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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 91 records · Page 5
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DOE OSTI2024

Decoding the B → K ν ν excess at Belle II: Kinematics, operators, and masses

An excess in the branching fraction for B + → K + ν ν recently measured at Belle II may be a hint of new physics. We perform thorough likelihood analyses for different new physics scenarios such as B → K X with a new invisible particle X , or B → K χ χ through a scalar, vector, or tensor current with χ being a new invisible particle or a neutrino. We find that vector-current three-body decay with m X ≃ 0.6 GeV—which may be dark matter—is most favored, while two-body decay with m X ≃ 2 GeV is also competitive. The best-fit branching fractions for the scalar and tensor cases are a few times larger than for the two-body and vector cases. Past measurements provide further discrimination, although the best-fit parameters stay similar. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Simultaneous Unbinned Differential Cross-Section Measurement of Twenty-Four Z+jets Kinematic Observables with the ATLAS Detector

Z boson events at the Large Hadron Collider can be selected with high purity and are sensitive to a diverse range of QCD phenomena. As a result, these events are often used to probe the nature of the strong force, improve Monte Carlo event generators, and search for deviations from standard model predictions. All previous measurements of Z boson production characterize the event properties using a small number of observables and present the results as differential cross sections in predetermined bins. In this analysis, a machine learning method called omnifold is used to produce a simultaneous measurement of twenty-four Z +jets observables using 139 fb -1 of proton-proton collisions at √s =13 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector. Unlike any previous fiducial differential cross-section measurement, this result is presented unbinned as a dataset of particle-level events, allowing for flexible reuse in a variety of contexts and for new observables to be constructed from the twenty-four measured observables.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Imaging surface topography with coherent x-ray reflectivity: Theory, kinematics, and simulations

A theoretical formalism is described for understanding coherent x-ray reflectivity (CXR) from the surface of a semi-infinite crystal having a variable surface topography, described by the height profile ℎ(𝑥,𝑦). The surface topography is imaged as a complex “effective density,” obtained from the phasing and inversion of the coherent x-ray reflectivity data, measured through a rocking scan centered at a vertical momentum transfer 𝑄$^{0}_{𝑧}$ and a vertical range Δ⁢𝑄 𝑧 . The formalism predicts that the effective density has an amplitude with a maximum located at the surface height for each position within the surface plane. The phase of the effective density has a lateral variation that is controlled by the surface height and a vertical variation that reflects a combination of the interfacial structure and specific choice of measurement conditions. This understanding enables direct observation of nanometer-scale interfacial topography, i.e., ℎ⁡(𝑥,𝑦)⁢𝑐 𝑠 (where 𝑐 𝑠 is the vertical substrate lattice parameter) with Å-scale sensitivity to surface height. Numerical simulations illustrate and confirm the theoretical results. These results show how the interpretation of the interfacial density phase obtained by CXR data inversion (i.e., surface topography with respect to a flat surface) is conceptually similar to that previously known for Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) measurements of isolated nanoparticles (i.e., lattice displacements with respect to an ideal crystal lattice). This suggests that CXR can be thought of as a form of dark field imaging with respect to the bright field BCDI approach. An implication of these results is that interfacial imaging may bypass some of the significant challenges associated with BCDI imaging of multiple particles having different orientations.

X-ray imaging↗
DOE OSTI2025

QCD splitting functions beyond kinematical limits

In this talk, I will present a new decomposition of QCD splitting functions, carried out systematically up to second order in the strong coupling. The core idea is to separate the splitting functions into two components: scalar dipole radiator functions and pure splitting remainders. While these pieces include terms that are formally subleading in the soft or collinear limits, they turn out to be universal and well understood. Unlike conventional approaches, our construction does not rely on any soft or collinear approximations. This framework not only offers a clearer understanding of the structure of higher-order QCD corrections but also paves the way for more robust subtraction schemes in precision calculations.

