for a better understanding of Cu’s role in the cell level reliability of CdTe PV devices. The simulation yields transient Cu distributions in polycrystalline CdTe during solar cell processing and stressing. Preliminary results for Cu migration using available diffusivity and solubility data show that Cu accumulates near the back contact, a phenomena that is commonly observed in devices after back-contact processing or stress conditions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