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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 973 records · Page 54
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Rashba spin-orbit-coupled atomic Fermi gases

We investigate theoretically BEC-BCS crossover physics in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a system of a two-component Fermi gas with and without a Zeeman field that breaks the population balance between the two components. A bound state (Rashba pair) emerges because of the spin-orbit interaction. We study the properties of Rashba pairs using standard pair fluctuation theory. At zero temperature, the Rashba pairs condense into a macroscopic mixed-spin state. We discuss in detail the experimental signatures for observing the condensation of Rashba pairs by calculating various physical observables which characterize the properties of the system and can be measured in experiment.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Equation of State and Thermometry of the 2D SU ( N ) Fermi-Hubbard Model

We characterize the equation of state (EoS) of the SU ( N > 2 ) Fermi-Hubbard Model (FHM) in a two-dimensional single-layer square optical lattice. We probe the density and the site occupation probabilities as functions of interaction strength and temperature for N = 3 , 4, and 6. Our measurements are used as a benchmark for state-of-the-art numerical methods including determinantal quantum Monte Carlo and numerical linked cluster expansion. By probing the density fluctuations, we compare temperatures determined in a model-independent way by fitting measurements to numerically calculated EoS results, making this a particularly interesting new step in the exploration and characterization of the SU ( N ) FHM. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

THE FERMI BUBBLE AS A SOURCE OF COSMIC RAYS IN THE ENERGY RANGE >10{sup 15} eV

The Fermi Large Area Telescope has recently discovered two giant gamma-ray bubbles that extend north and south of the Galactic center with diameters and heights of the order of H {approx} 10 kpc. We suggest that the periodic star capture processes by the Galactic supermassive black hole Sgr A*, with a capture rate of {tau}{sup -1}{sub cap} {approx} 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup -5} yr{sup -1} and an energy release of W {approx} 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 52} erg per capture, can result in hot plasma injecting into the Galactic halo at a wind velocity of u {approx} 10{sup 8} cm s{sup -1}. The periodic injection of hot plasma can produce a series of shocks. Energetic protons in the bubble are re-accelerated when they interact with these shocks. We show that for energy larger than E > 10{sup 15} eV, the acceleration process can be better described by the stochastic second-order Fermi acceleration. We propose that hadronic cosmic rays (CRs) within the 'knee' of the observed CR spectrum are produced by Galactic supernova remnants distributed in the Galactic disk. Re-acceleration of these particles in the Fermi Bubble produces CRs beyond the knee. With a mean CR diffusion coefficient in this energy range in the bubble D{sub B} {approx} 3 Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 30} cm{sup 2} s{sup -1}, we can reproduce the spectral index of the spectrum beyond the knee and within it. The conversion efficiency from shock energy of the bubble into CR energy is about 10%. This model provides a natural explanation of the observed CR flux, spectral indices, and matching of spectra at the knee.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Fermi Galactic Center GeV excess and implications for dark matter

Here, the region around the Galactic Center (GC) is now well established to be brighter at energies of a few GeV than what is expected from conventional models of diffuse gamma-ray emission and catalogs of known gamma-ray sources. We study the GeV excess using 6.5 yr of data from the Fermi Large Area Telescope. We characterize the uncertainty of the GC excess spectrum and morphology due to uncertainties in cosmic-ray source distributions and propagation, uncertainties in the distribution of interstellar gas in the Milky Way, and uncertainties due to a potential contribution from the Fermi bubbles. We also evaluate uncertainties in the excess properties due to resolved point sources of gamma rays. The GC is of particular interest, as it would be expected to have the brightest signal from annihilation of weakly interacting massive dark matter (DM) particles. However, control regions along the Galactic plane, where a DM signal is not expected, show excesses of similar amplitude relative to the local background. Furthermore, based on the magnitude of the systematic uncertainties, we conservatively report upper limits for the annihilation cross-section as a function of particle mass and annihilation channel.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Evidence for strong electronic correlations in the bulk state of grey arsenic

Here, we investigate the electron band structure of grey arsenic, whose (111) face hosts the topological Shockley state. Interestingly, the bulk band close to the touching point with the surface state exhibits the characteristics of inelastic scattering. Moreover, the band structure analysis reveals linearity in the imaginary part of electron self-energy. These features are analogous to those observed in high-temperature superconductors and marginal Fermi liquid systems, respectively, where strong electronic correlations exist. Our results suggest that correlated many-body states can be connected by non-interacting topological states, providing a viable playground to explore the coupling between topological and correlated states via grey arsenic surface.

