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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 1,009 records · Page 56

Resonant excitation of intense acoustic waves in crystals

The resonant excitation of an intense elastic wave through nonspecular reflection of a special pump wave in a crystal is described. The choice of the plane and angle of incidence is dictated by the requirement that the excited reflected wave be close to the bulk eigenmode with its energy flow along a free boundary. The resonance parameters have been found for a medium with an arbitrary anisotropy. General relations are concretized for monoclinic, rhombic, and hexagonal systems. A criterion is formulated for an optimal selection of crystals in which the resonant reflection is close to the conversion one, when almost all of the energy from the incident beam of the pump wave falls into the near-surface narrow high-intensity reflected beam. Estimates and illustrations are given for such crystals as an example. The intensity of the reflected beam increases with its narrowing, but its diffraction divergence also increases with this narrowing. Nevertheless, the intensity of the beam can be increased by a factor of 5-10 at sufficiently high frequencies while keeping its divergence at an acceptable level. Amplification by two orders of magnitude can be achieved by compressing the beam in two dimensions through its double reflection.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Coherent scattering of monochromatic RF radiation by ionization electrons of an extensive air shower

The possibility of detecting extensive air showers by recording and analyzing the radio pulse produced by the reradiation of a wave moving toward the cascade disk is considered. The coherent amplification of the scattered radiation in the direction of motion of the shower is shown to be due to a relativistic effect. An example of a real facility and its peculiarities are discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

On the determination of the electromagnetic field upon scattering by a small inhomogeneous spherical object

An efficient and fairly simple method of solving the problem of the incidence of a plane electromagnetic wave on an inhomogeneous object with specified spherically symmetric distributions of its electric permittivity and magnetic permeability is presented. The fields inside the object and the integrated scattering and absorption cross sections are found by assuming the object to be small compared to the vacuum wavelength. Since no constraints are imposed on the scales of the fields inside the object, the method is suitable for investigating complex cases, including those associated with the local amplification and absorption of the electromagnetic field in inhomogeneous resonant media.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Possible acceleration of cosmic rays in a rotating system: Uehling-Uhlenbeck model

We illustrate the possible acceleration of cosmic rays passing through a kind of amplification channel (via diffusion modes of propagating plane-wave fronts) induced by a rotating system. Our analysis is mainly based on the quantum discrete kinetic model (considering a discrete Uehling-Uhlenbeck collision term), which has been used to study the propagation of plane (e.g., acoustic) waves in a system of rotating gases.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Manipulating transmission and reflection properties of a photonic crystal doped with quantum dot nanostructures

The transmission and reflection properties of incident light in a defect dielectric structure is studied theoretically. The defect structure consists of donor and acceptor quantum dot nanostructures embedded in a photonic crystal. It is shown that the transmission and reflection properties of incident light can be controlled by adjusting the corresponding parameters of the system. The role of dipole–dipole interaction is considered as a new parameter in our calculations. It is noted that the features of transmission and reflection curves can be adjusted in the presence of dipole–dipole interaction. It is found that the absorption of weak probe light can be converted to the probe amplification in the presence of dipole–dipole interaction. Moreover, the group velocity of transmitted and reflected probe light is discussed in detail in the absence and presence of dipole–dipole interaction. Our proposed model can be used as a new all-optical devices based on photonic materials doped with nanoparticles.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Neutrinoless double beta-decay and neutrino nonstandard interactions

The possible amplification of leptons and quarks in exotic scalar interactions in the nuclear medium violates lepton number conservation. This effect results in various neutrino masses that are measured experimentally, on the one hand, in 0νββ-decay and, on the other, in β-decay of tritium and in cosmology.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Peculiarities of formation and development of initial stages of an impulse breakdown in argon

The experimental results on the formation and development of initial stages of an impulse breakdown in atmospheric-pressure argon at townsend and streamer breakdown mechanisms for different initial conditions are presented. A streamer channel is shown to be initiated by bright luminescence formed at the point of critical avalanche amplification at different distances from the cathode depending on overvoltage. Prebreakdown currents are experimentally measured for the townsend and streamer breakdown mechanisms and peculiarities of spark channel formation for these mechanisms are studied.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Reflection of electromagnetic radiation from plasma with an anisotropic electron velocity distribution

