Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “PAIRING INTERACTIONS”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 955 records · Page 53

Toward an Understanding of Synergies and Trade-Offs Between Water, Energy, and Food SDG Targets

Achieving the targets set out in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) will require committed efforts by nations and organizations over the coming decade. To determine which actions work most harmoniously within funding, infrastructure development, and implementation of three closely aligned goals, we conducted an assessment to identify where the greatest synergies may occur and where conflicting resource needs create trade-offs that may threaten SDG success. The SDGs each have several targets that need to be realized for the goal to be reached. In the present study, we developed a methodology where each target of the SDG 2 (food), 6 (water), and 7 (energy) was analyzed for its input requirements, infrastructure needs, and the risks and benefits for the provision of ecosystem services. Then the targets were compared pairwise and a total score of interaction was calculated to determine different levels of synergies and trade-offs for every pair. In some cases targets were mutually supportive, in other cases there were no interactions among the targets, and for some areas the targets were in conflict with each other. For example, targets 2.5 (maintain genetic diversity), 6.5 (implement integrated water resources management) and 7.a (enhance international cooperation to facilitate access to clean energy) have no conflicts with other targets and have different levels of synergies with most of the other targets. On the contrary, various targets of SDG 2, and especially the target 2.b (correct and prevent trade restrictions), are in slight conflict with other targets by potentially overusing resources needed by other targets or threatening ecosystem services. Our approach confirms the general belief that SDG 6 (water) has the highest number of potential synergies (a total of 124). Thus, achieving the water targets will make it continuously easier to achieve other targets. While the results may need to be adapted for a specific locality or country, overall they provide an improved understanding of the interactions between the targets. Furthermore, the value of the study lies in the quantitative methodology as it can be used as a replicable analysis for any level of work on SDG implementation.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Interacting galaxies resolved by IRAS

We discuss procedures, limitations and results of high resolution processing of interacting galaxies observed by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS). Among 56 potentially resolvable interacting groups selected from the IRAS Bright Galaxy Sample, 22 systems have been resolved yielding fluxes for a total of 51 galaxies. In about 2/3 of the resolved pairs, both galaxies were detected in the far-infrared. A set of isolated non-interacting galaxies was chosen from the Bright Galaxy Sample for comparison with the interacting galaxies. For the current sample, which naturally excludes close pairs and ultraluminous merging systems, the primary conclusions are: (1) It is not possible to distinguish individual interacting galaxies from isolated galaxies of similar luminosity on the basis of infrared properties alone. (2) No direct correlation was found between measures of interaction strength and indicators of enhanced star formation within the resolved systems. (3) Comparison of the interacting and isolated samples indicates statistically significant differences between their distributions of far-infrared color ratios, luminosities, and surface brightnesses. Even during the early stages of interaction spanned by these systems, in a statistical sense, tidal perturbations substantially boost far-infrared indicators of star formation compared to non-interacting systems. We also briefly discuss future prospects for pushing the IRAS data to its limits for additional interacting systems.

Mazzarella, Joseph M.↗

Single-layer tensor network study of the Heisenberg model with chiral interactions on a kagome lattice

Here, we study the antiferromagnetic kagome Heisenberg model with an additional scalar-chiral interaction by using the infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS) ansatz. We discuss in detail the implementation of the optimization algorithm in the framework of the single-layer tensor network based on the corner transfer matrix technique. Our benchmark based on the full-update algorithm shows that the single-layer algorithm is stable, which leads to the same level of accuracy as the double-layer ansatz but with much less computation time. We further apply this algorithm to study the nature of the kagome Heisenberg model with a scalar-chiral interaction by computing the bond dimension scaling of magnetization, bond energy difference, chiral order parameter, and correlation length. In particular, we find that for strong chiral coupling the correlation length, which is extracted from the transfer matrix, saturates to a finite value for large bond dimension, representing a gapped spin-liquid state. Further comparison with density matrix renormalization group results supports that our iPEPS faithfully represents the time-reversal symmetry breaking chiral state. Our iPEPS simulation results shed new light on constructing PEPS for describing gapped chiral topological states.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Twisted bilayer graphene. V. Exact analytic many-body excitations in Coulomb Hamiltonians: Charge gap, Goldstone modes, and absence of Cooper pairing