ARPES↗
DOE OSTI2022

(3-Aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane Surface Passivation Improves Perovskite Solar Cell Performance by Reducing Surface Recombination Velocity

We demonstrate reduced surface recombination velocity (SRV) and enhanced power-conversion efficiency (PCE) in mixed-cation mixed-halide perovskite solar cells by using (3-aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane (APTMS) as a surface passivator. We show the APTMS serves to passivate defects at the perovskite surface, while also decoupling the perovskite from detrimental interactions at the C 60 interface. We measure a SRV of ~125 ± 14 cm/s, and a concomitant increase of ~100 meV in quasi-Fermi level splitting in passivated devices compared to the controls. We use time-resolved photoluminescence and excitation-correlation photoluminescence spectroscopy to show that APTMS passivation effectively suppresses non-radiative recombination. We show that APTMS improves both the fill factor and open-circuit voltage (V OC ), increasing V OC from 1.03 V for control devices to 1.09 V for APTMS-passivated devices, and leads to a PCE increase from 15.90% to 18.03%. Here, we attribute the enhanced performance to reduced defect density resulting in suppressed nonradiative recombination and lower SRV at the perovskite/transport layer interface.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

A bound on the superconducting transition temperature

It is notoriously difficult to make quantitative theoretical predictions of the superconducting transition temperature, T c , either from first-principles or even from a knowledge of normal state properties. Ultimately, this reflects the fact that the energy scales involved in the superconducting state are extremely small in natural units, and that T c depends exponentially on a subtle interplay between different interactions so that small uncertainties in microscopic processes can lead to order one effects on T c . However, in some circumstances, it may be possible to determine (approximate) bounds on T c . Here we propose such a bound for the conventional phonon-mediated mechanism of pairing with strongly retarded interactions, i.e. in the case in which ℏ$\bar{ω}$«EF, where $\bar{ω}$ is an appropriate characteristic phonon frequency and EF is the Fermi energy. Specifically, drawing on both empirical results (shown in Fig. 2 below) and recent results of determinant quantum Monte Carlo (DQMC) studies of the paradigmatic Holstein model, we propose that k B T c ≤A max ℏ$\bar{ω}$, where A max is a dimensionless number of order one that we estimate to be A max ≈ 1/10.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Spin and charge thermopower of resonant tunneling diodes

We investigate thermoelectric effects in quantum well systems. Using the scattering approach for coherent conductors, we calculate the thermocurrent and thermopower both in the spin-degenerate case and in the presence of giant Zeeman splitting due to magnetic interactions in the quantum well. We find that the thermoelectric current at linear response is maximal when the well level is aligned with the Fermi energy and is robust against thermal variations. Furthermore, our results show a spin voltage generation in response to the applied thermal bias, giving rise to large spin Seebeck effects tunable with external magnetic fields, quantum well tailoring, and background temperature.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2010