Knobbe, Max [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Kinematically Hot, Extremely Metal-poor C-19 Stellar Stream in DESI DR2

Stellar streams are the result of a host galaxy’s gravitational potential tidally disrupting satellite dwarf galaxies and globular clusters (GCs), causing them to grow leading and trailing tidal tails. The C-19 stellar stream is an extremely metal-poor stellar population, showing chemical abundance patterns characteristic of a GC. However, its large velocity dispersion is difficult to reconcile with a conventional, purely baryonic, disrupting-GC progenitor. Current techniques for stream characterization are primarily applied to Gaia DR3, relying heavily on proper-motion measurements. Using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which provides radial velocities and metallicities for over 10 million stars and reaches significantly fainter magnitudes than comparable surveys, we employ a mixture model approach to jointly characterize stream populations in proper motions, radial velocities, and metallicities against a Milky Way halo background. By applying this framework to the C-19 stellar stream, we identify a total of 47 spectroscopically confirmed member stars, of which 41 are newly identified and only 6 were previously reported in the literature. In this work, we measure a velocity dispersion of $7.8^{+1.5}_{-1.3}$km s −1 and a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = $-3.36^{+0.12}_{-0.10}$. We further identify a novel “spur” feature within the stream. We conclude that our measurements are in line with previous works identifying C-19 as a “hot,” metal-poor stream. In forthcoming work, we will apply this approach to many more streams in the DESI footprint, enabling population-level comparisons with predictions from simulations.

Mohammed, Nasser [University of Toronto; Dunlap In↗
DOE OSTI2024

System and method for geometrically constrained axisymmetric adjustable kinematic mount

The present disclosure relates to an adjustable mount apparatus. The apparatus may have a material support having a plurality of support legs, with each one of the support legs having a distal portion. A base assembly is used which has a plurality of laterally extending leg portions. A plurality of adjustably positionable capture subassemblies are slidably disposed within the laterally extending leg portions for releasably coupling to the distal portions of the support legs to hold the material support in a stable manner on the base assembly. A plurality of moveable elements, each being independently associated with one of the capture subassemblies, enable highly controlled linear movement of the capture subassemblies. Each capture subassembly engages with the distal portion of one of the support legs to exert a clamping force thereon, to affix the material support securely to the base assembly.

Guzorek, Steven J.↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Kinematically Hot, Extremely Metal-Poor C-19 Stellar Stream in DESI DR2

Stellar streams are the result of a host galaxy's gravitational potential tidally disrupting satellite dwarf galaxies and globular clusters (GCs), causing them to grow leading and trailing tidal tails. The C-19 stellar stream is an extremely metal-poor stellar population, showing chemical abundance patterns characteristic of a globular cluster. However, its large velocity dispersion is difficult to reconcile with a conventional, purely baryonic, disrupting-GC progenitor. Current techniques for stream characterization are primarily applied to Gaia DR3, relying heavily on proper motion measurements. Using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which provides radial velocities and metallicites for over 10 million stars reaching significantly fainter magnitudes than comparable surveys, we employ a mixture model approach to jointly characterize stream populations in proper motions, radial velocities, and metallicities against a Milky Way halo background. By applying this framework to the C-19 stellar stream, we identify a total of 47 spectroscopically confirmed member stars, of which 41 are newly identified and only 6 were previously reported in the literature. In this work, we measure a velocity dispersion of $7.8^{+1.5}_{-1.3}$ km s$^{-1}$ and a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = $-3.36^{+0.12}_{-0.10}$. We further identify a novel 'spur' feature within the stream. We conclude that our measurements are in line with previous works identifying C-19 as a 'hot', metal-poor stream. In forthcoming work, we will apply this approach to many more streams in the DESI footprint, enabling population-level comparisons with predictions from simulations.

