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At least 793 records · Page 44

Fast and robust all-electron density functional theory calculations in solids using orthogonalized enriched finite elements

Here, we present a computationally efficient approach to perform systematically convergent real-space all-electron Kohn-Sham density functional theory calculations for solids using an enriched finite element (FE) basis. The enriched FE basis is constructed by augmenting the classical FE basis with atom-centered numerical basis functions, comprising of atomic solutions to the Kohn-Sham problem. Notably, to improve the conditioning, we orthogonalize the enrichment functions with respect to the classical FE basis, without sacrificing the locality of the resultant basis. In addition to improved conditioning, this orthogonalization procedure also renders the overlap matrix block diagonal, greatly simplifying its inversion. Subsequently, we use a Chebyshev polynomial based filtering technique to efficiently compute the occupied eigenspace in each self-consistent field iteration. We demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach on periodic unit cells and supercells. The benchmark studies show a staggering 130× speedup of the orthogonalized enriched FE basis over the classical FE basis. We also present a comparison of the orthogonalized enriched FE basis with the linearized augmented plane-wave + local orbitals basis, both in terms of accuracy and efficiency. Notably, we demonstrate that the orthogonalized enriched FE basis can handle large system sizes of ~10 000 electrons. Finally, we observe good parallel scalability of our implementation with 92% efficiency at 22× speedup for a system with 620 electrons

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

A Gapped Phase in Semimetallic T d -WTe 2 Induced by Lithium Intercalation

The Weyl semimetal WTe 2 has shown several correlated electronic behaviors, such as the quantum spin Hall effect, superconductivity, ferroelectricity, and a possible exciton insulator state, all of which can be tuned by various physical and chemical approaches. A new electronic phase in WTe 2 induced by lithium intercalation is discovered. The new phase exhibits an increasing resistivity with decreasing temperature and its carrier density is almost two orders of magnitude lower than the carrier density of the semimetallic T d phase, probed by in situ Hall measurements as a function of lithium intercalation. The theoretical calculations predict the new lithiated phase to be a potential charge density wave (CDW) phase with a bandgap of ≈0.14 eV, in good agreement with the in situ transport data. The new phase is structurally distinct from the initial T d phase, characterized by polarization-angle-dependent Raman spectroscopy, and large lattice distortions close to 6% are predicted in the new phase. This finding of a new gapped phase in a 2D semimetal demonstrates electrochemical intercalation as a powerful tuning knob for modulating electron density and phase stability in 2D materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Growth and Saturation of the Electron Drift Instability in a Crossed Field Plasma

The linear growth and nonlinear energy transfer of the electron drift instability (EDI) are experimentally measured in the plume of a low-temperature, Hall effect discharge. A frequency-based bispectral analysis technique applied to fast ion density fluctuation measurements shows a growth rate function that is qualitatively similar to predictions from the linear instability dispersion relation, but an order of magnitude smaller. Calculation of the nonlinear transfer function indicates multiple three-wave interactions between high-frequency resonances of the instability in addition to an inverse energy cascade toward lower-frequency modes. Furthermore, these results are discussed in the context of recent theoretical, numerical, and experimental efforts on the EDI in Hall effect discharges and how the EDI may impact anomalous cross field transport.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Entangled phase of simultaneous fermion and exciton condensations realized

Fermion-exciton condensates (FECs)—computationally and theoretically predicted states that simultaneously exhibit the character of superconducting states and exciton condensates—are novel quantum states whose properties may involve a hybridization of superconductivity and the dissipationless flow of energy. Here, we exploit prior investigations of superconducting states and exciton condensates on quantum devices to identify a tuneable quantum state preparation entangling the wave functions of the individual condensate states. Utilizing this state preparation, we prepare a variety of FEC states on quantum computers—realizing strongly correlated FEC states on current, noisy intermediate-scale quantum devices—and verify the presence of the dual condensate via postmeasurement analysis. This confirmation of the previously predicted condensate state on quantum devices as well as the form of its wave function motivates further theoretical and experimental exploration of the properties, applications, and stability of FECs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The role of kinetic instabilities in formation of the runaway electron current after argon injection in DIII-D