THE NON-THERMAL INTRACLUSTER MEDIUM

WMAP's detection of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect at a much reduced level among several large samples of rich clusters is interpreted in terms of conventional physics. It has been suggested that the central soft X-ray and EUV excess found in some clusters cannot be of thermal origin, due to problems with rapid gas cooling and the persistent non-detection of the O VII line, but may arise from inverse Compton scattering between intracluster relativistic electrons and the cosmic microwave background (CMB). In fact, recent XMM-Newton observations of the soft X-rays from Coma and Abell 3112 are equally well fitted by a power law or a thermal virialized gas. Therefore, the missing Sunyaev-Zel'dovich flux could partly be due to an overestimate of the central density of virialized electrons which scatter the CMB. Synchrotron radiation in an intracluster magnetic field of strength of a few {mu}G is responsible for significant additional electron energy loss. Equipartition between relativistic particle and magnetic field energy densities is a realistic possibility. GHz radiation data from a Coma cluster halo yields information on the high-energy steepening of the cluster relativistic electron spectrum. Cluster microwave emission in the WMAP passbands by higher energy cosmic-ray electrons and gamma-ray emission from an accompanying cosmic-ray proton flux are also considered. The energetic electrons could originate from active galactic nucleus jet injection, then distributed cluster wide by Alfven wave sweeping, with accompanying in situ Fermi acceleration.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Universal thermodynamics of an SU ( N ) Fermi-Hubbard model

The SU(2) symmetric Fermi-Hubbard model (FHM) plays an essential role in strongly correlated fermionic many-body systems. In the one particle per site and strongly interacting limit U/t $\gg$ 1, it is effectively described by the Heisenberg Hamiltonian. In this limit, enlarging the spin and extending the typical SU(2) symmetry to SU(N) has been predicted to give exotic phases of matter in the ground state, with a complicated dependence on N. This raises the question of what—if any—are the finite-temperature signatures of these phases, especially in the currently experimentally relevant regime near or above the superexchange energy. We explore this question for thermodynamic observables by numerically calculating the thermodynamics of the SU(N) FHM in the two-dimensional square lattice near densities of one particle per site, using determinant quantum Monte Carlo and numerical linked cluster expansion. Interestingly, we find that for temperatures above the superexchange energy, where the correlation length is short, the energy, number of on-site pairs, and kinetic energy are universal functions of N. Although the physics in the regime studied is well beyond what can be captured by low-order high-temperature series, we show that an analytic description of the scaling is possible in terms of only one- and two-site calculations.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Interaction effects in graphene in a weak magnetic field

A weak perpendicular magnetic field, B, breaks the chiral symmetry of each valley in the electron spectrum of graphene, preserving the overall chiral symmetry in the Brillouin zone. Here we explore the consequences of this symmetry breaking for the interaction effects in graphene. In particular, we demonstrate that the electron-electron interaction lifetime acquires an anomalous B dependence. Also, the ballistic zero-bias anomaly, δv(ω), where ω is the energy measured from the Fermi level, emerges at a weak B and has the form δv(B) ~ B 2 /ω 2 . Temperature dependence of the magnetic-field corrections to the thermodynamic characteristics of graphene is also anomalous. We discuss experimental manifestations of the effects predicted. The microscopic origin of the B-field sensitivity is an extra phase acquired by the electron wave function resulting from the chirality-induced pseudospin precession.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

𝛽−decay of neutron-rich 45 Cl located at the magic number 𝑁 = 28

Results from the β-decay study of 45 Cl, produced in the fragmentation of a 140-MeV/u 48 Ca beam, are presented. The half-life of 45 Cl is measured to be 513(36) ms. β – and β – 1n decay populate excited states in 45 Ar and 44 Ar, respectively, and decay schemes for both daughter nuclei are established based on γ-ray singles and γ-γ coincidence data. Comparison with shell-model calculations using the FSU interaction shows that the low-lying negative-parity states in 45 Ar are well described by single-neutron configurations near the Fermi surface, whereas positive-parity states require neutron excitations across the N = 20 shell gap, consistent with allowed Gamow–Teller decay from 45 Cl. The strong β-feeding to the 5/2 + state in 45 Ar supports a 3/2 + ground-state assignment for 45 Cl over 1/2 + . Furthermore, the high Q β – value enables population of 1p1h states above the neutron separation energy in 45 Ar, leading to positive-parity states in 44 Ar through neutron emission. Tentative spin-parity assignments for excited levels in 44 Ar are made for the first time based on comparison with shell-model predictions, and the 2978-keV level is identified as an excited 0 + state with a configuration distinct from the ground state.

