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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

Numerical modeling of a proof-of-principle experiment on optical stochastic cooling at an electron storage ring

Cooling of beams circulating in storage rings is critical for many applications including particle colliders and synchrotron light sources. A method enabling unprecedented beam-cooling rates, optical stochastic cooling (OSC), was recently demonstrated in the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator (IOTA) electron storage ring at Fermilab [J. Jarvis , ]. This paper describes the numerical implementation of the OSC process in the particle-tracking program and discusses the validation of the developed model with available experimental data. The model is also employed to highlight some features associated with different modes of operation of OSC. The developed simulation tool should be valuable in guiding future configurations of optical stochastic cooling and, more broadly, modeling self-field-based beam manipulations. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Collisional simulations of the modulator section in coherent electron cooling

The first section of any coherent electron cooling (CeC) system is the modulator, where the density of the electron beam is modulated by the copropagating ion beam. This density modulation is a result of Coulomb collisions between the individual particles of the two beams. The pairwise, stochastic part of the interactions impacts the overall performance of the CeC process. We present the first simulations of the density modulations of the electron beams from a collisional picture of the dynamics, considering the proof-of-principle CeC experiments at Brookhaven National Laboratory. These simulations were performed using PHAD, which is the first efficient, large-scale collisional numerical method in beam physics that we have previously developed and benchmarked. Realistic beam distributions and external fields have been optimized to provide strong modulation signals necessary for variations of coherent electron cooling systems. Cooling performance limits and potential collisionless simulation pitfalls are pointed out. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Enhanced beam-beam modeling to include longitudinal variation during weak-strong simulation

Beam-beam interactions pose substantial challenges in the design and operation of circular colliders, significantly affecting their performance. In particular, the weak-strong simulation approach is pivotal for investigating single-particle dynamics during the collider design phase. This paper evaluates the limitations of existing models in weak-strong simulations, noting that while they accurately account for energy changes due to slingshot effects, they fail to incorporate longitudinal coordinate changes ( z variation). To address this gap, we introduce two novel transformations that enhance Hirata’s original framework by including both z variation and slingshot effect-induced energy changes. Through rigorous mathematical analysis and extensive weak-strong simulation studies, we validate the efficacy of these enhancements in achieving a more precise simulation of beam-beam interactions. Our results reveal that although z variation constitutes a higher-order effect and does not substantially affect the emittance growth rate within the specific design parameters of the Electron-Ion Collider, the refined model offers improved accuracy, particularly in scenarios involving the interaction between beam-beam effects and other random diffusion processes, as well as in simulations incorporating realistic lattice models. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Reconstruction of beam parameters and betatron radiation spectra measured with a Compton spectrometer

The photon flux resulting from high-energy electron beam interactions with high-field systems, such as those found in the upcoming FACET-II experiments at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, yields deep insight into the electron beam’s underlying dynamics during the interaction. However, extracting this information is an intricate process. To demonstrate how to approach this challenge using modern methods, this paper utilizes simulated data that models plasma wakefield acceleration-derived betatron radiation in experiments to determine reliable methods of reconstructing key beam and beam-plasma interaction properties. For betatron radiation measurements, translating the observed 200⁢ keV to 30⁢ MeV photon double-differential energy-angle spectra obtained from an advanced Compton spectrometer requires testing multiple methods to optimize the pipeline from its response to incident electron beam information. The paper compares maximum likelihood estimation and machine learning to refine the translation of photon spectra into precise electron beam metrics, such as spot size, energy, and emittance, enhancing the understanding of beam behavior within these dense, high-field environments. We also introduce machine learning and the expected maximization algorithm to reconstruct the primary photon spectrum, employing a multilayer neural network for regression analysis of the energy and angle spectra. With appropriate modifications, the advanced methods reproduce relevant incident beam parameters with high accuracy, even for beam sizes in the <10 μ⁢m range. This capacity is critical to understanding intense beam propagation and its optimization in plasma.

Beam code development & simulation techniques↗

Comprehensive model for evaluating voltage losses and performance improvements in thin-film photovoltaic devices

Progress of state-of-the-art and next-generation thin-film photovoltaic devices is often stymied by open-circuit voltage (𝑉 oc ) that is significantly lower than theoretical and practical limits. Yet, effectively diagnosing the primary sources of voltage loss remains challenging. Herein, a sequence of device-level characterization techniques and simulations are employed to identify and rank loss mechanisms. For the research-based Cd⁡(Se,Te) device under study, most of the loss was at the front semiconductor heterointerface due to a clifflike conduction-band offset that lowered the recombination activation energy. Additional losses due to band tails were quantified by photoluminescence analysis. The latter provided the absorption coefficient and activation energy reduction associated with band tails as inputs to device models. Simulations showed that alleviating front-interface issues would improve 𝑉 oc , but it would then be limited by bulk recombination. Further improvement of the bulk would then lead to back-contact limitations. Reducing band tails is beneficial in any circumstance. In conclusion, this analysis provides guidance for reaching toward the radiative 𝑉 oc limit.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Thermal disorder and phonon softening in the ferroelectric phase transition of lead titanate