We present that kinetic instabilities in the MHz range driven by runaway electrons (REs) have been observed for the rst time during the current quench in disruptions triggered by massive injection of argon in DIII-D. These instabilities are well-correlated with intermittent RE losses in the beginning of runaway electron current formation. The runaway current phase is not observed when the power of instabilities exceeds a threshold. Novel measurements of the RE distribution function during the current quench indicate that the instabilities appear when RE energy (ERE) exceeds 2.5{3 MeV, the number of modes grows linearly with ERE, and their frequencies lie in the range 0.1{3 MHz, below the ion cyclotron frequency. Possible plasma waves exciting by REs in this region are proposed. Increase of the amount of injected argon decreases the ERE and increases the success rate of the runaway current formation, while increase of the pre-disruption plasma current acts in the opposite direction. Finally, no dependence on the pre-disruption core electron temperature is found.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Electron heating in kinetic-Alfvén-wave turbulence

We report analytical and numerical investigations of subion-scale turbulence in low-beta plasmas using a rigorous reduced kinetic model. We show that efficient electron heating occurs and is primarily due to Landau damping of kinetic Alfvén waves, as opposed to Ohmic dissipation. This collisionless damping is facilitated by the local weakening of advective nonlinearities and the ensuing unimpeded phase mixing near intermittent current sheets, where free energy concentrates. The linearly damped energy of electromagnetic fluctuations at each scale explains the steepening of their energy spectrum with respect to a fluid model where such damping is excluded (i.e., a model that imposes an isothermal electron closure). In conclusion, the use of a Hermite polynomial representation to express the velocity-space dependence of the electron distribution function enables us to obtain an analytical, lowest-order solution for the Hermite moments of the distribution, which is borne out by numerical simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Measurement of wave-particle interaction and metastable lifetime using laser-induced fluorescence

Extensive information, such as ion temperature and wave-particle interactions, can be obtained by the direct measurement of ion distribution functions using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF). This nonintrusive plasma diagnostics provides an important window into the ion motions in phase-space. Previous simulation results suggest that LIF measurements, which are performed on metastable ions produced directly from neutral gas particles and also from ions in other electronic states, place restrictions on the metastable lifetime. In the case where metastable population is produced from direct ionization of neutral atoms, the velocity distribution measured using LIF will only faithfully represent processes which act on the ion dynamics in a time shorter than the metastable lifetime. In this paper, the metastable lifetime effects are explored experimentally for the first time using wave-particle interaction in an Argon multidipole plasma. Here, we demonstrate that this systematic effect can be corrected using the theory addressed in this paper based on the metastable lifetime and relative fraction of metastables produced from pre-existing ions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A Generalized Variational Principle with Applications to Excited State Mean Field Theory

We present a generalization of the variational principle that is compatible with any Hamiltonian eigenstate that can be specified uniquely by a list of properties. This variational principle appears to be compatible with a wide range of electronic structure methods, including mean field theory, density functional theory, multireference theory, and quantum Monte Carlo. Like the standard variational principle, this generalized variational principle amounts to the optimization of a nonlinear function that, in the limit of an arbitrarily flexible wave function, has the desired Hamiltonian eigenstate as its global minimum. Unlike the standard variational principle, it can target excited states and select individual states in cases of degeneracy or near-degeneracy. As an initial demonstration of how this approach can be useful in practice, we employ it to improve the optimization efficiency of excited state mean field theory by an order of magnitude. With this improved optimization, we are able to demonstrate that the accuracy of the corresponding second-order perturbation theory rivals that of singles-and-doubles equation-of-motion coupled cluster in a substantially broader set of molecules than could be explored by our previous optimization methodology.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Dynamically tunable moiré exciton Rydberg states in a monolayer semiconductor on twisted bilayer graphene