39 ≤ A ≤ 58↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electron and Electron-Nuclear Dynamics of Open Quantum Subsystems

Leveraging an open-subsystem formulation of Density Functional Theory (DFT) we aim at describing periodic and molecular systems alike, including their electronic and nuclear dynamics. Subsystem DFT enables first principles simulations to approach realistic time- and length-scales, and most importantly sheds light on the dynamical behavior of complex systems. Taking subsystem DFT to the time domain allows us to inspect the electron dynamics of condensed-phase systems in real time. In liquids and interfaces, we observe all the relevant regimes proper of non-Markovian open quantum system dynamics, such as electronic energy transfer, and screening. In addition, the ab-initio modeling of system-bath interactions brought us to observe and justify the holographic time-dependent electron density theorem. Contrary to interactions between molecular (finite) systems, when molecules interact with metal or semiconductor surfaces the electron dynamics is strongly non-Markovian with dramatic repercussions to the molecule’s response to external perturbations. Metals and semiconductors typically have large polarizabilities, and even in a regime of low coupling their effect on impinging molecular species is significant–line broadening, peak shift, and intensity borrowing are observed, characterized, and explained in terms of inter-subsystem dynamical interactions and a many-body decomposition of the system’s density-density response function in a way that transcends the canons of Fermi Golden Rule.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2026

First operation of superconducting quantum bits as particle detectors

Transmon qubits are among the leading technologies for the development of future quantum computers. However these superconducting devices are sensitive to ionizing radiation, which reduces their coherence time and leads to correlated errors. This study represents the first quantitative estimation of cosmic rays and ambient radiation impact on transmon qubits. In the shielded underground facility at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), errors induced by the interaction of a radioactive source were reconstructed with an efficiency of about 10%. In contrast, in the unshielded above-ground facility at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), cosmic and ambient radiation impacts were detected with an efficiency ranging from 10% to 20% by modifying the acquisition protocol. Lastly, the simultaneous readout of three transmons in coincidence was demonstrated, achieving an event reconstruction efficiency of 90% when the devices were illuminated with an LED.

Bonomo, Camilla [Rome U.; INFN, Rome]↗
NASA NTRS2014

Search for Cosmic-Ray-Induced Gamma-Ray Emission in Galaxy Clusters

Current theories predict relativistic hadronic particle populations in clusters of galaxies in addition to the already observed relativistic leptons. In these scenarios hadronic interactions give rise to neutral pions which decay into gamma rays that are potentially observable with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi space telescope. We present a joint likelihood analysis searching for spatially extended gamma-ray emission at the locations of 50 galaxy clusters in four years of Fermi-LAT data under the assumption of the universal cosmic-ray (CR) model proposed by Pinzke & Pfrommer. We find an excess at a significance of 2.7 delta, which upon closer inspection, however, is correlated to individual excess emission toward three galaxy clusters: A400, A1367, and A3112. We discuss these cases in detail and conservatively attribute the emission to unmodeled background systems (for example, radio galaxies within the clusters).Through the combined analysis of 50 clusters, we exclude hadronic injection efficiencies in simple hadronic models above 21% and establish limits on the CR to thermal pressure ratio within the virial radius, R(sub 200), to be below 1.25%-1.4% depending on the morphological classification. In addition, we derive new limits on the gamma-ray flux from individual clusters in our sample.

Online-only material: color figures↗
DOE OSTI2018

Resonant reflection of interacting electrons from an impurity in a quantum wire: Interplay of Zeeman and spin-orbit effects

A single-channel quantum wire with two well-separated Zeeman subbands and in the presence of weak spin-orbit coupling is considered. An impurity level which is split off the upper subband is degenerate with the continuum of the lower subband. We show that, when the Fermi level lies in the vicinity of the impurity level, the transport is completely blocked. This is the manifestation of the effect of resonant reflection and can be viewed as resonant tunneling between left-moving and right-moving electrons via the impurity level. We incorporate electron-electron interactions and study their effect on the shape of the resonant-reflection profile. Furthermore, this profile becomes a two-peak structure, where one peak is caused by resonant reflection itself, while the origin of the other peak is reflection from the Friedel oscillations of the electron density surrounding the impurity.