We report a molecular dynamics study of ab initio quality of the ferroelectric phase transition in crystalline PbTi⁢O3. We model anharmonicity accurately in terms of potential energy and polarization surfaces trained on density functional theory data with modern machine learning techniques. Our simulations demonstrate that the transition has a strong order-disorder character, in agreement with diffraction experiments, and provide fresh insight into the approach to equilibrium across the phase transition. We find that the emergence and disappearance of the macroscopic polarization is driven by dipolar switching at the nanometer scale. We also computed the infrared optical absorption spectra in both the ferroelectric and the paraelectric phases, finding good agreement with the experimental Raman frequencies. Often, the almost ideal displacive character of the soft mode detected by Raman scattering in the paraelectric phase has been contrasted with the order-disorder character of the transition suggested by diffraction experiments. We settle this issue by showing that the soft mode coexists with a strong Debye relaxation associated with thermal disordering of the dipoles. The Debye relaxation feature is centered at zero frequency and appears near the transition temperature in both the ferroelectric and the paraelectric phases.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Discrimination of electronic recoils from nuclear recoils in two-phase xenon time projection chambers

We present a comprehensive analysis of electronic recoil vs. nuclear recoil discrimination in liquid/gas xenon time projection chambers, using calibration data from the 2013 and 2014-16 runs of the Large Underground Xenon (LUX) experiment. We observe strong charge-to-light discrimination enhancement with increased event energy. For events with S1 = 120 detected photons, i.e. equivalent to a nuclear recoil energy of ~100 keV, we observe an electronic recoil background acceptance of <10 –5 at a nuclear recoil signal acceptance of 50%. We also observe modest electric field dependence of the discrimination power, which peaks at a field of around 300 V/cm over the range of fields explored in this study (50-500 V/cm). In the WIMP search region of S1 = 1-80 phd, the minimum electronic recoil leakage we observe is (7.3 ± 0.6) 10 –4 , which is obtained for a drift field of 240-290 V/cm. Pulse shape discrimination is utilized to improve our results, and we find that, at low energies and low fields, there is an additional reduction in background leakage by a factor of up to 3. We develop an empirical model for recombination fluctuations which, when used alongside the Noble Element Scintillation Technique (NEST) simulation package, correctly reproduces the skewness of the electronic recoil data. We use this updated simulation to study the width of the electronic recoil band, finding that its dominant contribution comes from electron-ion recombination fluctuations, followed in magnitude of contribution by fluctuations in the S1 signal, fluctuations in the S2 signal, and fluctuations in the total number of quanta produced for a given energy deposition.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Dark photon superradiance: Electrodynamics and multimessenger signals

We study the electrodynamics of a kinetically mixed dark photon cloud that forms through superradiance around a spinning black hole, and design strategies to search for the resulting multimessenger signals. A dark photon superradiance cloud sources a rotating dark electromagnetic field which, through kinetic mixing, induces a rotating visible electromagnetic field. Standard model charged particles entering this field initiate a transient phase of particle production that populates a plasma inside the cloud and leads to a system which shares qualitative features with a pulsar magnetosphere. We study the electrodynamics of the dark photon cloud with resistive magnetohydrodynamics methods applicable to highly magnetized plasma, adapting techniques from simulations of pulsar magnetospheres. We identify turbulent magnetic field reconnection as the main source of dissipation and electromagnetic emission, and compute the peak luminosity from clouds around solar-mass black holes to be as large as 10 43 erg/s for observationally allowed dark photon parameter space. The emission is expected to have a significant x-ray component and to potentially be periodic, with period set by the dark photon mass. The luminosity is comparable to the brightest x-ray sources in the Universe, allowing for searches at distances of up to hundreds of Mpc with existing telescopes. Finally, we discuss observational strategies, including targeted electromagnetic follow-ups of solar-mass black hole mergers and targeted continuous gravitational wave searches of anomalous pulsars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Spectral Galerkin solver for intense beam Vlasov equilibria in nonlinear constant focusing channels