Mohammed, Nasser [Toronto U.] (ORCID:0009000812240↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Kinematically Hot, Extremely Metal-Poor C-19 Stellar Stream in DESI DR2

Stellar streams are the result of a host galaxy's gravitational potential tidally disrupting satellite dwarf galaxies and globular clusters (GCs), causing them to grow leading and trailing tidal tails. The C-19 stellar stream is an extremely metal-poor stellar population, showing chemical abundance patterns characteristic of a globular cluster. However, its large velocity dispersion is difficult to reconcile with a conventional, purely baryonic, disrupting-GC progenitor. Current techniques for stream characterization are primarily applied to Gaia DR3, relying heavily on proper motion measurements. Using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which provides radial velocities and metallicites for over 10 million stars reaching significantly fainter magnitudes than comparable surveys, we employ a mixture model approach to jointly characterize stream populations in proper motions, radial velocities, and metallicities against a Milky Way halo background. By applying this framework to the C-19 stellar stream, we identify a total of 47 spectroscopically confirmed member stars, of which 41 are newly identified and only 6 were previously reported in the literature. In this work, we measure a velocity dispersion of $7.8^{+1.5}_{-1.3}$ km s$^{-1}$ and a mean metallicity of [Fe/H] = $-3.36^{+0.12}_{-0.10}$. We further identify a novel 'spur' feature within the stream. We conclude that our measurements are in line with previous works identifying C-19 as a 'hot', metal-poor stream. In forthcoming work, we will apply this approach to many more streams in the DESI footprint, enabling population-level comparisons with predictions from simulations.

Mohammed, Nasser [Toronto U.] (ORCID:0009000812240↗
DOE OSTI2026

Precision Kinematic Sunyaev--Zel'dovich Measurements Across Halo Mass and Redshift with DESI DR2 and ACT DR6: Part II. Bright Galaxy Survey and Emission-Line Galaxies

We present the first high-significance spectroscopic stacked kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) measurements of circumgalactic gas profiles for both Bright Galaxy Survey (BGS) and Emission Line Galaxy (ELG) tracers, combining DESI Data Release 2 with ACT Data Release 6. Using reconstructed line-of-sight velocities from the DESI galaxies and high-resolution ACT temperature maps, we detect the kSZ signal at high significance, reaching signal-to-noise ratios of up to $\sim$9 for BGS and $\sim$7.5 for ELGs in optimal stellar-mass selections. Together with the LRG measurements presented in Paper I, these constitute the most significant kSZ detections from any spectroscopic survey to date. We perform the analysis in both real and harmonic space, obtaining consistent results. By splitting both tracers into stellar-mass bins, we study the scaling of the kSZ amplitude with galaxy properties. Combining the kSZ measurements with ACT Data Release 6 (DR6) CMB lensing maps enables a joint calibration of the galaxy-halo connection and the gas fractions of host halos. For the BGS galaxies, we observe low gas fractions around the virial radius relative to standard expectations, likely attributable to active galactic nuclei (AGN) activity. We find some evidence for higher-mass halos retaining a larger fraction of their baryons, consistent with more efficient feedback in lower-mass systems. For the ELG sample, dominated by blue, star-forming galaxies, we provide the first detection of the gas distribution in ELG host halos. The ELGs appear to exhibit relatively high gas fractions, which points to the possibility of weaker feedback (due to e.g. low AGN and supernova feedback activity) at their mass scale. Finally, we present generalized Navarro-Frenk-White (GNFW) fits to the harmonic-space measurements, providing a compact parametrization of gas profiles for forward modeling in large-scale structure analyses.

Hadzhiyska, B. [Cambridge U.; Cambridge U., Inst. ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Precision Kinematic Sunyaev--Zel'dovich Measurements Across Halo Mass and Redshift with DESI DR2 and ACT DR6: Part I. Luminous Red Galaxies