The reflection of a test electromagnetic pulse from the plasma formed as a result of tunnel ionization of atoms in the field of a circularly polarized high-power radiation pulse is analyzed using the kinetic approach to describe electron motion. It is shown that the reflected pulse is significantly amplified due to the development of Weibel instability. The amplification efficiency is determined by the maximum value of the instability growth rate, which depends on the degree of anisotropy of the photoelectron distribution function.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Noise characteristics of a plasma relativistic microwave amplifier

Reasons for the occurrence of microwave noise at the output of a plasma relativistic amplifier have been analyzed. It is found that, in the absence of an input signal, the emission spectrum of the plasma relativistic microwave amplifier is similar to that of an electron beam in vacuum. It is concluded that microwave noise at the output of the amplifier appears as a result of amplification of the intrinsic noise of the electron beam. The emission characteristics of a relativistic electron beam formed in a magnetically insulated diode with an explosive emission cathode in vacuum have been studied experimentally for the first time. An important point is that, in this case, there is no virtual cathode in the drift space.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

High-frequency conductivity of photoionized plasma

The tensor of the high-frequency conductivity of a plasma created via tunnel ionization of atoms in the field of linearly or circularly polarized radiation is derived. It is shown that the real part of the conductivity tensor is highly anisotropic. In the case of a toroidal velocity distribution of photoelectrons, the possibility of amplification of a weak high-frequency field polarized at a sufficiently large angle to the anisotropy axis of the initial nonequilibrium distribution is revealed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Attenuation of Bragg backscattering of electromagnetic waves from density fluctuations near the region of polarization degeneracy in magnetoactive plasma

Specific features of Bragg backscattering under conditions of strong polarization degeneracy near the cutoff surface in an anisotropic medium are studied analytically and numerically. It is shown that the linear interaction of normal waves can substantially affect wave scattering by suppressing the amplification of Bragg backscattering near the cutoff region in the case of weak coupling between normal waves.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Anomalous Dependence of the Intensity of X-Ray Reflections of Cs{sub 2}SO{sub 4} on the Crystallite Size and Shape

Detailed X-ray and electron microscopy analyses of Cs{sub 2}SO{sub 4} powders consisting of sphere- and platelike crystallites have been carried out. It is established that the intensity distributions of X-ray reflections in both cases radically differ, with the position on the diffraction-angle axis retained in accordance with the PDF-2 database. Electron microscopy microdiffraction investigations of the orientation of developed surfaces of platelike crystallites revealed four different directions; however, these directions could not provide texture amplification of a number of observed (hkl) reflections. It is suggested that the intensity redistribution is based on the sphericity of X-ray waves incident on the sample.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Spatial Stochastic Dynamics Enable Robust Cell Polarization

Although cell polarity is an essential feature of living cells, it is far from being well-understood. Using a combination of computational modeling and biological experiments we closely examine an important prototype of cell polarity: the pheromone-induced formation of the yeast polarisome. Focusing on the role of noise and spatial heterogeneity, we develop and investigate two mechanistic spatial models of polarisome formation, one deterministic and the other stochastic, and compare the contrasting predictions of these two models against experimental phenotypes of wild-type and mutant cells. We find that the stochastic model can more robustly reproduce two fundamental characteristics observed in wild-type cells: a highly polarized phenotype via a mechanism that we refer to as spatial stochastic amplification, and the ability of the polarisome to track a moving pheromone input. Moreover, we find that only the stochastic model can simultaneously reproduce these characteristics of the wild-type phenotype and the multi-polarisome phenotype of a deletion mutant of the scaffolding protein Spa2. Significantly, our analysis also demonstrates that higher levels of stochastic noise results in increased robustness of polarization to parameter variation. Furthermore, our work suggests a novel role for a polarisome protein in the stabilization of actin cables. These findings elucidate the intricate role of spatial stochastic effects in cell polarity, giving support to a cellular model where noise and spatial heterogeneity combine to achieve robust biological function.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Hybrid opto-electric techniques for molecular diagnostics

Hybrid optoelectric techniques reflect a new paradigm in microfluidics. In essence, these are microfluidic techniques that employ a synergistic combination of optical and electrical forces to enable noninvasive manipulation of fluids and/or particle-type entities at the micro/nano-scale [1]. Synergy between optical and electrical forces bestows these techniques with several unique features that are promising to bring new opportunities in molecular diagnostics. Within the scope of molecular diagnostics, several aspects of optoelectric techniques promise to play a relevant role. These include, but are not limited to, sample preparation, sorting, purification, amplification and detection.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Instrumentation and Beam Dynamics Study of Advanced Electron-Photon Facility in Indiana University