Here a numerical method is described for producing stationary solutions of the Vlasov-Poisson system describing a relativistic charged-particle beam in a constant focusing accelerator channel, confined transversely by a general (linear or nonlinear) focusing potential. The method utilizes a variant of the spectral Galerkin algorithm to solve a nonlinear partial differential equation (PDE) in two degrees of freedom for the beam space charge potential in equilibrium. Numerical convergence with an increasing number of computed spectral modes is investigated for several benchmark problems. Preservation of the stationary phase space density is verified using a strongly nonlinear focusing channel based on the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Absorption of charged particles in perfectly matched layers by optimal damping of the deposited current

Perfectly matched layers (PMLs) are widely used in particle-in-cell simulations, in order to absorb electromagnetic waves that propagate out of the simulation domain. However, when charged particles cross the interface between the simulation domain and the PMLs, a number of numerical artifacts can arise. Here, in order to mitigate these artifacts, we introduce a PML algorithm whereby the current deposited by the macroparticles in the PML is damped by an analytically derived optimal coefficient. The benefits of this algorithm are illustrated in practical simulations. In particular, it is shown that this algorithm is well suited for particles exiting the box in near-normal incidence, in the sense that the fields behave as if the exiting particle is propagating in an infinite vacuum.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Using kernel-based statistical distance to study the dynamics of charged particle beams in particle-based simulation codes

Measures of discrepancy between probability distributions (statistical distance) are widely used in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning. We describe how certain measures of statistical distance can be implemented as numerical diagnostics for simulations involving charged-particle beams. Related measures of statistical dependence are also described. The resulting diagnostics provide sensitive measures of dynamical processes important for beams in nonlinear or high-intensity systems, which are otherwise difficult to characterize. Here, the focus is on kernel-based methods such as maximum mean discrepancy, which have a well-developed mathematical foundation and reasonable computational complexity. Several benchmark problems and examples involving intense beams are discussed. While the focus is on charged-particle beams, these methods may also be applied to other many-body systems such as plasmas or gravitational systems.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Structure and properties of edge dislocations in BiFe O 3

Edge dislocations are frequently found in epitaxial BiFeO 3 multiferroic thin films and are expected to exhibit distinctive and localized magnetoelectric properties. However, an exhaustive characterization of these dislocations at the atomic level has to date been largely overlooked. Here, we use a combination of scanning transmission electron microscopy techniques, atomistic simulations obtained from classical molecular dynamics calculations, and real-space multiple-scattering theory to explore the chemical properties and the bonding characteristics of the atoms located at and near the dislocation cores. We find that in addition to Bi, small amounts of Fe atoms are present in the BiFeO 3 dislocation cores which result in uncompensated Fe spins along the dislocations and give rise to a magnetic signal. Furthermore, our results suggest that edge dislocations in BiFeO 3 films could be efficiently used for realizing BiFeO 3 -based magnetic devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Time-dependent dynamical Bragg diffraction in deformed crystals by the beam propagation method

Herein, this paper describes how to efficiently solve time-dependent X-ray dynamic diffraction problems in distorted crystals with a fast Fourier transform based beam propagation method. Examples are given of using the technique to simulate the propagation of X-ray beams in deformed crystals in space and time domains relevant to the cavity-based X-ray free-electron lasers and X-ray free-electron laser self-seeding systems.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Target tracking via recursive Bayesian state estimation in radar networks

Modern cognitive radar networks incorporating intelligent and cognitive support-modules can actively adjust the radar-target geometry and optimally select a subset of radars to track the target of interest. Based on the theories of dynamic graphical models (DGM) and recursive Bayesian state estimation (RBSE), we propose a framework for single target tracking in mobile and cooperative radar networks, jointly considering path planning and radar selection. We formulate the tracking procedure as two iterative steps: (i) solving a combinatorial problem based on the expected cross-entropy measure to select the optimal subset of radars and their locations, and (ii) tracking the target using RBSE technique. We simulate the proposed framework using an illustrative example in 2-D space and demonstrate the tracking performance.

Xiang, Yijian↗

Scenario Creation and Power-Conditioning Strategies for Operating Power Grids with Two-Stage Stochastic Economic Dispatch

A significant difficulty associated with the use of stochastic programming to solve optimal power flow problems on a 5-minute timescale is the quality of renewable energy scenarios input by the user. This is especially true when considering power systems with high penetrations of renewable energy, e.g. wind power. This paper introduces the use of stochastic programming to solve the DC optimal power flow problem with scenarios drawn directly from high-fidelity data sets. Hence, the proposed method avoids the problem of lost physics by finding high-fidelity analogs that can describe future states of the system. Furthermore, this method can be simply extended to output multi-period scenarios to the stochastic program. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique by simulating dispatch operations on a synthetic test system over the course of a week.

94 GMLC - Grid Modernization Laboratory Consortium↗