We find exact analytic expressions for the energies and wave functions of the charged and neutral excitations above the exact ground states (at rational filling per unit cell) of projected Coulomb Hamiltonians in twisted bilayer graphene. Our exact expressions are valid for any form of the Coulomb interaction and any form of A A and A B / B A tunneling. The single charge excitation energy is a convolution of the Coulomb potential with a quantum geometric tensor of the TBG bands. The neutral excitations are (high-symmetry group) magnons, and their dispersion is analytically calculated in terms of the form factors of the active bands in TBG. The two-charge excitation energy and wave functions are also obtained, and a sufficient condition on the graphene eigenstates for obtaining a Cooper pair from Coulomb interactions is obtained. For the actual TBG bands at the first magic angle, we can analytically show that the Cooper pair binding energy is zero in all such projected Coulomb models, implying that either phonons and/or nonzero kinetic energy are needed for superconductivity. Since Vafek and Kang [Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 257602 (2020)] showed that the kinetic energy bounds on the superexchange energy are less 10 -3 in Coulomb units, the phonon mechanism becomes then very likely. If nonetheless the superconductivity is due to kinetic terms which render the bands nonflat, one prediction of our theory is that the highest T c would not occur at the highest DOS.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Nature and Consequences of Biological Reductionism for the Immunological Study of Infectious Diseases

Evolution has conserved “economic” systems that perform many functions, faster or better, with less. For example, three to five leukocyte types protect from thousands of pathogens. In order to achieve so much with so little, biological systems combine their limited elements, creating complex structures. Yet, the prevalent research paradigm is reductionist. Focusing on infectious diseases, reductionist and non-reductionist views are here described. Furthermore, the literature indicates that reductionism is associated with information loss and errors, while non-reductionist operations can extract more information from the same data. When designed to capture one-to-many/many-to-one interactions—including the use of arrows that connect pairs of consecutive observations—non-reductionist (spatial–temporal) constructs eliminate data variability from all dimensions, except along one line, while arrows describe the directionality of temporal changes that occur along the line. To validate the patterns detected by non-reductionist operations, reductionist procedures are needed. Integrated (non-reductionist and reductionist) methods can (i) distinguish data subsets that differ immunologically and statistically; (ii) differentiate false-negative from -positive errors; (iii) discriminate disease stages; (iv) capture in vivo, multilevel interactions that consider the patient, the microbe, and antibiotic-mediated responses; and (v) assess dynamics. Integrated methods provide repeatable and biologically interpretable information.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Interaction Energies for the H-H (sub 2) and H (sub 2) - H (sub 2) System

Interaction energies for the H-H (sub 2) and H (sub 2) - H (sub 2) systems have been obtained by a semi-empirical perfect-pairing procedure used previously. The results have been compared with interaction energies obtained from other sources and the agreement among the different curves is reasonably good. A brief discussion of the previous applications of this semi-empirical scheme to other systems is included.

Vanderslice, Joseph T.↗

Exchange-driven intravalley mixing of excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are promising two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors for application in optoelectronics. Their optical properties are dominated by two series of photo-excited exciton states—A (XA) and B (XB) 1,2 —that are derived from direct interband transitions near the band extrema. These exciton states have large binding energies and strong optical absorption 3–6 , and form an ideal system to investigate many-body effects in low dimensions. Because spin–orbit coupling causes a large splitting between bands of opposite spins, XA and XB are usually treated as spin-polarized Ising excitons, each arising from interactions within a specific set of states induced by interband transitions between pairs of either spin-up or spin-down bands (TA or TB). Here, by using monolayer MoS 2 as a prototypical system and solving the first-principles Bethe–Salpeter equations, we demonstrate a strong intravalley exchange interaction between TA and TB, indicating that XA and XB are mixed states instead of pure Ising excitons. Using 2D electronic spectroscopy, we observe that an optical excitation of the lower-energy TA induces a population of the higher-energy TB, manifesting the intravalley exchange interaction. This work elucidates the dynamics of exciton formation in monolayer TMDCs, and sheds light on many-body effects in 2D materials.