Moiré excitons are emergent optical excitations in two-dimensional semiconductors with moiré superlattice potentials. Although these excitations have been observed on several platforms, a system with dynamically tunable moiré potential to tailor their properties is yet to be realized. Here we present a continuously tunable moiré potential in monolayer WSe 2 , enabled by its proximity to twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) near the magic angle. By tuning local charge density via gating, TBG provides a spatially varying and dynamically tunable dielectric superlattice for modulation of monolayer WSe 2 exciton wave functions. We observed emergent moiré exciton Rydberg branches with increased energy splitting following doping of TBG due to exciton wave function hybridization between bright and dark Rydberg states. In addition, emergent Rydberg states can probe strongly correlated states in TBG at the magic angle. Finally, our study provides a new platform for engineering moiré excitons and optical accessibility to electronic states with small correlation gaps in TBG.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High-resolution infrared spectroscopy of jet cooled cyclobutyl in the α-CH stretch region: large-amplitude puckering dynamics in a 4-membered ring radical

We report gas-phase cyclobutyl radical (c-C 4 H 7 ) is generated at a rotational temperature of T rot = 26(1) K in a slit-jet discharge mixture of 70% Ne/30% He and 0.5–0.6% cyclobromobutane (c-C 4 H 7 Br). A fully rovibrationally resolved absorption spectrum of the α-CH stretch fundamental band between 3062.9 cm −1 to 3075.7 cm −1 is obtained and analyzed, yielding first precision structural and dynamical information for this novel radical species. The α-CH stretch band origin is determined to be 3068.7887(4) cm −1 , which implies only a modest (≈0.8 cm −1 ) blue shift from rotationally unresolved infrared spectroscopic studies of cyclobutyl radicals in liquid He droplets [ A. R. Brown, P. R. Franke and G. E. Douberly, J. Phys. Chem. A , 2017, 121 , 7576–7587]. Of particular dynamical interest, a one-dimensional potential energy surface with respect to the ring puckering coordinate is computed at CCSD(T)/ANO2 level of theory and reveals a double minimum C s puckered geometry, separated by an exceedingly shallow planar C 2v transition state barrier (E barr ≈ 1 cm −1 ). Numerical solutions on this double minimum potential yield a zero-point energy for the ground state (E zero-point ≈ 27 cm −1 ) greatly in excess of the interconversion barrier. This is indicative of highly delocalized, large amplitude motion of the four-membered ring structure, for which proper vibrationally averaging of the moment of inertia tensor reproduces the experimentally determined inertial defect remarkably well. Finally, intensity alternation in the experimental spectrum due to nuclear spin statistics upon exchange of three indistinguishable H atom pairs (IH = ½) matches K a + K c = even : odd = 36 : 28 predictions, implying that the unpaired electron in the radical center lies in an out-of-plane p π orbital. Thus, high-resolution infrared spectroscopy provides first experimental confirmation of a shallow double minimum ring puckering potential with a highly delocalized ground state wave function peaked at a planar C 2v transition state geometry consistent with a cyclobutyl π radical.

Chemistry↗

Band structure of the growth rate of the two-stream instability of an electron beam propagating in a bounded plasma

Our paper presents a study of the two-stream instability of an electron beam propagating in a finite-size plasma placed between two electrodes. It is shown that the growth rate in such a system is much smaller than that of an infinite plasma or a finite size plasma with periodic boundary conditions. Even if the width of the plasma matches the resonance condition for a standing wave, a spatially growing wave is excited instead with the growth rate small compared to that of the standing wave in a periodic system. Furthermore, the approximate expression for this growth rate is γ≈(1/13)ω pe (n b /n p )(Lω pe /v b )ln(Lω pe /v b )[1-0.18 cos (Lω pe /v b +π/2)], where ωpe is the electron plasma frequency, n b and n p are the beam and the plasma densities, respectively, v b is the beam velocity, and L is the plasma width. The frequency, wave number, and the spatial and temporal growth rates, as functions of the plasma size, exhibit band structure. Finally, the amplitude of saturation of the instability depends on the system length, not on the beam current. For short systems, the amplitude may exceed values predicted for infinite plasmas by more than an order of magnitude.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Deformed Fredkin model for the ν = 5 / 2 Moore-Read state on thin cylinders

