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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 757 records · Page 42

Probing the Pulsar Explanation of the Galactic-Center GeV Excess Using Continuous Gravitational-Wave Searches

Over 10 years ago, Fermi observed an excess of GeV gamma rays from the Galactic Center whose origin is still under debate. One explanation for this excess involves annihilating dark matter, another requires an unresolved population of millisecond pulsars concentrated at the Galactic Center. In this work, we use the results from LIGO and Virgo’s most recent all-sky search for quasimonochromatic, persistent gravitational-wave signals from isolated neutron stars, which is estimated to be about 20%–50% of the population, to determine whether unresolved millisecond pulsars could actually explain this excess. First, we choose a luminosity function that determines the number of millisecond pulsars required to explain the observed excess. Then, we consider two models for deformations on millisecond pulsars to determine their ellipticity distributions, which are directly related to their gravitational-wave radiation. Lastly, based on null results from the O3 frequency-Hough all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves, we find that a large set of the parameter space in the pulsar luminosity function can be excluded. We also evaluate how these exclusion regions may change with respect to various model choices. Further, our results are the first of their kind and represent a bridge between gamma-ray astrophysics, gravitational-wave astronomy, and dark-matter physics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Polarimeter measures sea state characteristics using emitted infrared radiation

An infrared polarimeter, capable of operating between 1 and 12 micrometers wavelength has been used to measure the polarization of emitted radiation from the sea. The observed polarization at 10.6 micrometers from a smooth sea was found to be positive, indicating the dominance of reflected infrared sky radiation over the emitted. With the appearance of waves, the percent polarization increased, as expected, for a zenith angle well above the Brewster angle for water. This is qualitatively in accordance with a model presented to explain the behavior. Initial analyses indicate that the polarized components of the sea's emitted and reflected radiation are affected by type and direction of waves, angle of viewing, and foam. The effects of variations in these parameters require further delineation. The infrared polarimetric technique appears to be a novel new passive method for remote monitoring of waves.

Egan, W. G.↗

Beam-driven ion cyclotron harmonic resonances in the terrestrial foreshock

A terrestrial upstream wave event which demonstrates multiple, ion cyclotron harmonic resonances between the interplanetary wave population and an observed proton beam is analyzed. The techniques and parameters employed in the data analysis are discussed, including the use of differential and band-pass filters. An upstream wave event demonstrating multiple harmonic waves is examined, and the instability analysis relevant to the ion beam observations thought to be responsible for that event is discussed. It is shown that an observed bi-Maxwellian ion beam is capable of generating right and left-hand polarized waves through ion cyclotron harmonic resonance.

Smith, C. W.↗

Determination of Dimensionless Attenuation Coefficient in Shaped Resonators

The value of dimensionless attenuation coefficient is an important factor when numerically predicting high-amplitude acoustic waves in shaped resonators. Both the magnitude of the pressure waveform and the quality factor rely heavily on this dimensionless parameter. Previous authors have stated the values used, but have not completely explained their methods. This work fully describes the methodology used to determine this important parameter. Over a range of frequencies encompassing the fundamental resonance, the pressure waves were experimentally measured at each end of the shaped resonators. At the corresponding dimensionless acceleration, the numerical code modeled the acoustic waveforms generated in the resonator using various dimensionless attenuation coefficients. The dimensionless attenuation coefficient that most closely matched the pressure amplitudes and quality factors of the experimental and numerical results was determined to be the value to be used in subsequent studies.

Daniels, C.↗

Mountain waves and CAT encountered by the XB-70 in the stratosphere.

The data from 36 XB-70 flights conducted over the mountainous regions of the western United States together with rawinsonde data were used to investigate relationships between conditions favorable for mountain waves and clear air turbulence. Profiles for the Scorer parameter and the gradient Richardson number were evaluated from the rawinsonde data. The Scorer parameter and the gradient Richardson number profiles were computed on those days when the XB-70 flew, and these results compared to model profiles and related to the reported turbulence. Ascent rate profiles of rawinsonde balloons were analyzed from which the presence of mountain or lee waves was inferred.

Scoggins, J. R.↗

Parametric dependence of ocean wave-radar modulation transfer functions

Microwave techniques at X and L band were used to determine the dependence of ocean-wave radar modulation transfer functions (MTFs) on various environmental and radar parameters during the Marine Remote Sensing experiment of 1979 (MARSEN 79). These MIF are presented, as are coherence functions between the AM and FM parts of the backscattered microwave signal. It is shown that they both depend on several of these parameters. Besides confirming many of the properties of transfer functions reported by previous authors, indications are found that MTFs decrease with increasing angle between wave propagation and antenna-look directions but are essentially independent of small changes in air-sea temperature difference. However, coherence functions are much smaller when the antennas are pointed perpendicular to long waves. It is found that X band transfer functions measured with horizontally polarized microwave radiation have larger magnitudes than those obtained by using vertical polarization.