Guo, Liang↗

First-principles study on equation of states and electronic structures of shock compressed Ar up to warm dense regime

The equation of states (EOS) and electronic structures of argon with temperatures from 0.02 eV to 3 eV and densities from 0.5 g/cm{sup 3} to 5.5 g/cm{sup 3} are calculated using the pair potential and many-body potential molecular dynamics and the density functional theory (DFT) molecular dynamics with van der Waals (vdW) corrections. First-principles molecular dynamics is implemented above 2.0 g/cm{sup 3}. For the cases of low densities below 3 g/cm{sup 3}, we performed pair potential molecular dynamics in order to obtain the ionic configurations, which are used in density functional theory to calculate the EOS and electronic structures. We checked the validity of different methods at different densities and temperatures, showing their behaviors by comparing EOS. DFT without vdW correction works well above 1 eV and 3.5 g/cm{sup 3}. Below 1 eV and 2.0 g/cm{sup 3}, it overestimates the pressure apparently and results in incorrect behaviors of the internal energy. With vdW corrections, the semi-empirical force-field correction (DFT-D2) method gives consistent results in the whole density and temperature region, and the vdW density functional (vdW-DF2) method gives good results below 2.5 g/cm{sup 3}, but it overestimates the pressure at higher densities. The interactions among the atoms are overestimated by the pair potential above 1 eV, and a temperature dependent scaled pair potential can be used to correct the ionic configurations of the pair potential up to 3 eV. The comparisons between our calculations and the experimental multi-shock compression results show that the Hugoniot line of DFT-D2 and DFT tends to give larger pressure than the results of the self-consistent fluid variational theory, and the difference increases with the density. The electronic energy gap exists for all our cases up to 5.5 g/cm{sup 3} and 1 eV. The effect of vdW interactions on the electronic structures are also discussed.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Conductivity and Transference Numbers in Lithium Salt-Doped Block Copolymeric Ionic Liquid Electrolytes

We present multiscale molecular dynamics simulation results comparing the conductivity and transference numbers in lithium salt-doped polymeric ionic liquids (PolyILs) and the lamellar phases of block copolymeric ionic liquids (coPolyILs). In both systems, the anion mobilities decreased with salt loading. Lithium ions exhibited negative mobilities in both systems, but the magnitudes decreased with an increase in salt concentrations. More interestingly, the anion mobilities were lower in the lamellar systems compared to homopolymers in magnitude, but the lithium ion mobilities and transference numbers were less negative in such systems. We examine the anion–cation and lithium–anion interactions in terms of radial distribution functions, coordination characteristics, and ion-pair relaxation timescales. Based on such analyses, we rationalize the salt concentration dependencies as a result of the interfacial interactions in lamellar systems and the competition between anion–cation and lithium–anion interactions in both PolyILs and coPolyILs. Altogether, the findings presented in this study demonstrate that the modified anion–cation and lithium–anion interactions in the microphase-separated coPolyILs may provide a strategy for realizing higher lithium ion transference numbers relative to the homopolymeric counterparts.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Space Anisotropy Search at Colliders

In the framework of model with Lorentz violation (LV) we discuss a physical observables for qq̄ pair production at lepton–lepton colliders and describe the experimental signal to be detected. We obtain a conservative limits on Lorentz-violating dimensionless coupling for quark sector from LEP data. We also make a phenomenological prediction for LV model at the future lepton collider.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Complex Relationship between Side-Chain Polarity, Conductivity, and Thermal Stability in Molecularly Doped Conjugated Polymers