We present the most precise measurements of the kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect around luminous red galaxies to date, detecting the signal at $18σ$ significance in both harmonic and configuration space. Our analysis cross-correlates 2.4 million spectroscopic LRGs from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) DR2 sample with Data Release 6 (DR6) of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT). We develop a novel harmonic-space cross-correlation approach using momentum-weighted kSZ templates, yielding nearly uncorrelated bandpowers within a framework consistent with other large-scale structure analyses. By incorporating the LRG halo occupation distribution (HOD) and its uncertainty, we convert measured galaxy gas profiles into halo gas profiles and provide generalized Navarro-Frenk-White (GNFW) fitting profiles, providing empirical targets for tuning feedback efficiency in hydrodynamical simulations and for baryonic modeling in large-scale structure analyses. We find strong evidence that gas profiles do not trace dark matter, providing direct evidence for gas redistribution beyond gravitational collapse. Comparing to hydrodynamical simulations, our measurements favor feedback efficiencies exceeding those in the Battaglia profile, suggesting more efficient gas ejection in group-scale halos than previously predicted. Splitting by redshift, we detect the kSZ signal at SNR $\approx 5$--$10$ in each of four bins and find amplitude evolution consistent with the expected decline in mean halo mass at fixed comoving number density. Splitting by stellar mass, we study the scaling of kSZ amplitude with galaxy properties. Together with BGS and ELG measurements in Paper II, these results span $0.1 \lesssim z \lesssim 1.6$ across three galaxy populations, demonstrating the potential of spectroscopic kSZ to map circumgalactic gas and constrain baryonic feedback.

Qu, F. J. [KIPAC, Menlo Park; Stanford U., HEPL; S↗
DOE OSTI2024

Higher-derivative relations between scalars and gluons

We extend the covariant color-kinematics duality introduced by Cheung and Mangan to effective field theories. We focus in particular on relations between the effective field theories of gluons only and of gluons coupled to bi-adjoint scalars. Maps are established between their respective equations of motion and between their tree-level scattering amplitudes. An additional rule for the replacement of flavor structures by kinematic factors realizes the map between higher-derivative amplitudes. As an example of new relations, the pure-gluon amplitudes of mass dimension up to eight, featuring insertions of the F 3 and F 4 operators which satisfy the traditional color-kinematics duality, can be generated at all multiplicities from just renormalizable amplitudes of gluons and bi-adjoint scalars. We also obtain closed-form expressions for the kinematic numerators of the dimension-six gluon effective field theory, which are valid in D space-time dimensions. Finally, we find strong evidence that this extended covariant color-kinematics duality relates the (DF) 2 +YM(+Φ 3 ) theories which, at low energies, generate infinite towers of operators satisfying the traditional color-kinematics duality, beyond aforementioned F 3 and F 4 ones.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hidden zeros for particle/string amplitudes and the unity of colored scalars, pions and gluons

Recent years have seen the emergence of a new understanding of scattering amplitudes in the simplest theory of colored scalar particles — the Tr(Φ 3 ) theory — based on combinatorial and geometric ideas in the kinematic space of scattering data. In this paper we report a surprise: far from the toy model it appears to be, the “stringy” Tr(Φ 3 ) amplitudes secretly contains the scattering amplitudes for pions, as well as non-supersymmetric gluons, in any number of dimensions. The amplitudes for the different theories are given by one and the same function, related by a simple shift of the kinematics. This discovery was spurred by another fundamental observation: the tree-level Tr(Φ 3 ) field theory amplitudes have a hidden pattern of zeros when a special set of non-planar Mandelstam invariants is set to zero. These zeros are not manifest in Feynman diagrams but are made obvious by the connection of these amplitudes to the new understanding of associahedra arising from “causal diamonds” in kinematic space. Furthermore, near these zeros, the amplitudes simplify, by factoring into a non-trivial product of smaller amplitudes. Remarkably the amplitudes for pions and gluons are observed to also vanish in the same kinematical locus. These properties for Tr(Φ 3 ) amplitudes hold and further generalize to the “stringy” Tr(Φ 3 ) amplitudes. The “kinematic causal diamond” picture suggests a unique shift of the kinematic data that preserves the zeros, and this shift is precisely the one that unifies colored scalars, pions, and gluons into a single object. We will focus in this paper on explaining the hidden zeros and factorization properties and the connection between all the colored theories, working for simplicity at tree level. Subsequent works will describe this new formulation for the Non-linear Sigma Model and non-supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, at all loop orders.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Measuring quantum discord at the LHC