The Advanced eLectron-PHoton fAcility (ALPHA) is a compact electron accelerator under construction and being commissioned at the Indiana University Center for Exploration of Energy and Matter (CEEM). In this thesis, we have studied the refurbished Cooler Injector Synchrotron (CIS) RF cavity using both the transmission line model and SUPERFISH simulation. Both low power and high power RF measurements have been carried out to characterize the cavity. Considering the performance limit of ferrite, we have designed a new ferrite loaded, co-axial quarter wave like cavity with similar structure but a more suitable ferrite material. We have also designed a traveling wave stripline kicker for fast extraction by POISSON and Microwave Studio. The strips geometry is trimmed to maximize the uniformity of the kicking field and match the impedance of the power cables. The time response simulation shows the kicker is fast enough for machine operation. The pulsed power supply requirement has also been specified. For the beam diagnosis in the longitudinal direction, we use a wideband Wall Gap Monitor (WGM) served in CIS. With proper shielding and amplification to get good WGM signal, we have characterized the injected and extracted beam signal in single pass commissioning, and also verified the debunching effect of the ALPHA storage ring. A modulation-demodulation signal processing method is developed to measure the current and longitudinal profile of injected beam. By scanning the dipole strength in the injection line, we have reconstructed the tomography of the longitudinal phase space of the LINAC beam. In the accumulation mode, ALPHA will be operated under a low energy and high current condition, where intra beam scattering (IBS) becomes a dominant effect on the beam emittance. A self consistent simulation, including IBS effect, gas scattering and linear coupling, has been carried out to calculate the emittance of the stored beam.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Evolution Of Nonlinear Waves in Compressing Plasma

Through particle-in-cell simulations, the evolution of nonlinear plasma waves is examined in one-dimensional collisionless plasma undergoing mechanical compression. Unlike linear waves, whose wavelength decreases proportionally to the system length L(t), nonlinear waves, such as solitary electron holes, conserve their characteristic size {Delta} during slow compression. This leads to a substantially stronger adiabatic amplification as well as rapid collisionless damping when L approaches {Delta}. On the other hand, cessation of compression halts the wave evolution, yielding a stable mode.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Pyrometry simulator (pyrosim) for diagnostic design

Signal estimates are crucial to the design of time-resolved pyrometry measurements. These estimates affect fundamental design decisions, including the optical relay (fiber versus open beam), spectral range (visible or infrared), and amplification needs (possibly at the expense of time resolution). The pyrosim program makes such estimates, allowing the collected power, photon flux, and measured signal to be determined in a broad range of pyrometry measurements. Geometrical collection limits can be applied; sample emissivity, transfer efficiency, and detector sensitivity may also be specified, either as constants or functions of wavelength.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

AFIP-6 MKII First Cycle Report

The first fuel plate frame assembly of the AFIP-6 MKII experiment was irradiated as planned from December, 2011 through February, 2012 in the center flux trap of the Advanced Test Reactor during cycle 151A. Following irradiation in this cycle and while reconfiguring the experiment in the ATR canal, a non-fueled component (the bottom plate) of the first fuel plate frame assembly became separated from the rail sides. There is no evidence that the fueled region of the fuel plate frame assembly was compromised by this incident or the irradiation conditions. The separation of this component was determined to have been caused by flow induced vibrations, where vortex shedding frequencies were resonant with a natural frequency of the bottom plate component. This gave way to amplification, fracture, and separation from the assembly. Although parallel flow induced vibrations were analyzed, vortex shedding flow induced vibrations was an unfamiliar failure mode that was difficult to identify. Both the once-irradiated first fuel plate and un-irradiated second fuel plate frame assemblies were planned for irradiation in the subsequent cycle 151B. The AFIP-6 MKII experiment was excluded from irradiation in cycle 151B because non-trivial design modifications would be needed to mitigate this type of incident during the second irradiation cycle. All items of the experiment hardware were accounted for and cycle 151B occurred with a non-fueled AFIP backup assembly in the center flux trap. Options for completion of the AFIP-6 MKII experiment campaign are presented and future preventative actions are recommended.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