Molecularly doped conjugated polymers with polar side chains are an emerging class of conducting materials exhibiting enhanced and thermally stable conductivity. In this work, we study the electronic conductivity (σ) and the corresponding thermal stability of two polythiophene derivatives comprising oligoethylene glycol side chains: one having oxygen attached to the thiophene ring (poly(3-(methoxyethoxyethoxy)thiophene) (P3MEET)) and the other having a methylene spacer between the oxygen and the thiophene ring (poly(3-(methoxyethoxyethoxymethyl)thiophene) (P3MEEMT)). Thin films were vapor-doped with fluorinated derivatives of tetracyanoquinodimethane (FnTCNQ, n = 4, 2, 1) to determine the role of dopant strength (electron affinity) in maximum achievable σ. Specifically, when vapor doping with F 4 TCNQ, P3MEET achieved a substantially higher σ of 37.1 ± 10.1 S/cm compared to a σ of 0.82 ± 0.06 S/cm for P3MEEMT. Structural characterization using a combination of X-ray and optical spectroscopy reveals that the higher degree of conformational order of polymer chains in the amorphous domain upon doping with F 4 TCNQ in P3MEET is a major contributing factor for the higher σ of P3MEET. Additionally, vapor-doped P3MEET exhibited superior thermal stability compared to P3MEEMT, highlighting that the presence of polar side chains alone does not ensure higher thermal stability. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that the dopant–side-chain nonbond energy is lower in the P3MEET:F 4 TCNQ mixture, suggesting more favorable dopant–side-chain interaction, which is a factor in improving the thermal stability of a polymer/dopant pair. Our results reveal that additional factors such as polymer ionization energy and side-chain–dopant interaction should be taken into account for the design of thermally stable, highly conductive polymers.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Combined Effects of Hemicolligation and Ion Pairing on Reduction Potentials of Biphenyl Radical Cations

Here, formal reduction potentials of highly oxidizing and short-lived radical cations of substituted biphenyls generated by pulse radiolysis in 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) were measured using a redox equilibrium ladder method. The effect of halide ion–radical interactions on reduction potentials of biphenyls was examined by utilizing the ability of DCE to release Cl – in the vicinity of the radical cation. The Hammett correlation of measured potentials across a range of over 700 mV shows saturation at high Hammett sigma values. This effect has been explained by both ion-pairing and hemicolligation interactions between biphenyl radical cations and Cl – and appears to modulate reduction potentials by as much as 400 mV. This finding offers a convenient way to manipulate the energetics of electron transfer involving organic redox species.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Rainbow Scattering of Inert Gas Atoms on Aluminum and Silver Crystal Surfaces

Particle trajectories are calculated to study the rainbow scattering and the focusing of Ar atoms on the Al(111) and Ag(111) crystal surfaces and Ne, Ar, and Kr atoms on the Al(001) crystal surface. The rainbow-scattering-induced features in spectra are used to determine the thermal vibration amplitudes of atoms for the Al(111) and Ag(111) targets. These data agree with the data of independent measurements. The dependence of the position of a rainbow peak on the initial energy of atoms is used to find the atom–surface interaction potentials in the energy range of 0.3–70 eV for the case Ar–Ag and 3–45 eV for other cases. The values and the functional dependences of the potentials on the internuclear distance differ strongly from the well-known pair potential models. This difference is associated with the interaction of a projectile atom with the conduction electrons in a metal.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Dark states of electrons in a quantum system with two pairs of sublattices