There has been an increasing interest in exploring quantities associated with quantum information at colliders. We perform a detailed analysis describing how to measure the quantum discord in the top anti-top quantum state at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). While for pure states, quantum discord, entanglement, and Bell nonlocality all probe the same correlations, for mixed states they probe different aspects of quantum correlations. The quantum discord, in particular, is interesting because it aims to encapsulate all correlations between systems that cannot have a classical origin. We employ two complementary approaches for the study of the top anti-top system, namely the decay method and the kinematic method. We highlight subtleties associated with measuring discord for reconstructed quantum states at colliders. Usually quantum discord is difficult to compute due to an extremization that must be performed. We show, however, that for the $t\bar{t}$ system this extremization can be performed analytically and we provide closed-form formulas for the quantum discord. We demonstrate that with current LHC datasets, quantum discord can be observed at 3.6 – 5.7σ, depending on the signal region, with the decay method and can be measured at a precision of 0.1 – 0.2% with the kinematic method. At the high luminosity LHC, the observation of quantum discord is expected to be > 5σ using both the decay and kinematic methods and can be measured with a precision of 5% with the decay method and 0.05% with the kinematic method. Additionally, we identify the kinematic cuts at the LHC to isolate the $t\bar{t}$ state that is separable but has non-zero discord. By systematically investigating quantum discord for the first time through a detailed collider analysis, this work expands the toolkit for quantum information studies in particle physics and lays the groundwork for deeper insights into the quantum properties in high-energy collisions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Open string amplitudes: singularities, asymptotics and new representations

Open string amplitudes at tree level have been studied for over fifty years. However, there is no known analytic form for general n-point amplitudes, and their conventional representation in terms of worldsheet integrals does not make many of their most basic physical properties manifest. Recently, a formulation of these amplitudes exposing the underlying “binary geometry” via the use of “u” variables has given us many insights into their basic features. In this paper, we initiate a systematic exploration of fundamental aspects of open string amplitudes from this new point of view. We begin by finding explicit expressions for the factorization of amplitudes at general massive levels, which are seen to be determined by products of lower-point massless amplitudes with shifted kinematics. We then study the asymptotic behavior when subsets of kinematic variables become large, delineating regimes with exponential (generalized hard scattering) and power-law (generalized Regge) behavior. We also give precise expressions for the asymptotics, which reveal another example of the recently observed property of factorization away from poles. We derive new recursion relations for the amplitude, which when repeatedly applied reduce to infinite series representations with a wider domain of convergence than the usual integral representations. For the five-point case, we present a new closed-form expression for the amplitude that for the first time gives its analytic continuation to all of kinematic space. We also discuss novel relations between amplitudes at different kinematic points following from the recently observed “split” factorizations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Scalar-scaffolded gluons and the combinatorial origins of Yang-Mills theory

We present a new formulation for Yang-Mills scattering amplitudes in any number of dimensions and at any loop order, based on the same combinatorial and binary-geometric ideas in kinematic space recently used to give an all-order description of Tr Φ 3 theory. We propose that in a precise sense the amplitudes for a suitably “stringy” form of these two theories are identical, up to a simple shift of kinematic variables. This connection is made possible by describing the amplitudes for n gluons via a “scalar scaffolding”, arising from the scattering of 2n colored scalars coming in n distinct pairs of flavors fusing to produce the gluons. Fundamental properties of the “u-variables”, describing the “binary geometry” for surfaces appearing in the topological expansion, magically guarantee that the kinematically shifted Tr Φ 3 amplitudes satisfy the physical properties needed to be interpreted as scaffolded gluons. These include multilinearity, gauge invariance, and factorization on tree- and loop-level gluon cuts. Our “stringy” scaffolded gluon amplitudes coincide with amplitudes in the bosonic string for extra-dimensional gluon polarizations at tree-level, but differ (and are simpler) at loop-level. We provide many checks on our proposal, including matching non-trivial leading singularities through two loops. The simple counting problem underlying the u variables autonomously “knows” about everything needed to convert colored scalar to gluon amplitudes, exposing a striking “discovery” of Yang-Mills amplitudes from elementary combinatorial ideas in kinematic space.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