1-dimensional systems↗
DOE OSTI2011

Anomalous resistivity and the origin of heavy mass in the two-band Hubbard model with one narrow band

We search for marginal Fermi-liquid behavior in the two-band Hubbard model with one narrow band. We consider the limit of low electron densities in the bands and strong intraband and interband Hubbard interactions. We analyze the influence of electron polaron effect and other mechanisms of mass enhancement (related to momentum dependence of the self-energies) on the effective mass and scattering times of light and heavy components in the clean case (electron-electron scattering and no impurities). We find the tendency towards phase separation (towards negative partial compressibility of heavy particles) in the 3D case for a large mismatch between the densities of heavy and light bands in the strong-coupling limit. We also observe that for low temperatures and equal densities, the homogeneous state resistivity R(T) {approx} T{sub 2} behaves in a Fermi-liquid fashion in both 3D and 2D cases. For temperatures higher than the effective bandwidth for heavy electrons T > W{sub *}{sup h}, the coherent behavior of the heavy component is totally destroyed. The heavy particles move diffusively in the surrounding of light particles. At the same time, the light particles scatter on the heavy ones as if on immobile (static) impurities. In this regime, the heavy component is marginal, while the light one is not. The resistivity saturates for T > W{sub *}{sup h} in the 3D case. In 2D, the resistivity has a maximum and a localization tail due to weak-localization corrections of the Altshuler-Aronov type. Such behavior of resistivity could be relevant for some uranium-based heavy-fermion compounds like UNi{sub 2}Al{sub 3} in 3D and for some other mixed-valence compounds possibly including layered manganites in 2D. We also briefly consider the superconductive (SC) instability in the model. The leading instability is towards the p-wave pairing and is governed by the enhanced Kohn-Luttinger mechanism of SC at low electron density. The critical temperature corresponds to the pairing of heavy electrons via polarization of the light ones in 2D.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Consistent LDA' + DMFT approach to the electronic structure of transition metal oxides: Charge transfer insulators and correlated metals

We discuss the recently proposed LDA' + DMFT approach providing a consistent parameter-free treatment of the so-called double counting problem arising within the LDA + DMFT hybrid computational method for realistic strongly correlated materials. In this approach, the local exchange-correlation portion of the electron-electron interaction is excluded from self-consistent LDA calculations for strongly correlated electronic shells, e.g., d-states of transition metal compounds. Then, the corresponding double-counting term in the LDA' + DMFT Hamiltonian is consistently set in the local Hartree (fully localized limit, FLL) form of the Hubbard model interaction term. We present the results of extensive LDA' + DMFT calculations of densities of states, spectral densities, and optical conductivity for most typical representatives of two wide classes of strongly correlated systems in the paramagnetic phase: charge transfer insulators (MnO, CoO, and NiO) and strongly correlated metals (SrVO{sub 3} and Sr{sub 2}RuO{sub 4}). It is shown that for NiO and CoO systems, the LDA' + DMFT approach qualitatively improves the conventional LDA + DMFT results with the FLL type of double counting, where CoO and NiO were obtained to be metals. Our calculations also include transition-metal 4s-states located near the Fermi level, missed in previous LDA + DMFT studies of these monoxides. General agreement with optical and the X-ray experiments is obtained. For strongly correlated metals, the LDA' + DMFT results agree well with the earlier LDA + DMFT calculations and existing experiments. However, in general, LDA' + DMFT results give better quantitative agreement with experimental data for band gap sizes and oxygen-state positions compared to the conventional LDA + DMFT method.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