A quantum state of matter that is forbidden to interact with photons and is therefore undetectable by spectroscopic means is called a dark state. This basic concept can be applied to condensed matter where it suggests that a whole band of quantum states could be undetectable across a full Brillouin zone. Here we report the discovery of such condensed-matter dark states in palladium diselenide as a model system that has two pairs of sublattices in the primitive cell. By using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we find valence bands that are practically unobservable over the whole Brillouin zone at any photon energy, polarization and scattering plane. Our model shows that two pairs of sublattices located at half-translation positions and related by multiple glide-mirror symmetries make their relative quantum phases polarized into only four kinds, three of which become dark due to double destructive interference. This mechanism is generic to other systems with two pairs of sublattices, and we show how the phenomena observed in cuprates, lead halide perovskites and density wave systems can be resolved by the mechanism of dark states. Our results suggest that the sublattice degree of freedom, which has been overlooked so far, should be considered in the study of correlated phenomena and optoelectronic characteristics.

electronic properties and materials↗

Electron-positron pair production by ultrarelativistic electrons in a soft photon field

The fully differential cross section for photon-electron pair production is integrated numerically over phase space. Results are obtained for the astrophysically interesting case in which the interaction between an ultrarelativistic electron and a soft photon results in electron-positron pair production. The positron spectrum is a function of the energies of both the photon and the electron, as well as the angle of interaction. It is found that the energy at which the positron distribution peaks is inversely proportional to the photon energy and independent of the electron energy. The positron spectrum is integrated once more over initial electron energies for a power-law energy distribution of primary electrons. The same procedure is repeated for the recoil particle; it is shown that the peak of the recoil energy distribution depends linearly on the energy of the primary electron. Finally, semianalytical expressions are obtained for the energy losses of the primary electrons.

Mastichiadis, A.↗

Adjusting the Energy Profile for CH–O Interactions Leads to Improved Stability of RNA Stem-Loop Structures in MD Simulations

The role of ribonucleic acid (RNA) in biology continues to grow, but insight into important aspects of RNA behavior is lacking, such as dynamic structural ensembles in different environments, how flexibility is coupled to function, and how function might be modulated by small molecule binding. In the case of proteins, much progress in these areas has been made by complementing experiments with atomistic simulations, but RNA simulation methods and force fields are less mature. It remains challenging to generate stable RNA simulations, even for small systems where well-defined, thermostable structures have been established by experiments. Further many different aspects of RNA energetics have been adjusted in force fields, seeking improvements that are transferable across a variety of RNA structural motifs. In this work, the role of weak CH···O interactions is explored, which are ubiquitous in RNA structure but have received less attention in RNA force field development. By comparing data extracted from high-resolution RNA crystal structures to energy profiles from quantum mechanics and force field calculations, it is shown that CH···O interactions are overly repulsive in the widely used Amber RNA force fields. A simple, targeted adjustment of CH···O repulsion that leaves the remainder of the force field unchanged was developed. Then, the standard and modified force fields were tested using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations with explicit water and salt, amassing over 300 μs of data for multiple RNA systems containing important features such as the presence of loops, base stacking interactions as well as canonical and noncanonical base pairing. In this work and others, standard force fields lead to reproducible unfolding of the NMR-based structures. Including a targeted CH···O adjustment in an otherwise identical protocol dramatically improves the outcome, leading to stable simulations for all RNA systems tested.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Charge transfer polarisation wave and carrier pairing in the high T(sub c) copper oxides

The High T(sub c) oxides are highly polarizable materials and are charge transfer insulators. The charge transfer polarization wave formalism is developed in these oxides. The dispersion relationships due to long range dipole-dipole interaction of a charge transfer dipole lattice are obtained in 3-D and 2-D. These are high frequency bosons and their coupling with carriers is weak and antiadiabatic in nature. As a result, the mass renormalization of the carriers is negligible in complete contrast to conventional electron-phonon interaction, that give polarons and bipolarons. Both bound and superconducting pairing is discussed for a model Hamiltonian valid in the antiadiabatic regime, both in 3-D and 2-D. The stability of the charge transfer dipole lattice has interesting consequences that are discussed.

Chakraverty, B. K.↗