Plant, W. J.↗

Application of Space Shuttle photography to studies of upper ocean dynamics

Three studies have been conducted using space shuttle imagery to explain the dynamics behavior of internal waves in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans and to derive tide-related parameters for Delaware Bay. By interpreting space shuttle photographs taken during mission STS-40, a total of 34 internal wave packets on the continental shelf of the Middle Atlantic Bight have been recognized. Using the finite-depth theory we derived that the maximum amplitude of solitons is 5.6 m, the phase speed 0.42 m/s, and the period 23.8 min. Deep-ocean internal waves in the western equatorial Indian Ocean on photographs taken during mission STS-44 were also interpreted and analyzed. The internal waves occurred in the form of a multisoliton packet in which there are about a dozen solitons. The average wavelength of the solitons is 1.8 +/- 0.5 km. The crest lines are mostly straight and reach as long as 100 km. The distance between two adjacent packets is about 66 km. Using the deepwater soliton theory, we derived that the mean amplitude of the solitons is 25 m, the nonlinear phase speed 1.7 m/s, and the average period 18 min. For both cases, the semidiural tides are the principal generating mechanism. The tide-related parameters of Delaware Bay were derived from space shuttle time-series photographs taken during mission STS-40. The water area in the bay were measured from interpretation maps of the photographs. The corresponding tidal levels were calculated using the exposure time. From these data, an approximate function relating the water area to the tidal level at a reference point was determined. Then, the water areas of the Delaware Bay at mean high water (MHW) and mean low water (MLW), below 0 m, for the tidal zone, and the tidal flux were inferred. All parameters derived were reasonable and compared well with results of previous investigations.

Zheng, Quanan↗

Radar Sounding of Mars: A Focus on MARSIS

Radar has the unique capability of looking under the dry and cold surfaces of Mars. The depth of penetration of radio waves depends on a number of surface and subsurface parameters such as surface topography, subsurface geological structure, and surface and subsurface electromagnetic properties. Among these parameters, the surface topography is known best largely due to valuable data provided by Mars Global Surveyor's MOLA (Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter) instrument. However, little information is available on the electromagnetic properties and subsurface characteristics of Mars. In addition to dispersion, the ionosphere will also attenuate the radio wave. The level of attenuation depends on the ionosphere's electron density and its profile shape and the electron-neutral collision frequency. Fortunately, information from past missions can provide some information on the expected level of attenuation. A figure shows expected total radio wave attenuation under three different ionospheric conditions. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Safaeinili, A.↗

Parameterized Study of Heat Load Trends in a Subscale Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine

NASA has developed a subscale rotating detonation rocket engine platform, enabling rapid parameterization of components and their associated performances. A major performance metric of interest for RDREs is the total heat absorbed at a given operating condition and wave mode operation. To investigate this, several sets of hardware were produced to have variation of the contraction ratio, injector geometry, and length. A wide range of total mass flow rates and mixture ratios were also explored using gaseous methane/oxygen. All hardware was produced using laser powder bed fusion GRCop-42, GRX-810, or C-103 alloys depending on the component cooling requirements. Outer and inner body hardware were made from GRCop-42 where heat fluxes were expected to be high and were water cooled through integrated coolant channels. Nozzles were made from C-103 which are radiatively cooled. Finally, the injectors were produced using GRCop-42 or GRX-810 as passive cooling via propellant injection has previously found to be sufficient given the small gap width of exposed injection surface. Total heat load and bulk heat flux measurements to the hot walls are reported. Trends in heat load and heat flux are shown with relation to parameters such as chamber pressure, area ratio, and wave mode. Heat loads between the inner and outer bodies and the chamber and shroud section are compared.

Heat Flux↗

Parameterized Study of Heat Load Trends in a Subscale Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine

NASA has developed a subscale rotating detonation rocket engine platform, enabling rapid parameterization of components and their associated performances. A major performance metric of interest for RDREs is the total heat absorbed at a given operating condition and wave mode operation. To investigate this, several sets of hardware were produced to have variation of the contraction ratio, injector geometry, and length. A wide range of total mass flow rates and mixture ratios were also explored using gaseous methane/oxygen. All hardware was produced using laser powder bed fusion GRCop-42, GRX-810, or C-103 alloys depending on the component cooling requirements. Outer and inner body hardware were made from GRCop-42 where heat fluxes were expected to be high and were water cooled through integrated coolant channels. Nozzles were made from C-103 which are radiatively cooled. Finally, the injectors were produced using GRCop-42 or GRX-810 as passive cooling via propellant injection has previously found to be sufficient given the small gap width of exposed injection surface. Total heat load and bulk heat flux measurements to the hot walls are reported. Trends in heat load and heat flux are shown with relation to parameters such as chamber pressure, area ratio, and wave mode. Heat loads between the inner and outer bodies and the chamber and shroud section are compared.