We propose a frustration-free model for the Moore-Read quantum Hall state on sufficiently thin cylinders with circumferences ≲ 7 magnetic lengths. While the Moore-Read Hamiltonian involves complicated long-range interactions between triplets of electrons in a Landau level, our effective model is a simpler one-dimensional chain of qubits with deformed Fredkin gates. We show that the ground state of the Fredkin model has high overlap with the Moore-Read wave function and accurately reproduces the latter's entanglement properties. Moreover, we demonstrate that the model captures the dynamical response of the Moore-Read state to a geometric quench, induced by suddenly changing the anisotropy of the system. We elucidate the underlying mechanism of the quench dynamics and show that it coincides with the linearized bimetric field theory. The minimal model introduced here can be directly implemented as a first step towards quantum simulation of the Moore-Read state, as we demonstrate by deriving an efficient circuit approximation to the ground state and implementing it on an IBM quantum processor. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Generation of Terahertz Waves under Laser Action on Hot Dense Plasma

Generation of terahertz waves by hot dense plasma under the action of a femtosecond laser pulse in the regime of anomalous skin effect is considered. The spectral, angular, and energy characteristics of terahertz waves are studied as functions of the plasma and laser parameters. It is shown that, under the conditions of anomalous skin effect, which takes place in ultradense hot plasma, the total energy of the terahertz signal is independent of the electron density, proportional to the square of the electron temperature, and maximal at tight focusing of the laser pulse.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Runaway electrons in tokamaks

The generation of runaway electrons is a complex and important phenomenon that impacts many areas of plasma physics. Due to the decrease of electron collision frequency with increasing velocity, electrons under strong electric field can experience unlimited “runaway” acceleration. In tokamaks, runaway electrons can be produced in disruptions, due to the strong inductive electric field formed as the thermal energy of plasma gets rapidly lost. This population of runaway electrons can undergo an exponential growth, denoted the runaway electron avalanche, due to hard collisions between relativistic runaway electrons and low energy electrons. It is predicted that in a large tokamak device like the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), a runway electron beam generated in a disruption event can potentially cause severe damage to the device, which poses a significant challenge for ITER to achieve its mission. It is therefore extremely important to seek an effective mitigation mechanism for runaway electrons. Experimental efforts have been made to study the properties of runaway electrons in tokamaks, including their generation, diffusion, and radiation. In order to understand these experimental results, extensive theoretical and simulation studies of runaway electron physics are required. The main topic of this thesis is to study the wave particle interaction associated with runaway electron beams in tokamaks. The runaway electrons can emit and absorb electromagnetic waves through resonances, and can be diffused in momentum space by the waves. Initially, we address the Cherenkov radiation of runaway electrons, which originates from the polarization of the plasma medium. The energy and momentum loss of the Cherenkov radiation can be modeled by adding a correction to the Coulomb logarithm in the collisional drag force. Subsequently, we address pitch angle scattering caused by normal modes in the plasma, which are driven unstable by the anisotropicity of the runaway electron beam. The fluctuating electromagnetic fields are found to act as a seed for the unstable normal modes. Numerical simulations show that the pitch angle scattering effect from the normal modes, mainly whistler waves, can be significantly larger than that from collisional pitch angle scattering. Finally, we present a synthetic diagnostic tool we developed to calculate the electron cyclotron emission (ECE) from the runaway electrons, and successfully reproduce the prompt growth of the ECE signal observed in DIII-D quiescent runaway electron (QRE) experiments. Within the thesis, we also present the application of the adjoint method to runaway electron research, and show the calculations of the runaway probability function (RPF) and the expected loss time (ELT). These calculations not only help depict the dynamics of runaway electrons in momentum space, but also can be used to efficiently calculate experimentally relevant quantities such as the critical electric field for runaway electron avalanche and the avalanche growth rate.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Quantum beats in two-color photoionization to the spin-orbit split continuum of Ar

We report a study of the quantum beats in two-color photoionization of argon. An attosecond extreme ultraviolet pulse train prepares an electronic wave packet of definite odd parity, with total angular momentum J = 1, targeting the states between 14.0 and 14.5 eV from the ground state. Two-photon ionization of this wave packet with a tunable infrared probe pulse makes the constituent states interfere in both continuum channels, corresponding to the core angular momenta j c = 1/2 and 3/2, respectively. We analyze photoelectron spectrograms as a function of the time delay of the probe pulse and identify oscillations due to several pairs of states through Fourier decomposition. We observe phase differences between the corresponding beat signals in the two spin-orbit split continua. Comparison of theoretical simulations with the experimental measurements allows us to interpret the amplitudes and phases of ionization signals. Furthermore, we express the observed phase differences in terms of the off-diagonal elements of the short-range scattering matrix and the dipole matrix elements to the continuum eigenchannels.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