Heat Loads↗

Excitation of long electrostatic solitary waves in ion beam neutralization process

Unusually long electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs) are discovered in a particle-in-cell simulation study of the process of ion beam neutralization by electron emission from a filament. These ESWs are long because the density perturbation responses to the potential wells created by the ESWs are very small. Notably, the density perturbation is small because the trapped (positive) and untrapped (negative) electron density perturbations nearly compensate each other because of a non-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution in the beam.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

London penetration depth at zero temperature and near the superconducting transition

Herein, a simple relation is established between the zero- T penetration depth λ ( 0 ) and the slope of λ – 2 ( T ) near T c , similar to Helfand-Werthamer's relation for H c 2 ( 0 ) and the slope of H c 2 ( T ) at T c for the isotropic s -wave case with nonmagnetic scattering. When the scattering parameter ρ = ℏ v / 2 π T c ℓ ( v is the Fermi velocity and ℓ is the mean free path) varies from 1 to 10, the coefficient of proportionality between λ – 2 ( 0 ) and T c ( d λ – 2 / d T ) T c changes from 0.43 to 0.38. Combining this relation with the Rutgers thermodynamic identity, one can express λ ( 0 ) in terms of the slope ( d H c 2 / d T ) T c and the density of states.

Condensed Matter & Materials Physics↗

Interaction of electromagnetic and acoustic waves in a stochastic atmosphere

In the Stanford radio acoustic sounding system (RASS) an electromagnetic signal is made to scatter from a moving acoustic pulse train. Under a Bragg-scatter condition maximum electromagnetic scattering occurs. The scattered radio signal contains temperature and wind information as a function of the acoustic-pulse position. In this investigation RASS performance is assessed in an atmosphere characterized by the presence of turbulence and mean atmospheric parameters. The only assumption made is that the electromagnetic wave is not affected by stochastic perturbations in the atmosphere. It is concluded that the received radio signal depends strongly on the intensity of turbulence for altitudes of the acoustic pulse greater than the coherence length of propagation. The effect of mean vertical wind and mean temperature on the strength of the received signal is also demonstrated to be insignificant. Mean horizontal winds, however, shift the focus of the reflected electromagnetic energy from its origin, resulting in a decrease in received signal level when a monostatic radio-frequency (RF) system is used. For a bistatic radar configuration with space diversified receiving antennas, the shifting of the acoustic pulse makes possible the remote measurement of the horizontal wind component.

Bhatnagar, N.↗

Modeling Tree Foliage for Microwave Radar Transparency Study

The motivation for this report is to discuss and present some realistic tree models employed in computational electromagnetics (EM) simulations to study foliage penetration (FOPEN) at Ku-band. The detail obtained in these trees is unprecedented in FOPEN modeling since many studies in this area focus on lower frequencies where precise tree parameters are not required due to the associated large wavelengths relative to the tree dimensions. The focus of this study is in the Ku-band range where the wavelength is notably smaller and the details of the trees have more of an influence on EM waves (i.e. scattering, attenuating, reflecting, diffracting etc.). Therefore, explicit tree parameters are modeled. Also, moderate foliage is of most interest because with less dense foliage t here is a higher percentage of Ku-band transmission. The EM wave and foliage interaction s are simulated with the computational electromagnetics (CEM) Altair FEKO software. The realistic tree model s implemented for simulations are created in the computer-aided design (CAD) software Arbaro and the module CADFEKO that is offered in FEKO. Details of these tree models are provided, and EM simulation results will be discussed in a follow-on report

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Interplay of superconducting, metallic, and crystalline states of composite fermions at 𝜈 = $\frac{1}{6}$ in wide quantum wells

Evidence for developing fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) at filling fraction 𝜈 = 1/6 and 1/8 was recently reported in wide GaAs quantum wells [Wang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 046502 (2025)]. In this article, we theoretically investigate the nature of the state at 𝜈 = 1/6 as a function of the quantum well width and the density by considering composite-fermion (CF) crystals, CF Fermi sea, and various kinds of paired CF states. The 𝑓-wave paired state has the lowest energy among the paired CF states. However, for parameters of interest, the energies of the CF crystal, the CF Fermi liquid, and the 𝑓-wave paired CF state are too close to distinguish. We, therefore, predict that 𝑖𝑓 the FQHE at 𝜈 = 1/6 is experimentally confirmed, this state would be an 𝑓-wave paired state of CFs, which can be verified by measurement of its thermal Hall conductance. Exact diagonalization studies on clean systems with up to eight electrons show that the ground states at 𝜈 = 𝑛/(6⁢𝑛 ± 1) are incompressible for all widths and densities we have considered, and are well described by the corresponding Laughlin and Jain states. We propose a phase diagram for large quantum well widths and densities in which at zero disorder, incompressible FQHE states are stabilized at 𝜈 = 𝑛/(6⁢𝑛 ± 1) and 𝜈 = 1/6, but in between these fillings the CF crystal is stabilized. We also present a qualitative discussion on the effects of disorder and propose a schematic phase diagram based on it. With disorder, which creates a spatial variation in the filling factor, two regimes are identified: (i) for small disorder, when the incompressible states percolate at the special fillings, FQHE with quantized Hall plateaus and vanishing longitudinal resistance should occur; and (ii) for larger disorder, when the CF crystal percolates, the longitudinal resistance rises with decreasing temperature but the domains of FQHE liquid produce minima at the special filling factors. Here, experiments are consistent with the latter scenario. We also mention a possible connection of the phase diagram presented here to a puzzling behavior observed for the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect in pentalayer graphene.

Composite fermions↗

Collisionless adiabatic afterglow

In this work, we study, by numerical and analytical means, the evolution of a collisionless plasma initiated between absorbing walls. The ensuing flow is described by rarefaction waves that travel inward from the boundaries, interact, and eventually vanish after crossing through, leading up to the asymptotic stage of the decay. Particle simulations indicate that the kinetic evolution strongly resembles one found in isentropic gas dynamics. Namely, a very gradual density profile forms in the expanding central region where the rarefaction waves interact, with an accompanying linear velocity profile. Asymptotically, the density falls off as 1/t. The density and the flux at the boundary show little variation over the period when rarefaction waves still exist. Plasma potential, on the other hand, drops quite rapidly (on the underlying ion-acoustic timescale) to less than initial electron temperature Te when over 70% of the particles still remain in the system. This is due to electron kinetics being governed by conservation of adiabatic invariant in a slowly varying potential well. Analytical model of the velocity distribution is presented to explain the simulations. The results have implications for afterglow plasmas used in material processing and also for ion-extraction devices. One property of potential interest is good uniformity of the decaying plasma that occurs after approximately one ion-acoustic time.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Scattering of point source illumination by an arbitrary configuration

The problem of electromagnetic scattering of an incident plane wave by an arbitrary configuration of obstacles was solved by Twersky. In this report, the results are extended to point source incidence corresponding to a Hertz dipole. Knowledge of the response of a fixed configuration of scatterers excited by a point source may provide insight to improve the accuracy of the values of bulk parameters for clouds which have been found using plane wave excitation.

Solakiewicz, Richard↗

Semiannual Status Report

During the last six months, we have continued our study of the excitation of electromagnetic waves in the whistler frequency range and the role that these waves will play in the acceleration of electrons and ions in the auroral region. A paper entitled 'Electron Beam Excitation of Upstream Waves in the Whistler Mode Frequency Range' was listed in the Journal of Geophysical Research. In this paper, we have shown that an anisotropic electron beam (or gyrating electron beam) is capable of generating both left-hand and right-hand polarized electromagnetic waves in the whistler frequency range. Since right-hand polarized electromagnetic waves can interact with background electrons and left-hand polarized waves can interact with background ions through cyclotron resonance, it is possible that these beam generated left-hand and right-hand polarized electromagnetic waves can accelerate either ions or electrons (or both), depending on the physical parameters under consideration. We are currently carrying out a comprehensive study of the electromagnetic whistler and lower hybrid like waves observed in the auroral zone using both wave and particle data. Our first task is to identify these wave modes and compare it with particle observations. Using both the DE-1 particle and wave measurements, we can positively identify those electromagnetics lower hybrid like waves as fast magnetosonic waves and the upper cutoff of these waves is the local lower hybrid frequency. From the upper cutoff of the frequency spectrum, one can infer the particle density and the result is in very good agreement with the particle data. Since these electromagnetic lower hybrid like waves can have frequencies extended down to the local ion cyclotron frequency, it practically confirms that they are not whistler waves.

Source record↗