An Ab Initio Multiple Cloning Method for Non-Adiabatic Excited-State Molecular Dynamics in NWChem

The recently developed ab-initio multiple cloning (AIMC) approach based on the multicongurational Ehrenfest (MCE) method provides a powerful and accurate way of describing the excited-state dynamics of molecular systems. The AIMC method is a controlled approximation to non-adiabatic dynamics with a particular strength in the proper description of decoherence effects due to branching of vibrational wavepackets at a level crossing. In this work, we report a new implementation of the AIMC algorithm in the open source NWChem computational chemistry program. The framework combines linear-response time-dependent density functional theory with Ehrenfest mean-eld theory to determine the equations of motion for classical trajectories. The multi-dimensional wave function is decomposed into a superposition of Gaussian coherent states guided by Ehrenfest trajectories (i.e., MCE approach), which can clone with fully quantum mechanical amplitudes and phases. By using an efficient time-derivative based non-adiabatic coupling approach within the AIMC method, all observable are calculated on-the-y in the non-adiabatic molecular dynamics process. As a representative example, we apply our implementation to study the ultrafast photoinduced electronic and vibrational energy transfer in a pyridine molecule. The effects of the cloning procedure on electronic and vibrational coherence, relaxation and unidirectional energy transfer are discussed. This new AIMC implementation provides a high-level non-adiabatic molecular dynamics framework for simulating photoexcited dynamics in complex molecular systems and experimentally relevant ultrafast spectroscopic probes, such as nonlinear coherent optical and X-ray signals.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

KSSOLV 2.0: An efficient MATLAB toolbox for solving the Kohn-Sham equations with plane-wave basis set

KSSOLV (Kohn-Sham Solver) is a MATLAB toolbox for performing Kohn-Sham density functional theory (DFT) calculations with a plane-wave basis set. KSSOLV 2.0 preserves the design features of the original KSSOLV software to allow users and developers to easily set up a problem and perform ground-state calculations as well as to prototype and test new algorithms. Furthermore, it includes new functionalities such as new iterative diagonalization algorithms, k-point sampling for electron band structures, geometry optimization and advanced algorithms for performing DFT calculations with local, semi-local, and hybrid exchange-correlation functionals. It can be used to study the electronic structures of both molecules and solids. So, we describe these new capabilities in this work through a few use cases. We also demonstrate the numerical accuracy and computational efficiency of KSSOLV on a variety of examples.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Particle-hole mirror symmetries around the half-filled shell: Quantum numbers and algebraic structure of composite fermions

Composite fermions (CFs) of the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) are described as spherical products of electron and vortex spinors, built from underlying 𝐿=1/2 ladder operators aligned so that the spinor angular momenta, 𝐿 𝑒 and 𝐿 𝑣 , are maximal. We identify the CF's quantum numbers as the angular momentum 𝐿 in (𝐿𝑒⁢𝐿𝑣)⁢𝐿, its magnetic projection 𝑚𝐿, the electron number 𝑁 [𝐿 𝑣 =(𝑁−1)/2], and magnetic 𝜈 spin, 𝑚 𝜈 = 𝐿 𝑒 −𝐿 𝑣 . Translationally invariant FQHE states are formed by fully filling 𝑝 subshells with their respective CFs, in order of ascending 𝐿 for fixed 𝐿 𝑒 and 𝐿 𝑣 , beginning with the lowest allowed value, 𝐿=|⁢𝑚 𝜈 |. CF subshells are contained entirely within the first Landau level (FLL). Alternatively, we provide an equivalent hierarchical wave function in which the underlying objects are vortices with 𝐿 𝑣 = $\frac{p}{2}$, correlated. Here, we show that CFs can be written as a valence operator carrying the angular momentum quantum numbers 𝐿, 𝑚 𝜈 , 𝑚 𝐿 acting on a scalar half-filled intrinsic state.

2-dimensional systems↗