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DOE OSTI2025

Finite-size effects on small- x evolution and saturation in proton and nuclear targets

Within the color glass condensate effective field theory, we assess the importance of including a finite size for the target on observables sensitive to small- x evolution. To this end, we study the Balitsky-Kovchegov (BK) equation with impact-parameter dependence in the initial condition. We demonstrate that neglecting the dependence on the impact parameter can result in overestimated saturation effects for protons, while it has little effect for heavy nuclei at the energies available at current experiments. When fixing the nonperturbative parameters to the energy dependence of the exclusive J / ψ photoproduction cross section with proton targets, predictions for lead targets are not sensitive to the applied running-coupling prescription, the scheme chosen to resum large transverse logarithms in the BK equation, or the infrared regulator in the evolution. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

A Multi-Objective Bayesian Optimized Human Assessed Multi-Target Generated Spectral Recommender System for Rapid Pareto Discoveries of Material Properties

Optimization for different tasks like material characterization, synthesis, and functional properties for desired applications over multi-dimensional control parameter and function spaces need a rapid strategic search through active learning. However, in all cases prior to optimization, the target material properties are assumed known and fixed, which mostly deviates from real-world scenarios in material synthesis. This can be critical for running expensive experiments on new materials, when the experimental results are fuzzy for any scientific outcomes due to improper target setting, ultimately wasting time and cost. The failure rate and cost are even higher over exploring on multi-target space, where we want to learn the pareto among multiple properties, to jointly optimize during material synthesis for desired applications. To address the challenge, here we introduce the human-operator attempt flexibility in the active learning based automated experiment framework, with generating multiple human assessed targets through a voting-based recommender system during real-time microscope measurements over the large material image space, sequentially learn/update multiple desired targets through a weighting system, and adaptively search in multiple material properties functional space for non-dominated pareto discoveries to maximize the custom structural similarity based acquisition function. We term this a multi-objective Bayesian optimized human assessed multi-target generated spectral recommender systems (MOBO-HAM-SRS). The approach has been demonstrated to peizoresponse force spectroscopy of a ferroelectric thin film, exploring with different kernels and acquisition functions. This work shows an advancement towards human-AI collaborated automated experiments, steering optimization trajectories through human overpowering AI at the early stage when uncertainty is high and AI overpowering human at the later stage with rapid exploration towards optimal goal, following human-assessed multiple targets properties.

Biswas, Arpan↗

DOE OSTI2022

Experimental Study of Fixed Plate Insert for Window Protection

Evidenced from experiments to date, NorthStar can expect that potentially significant changes in the target cooling passages are likely due to disk shape changes by thermal distortions or breakage. In the bulk of the target the result will be increased He flow in some channels and decreased flow in others.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2023

DNA-caged nanoparticles via electrostatic self-assembly

DNA-modified nanoparticles enable DNA sensing and therapeutics in nanomedicine and are also crucial for nanoparticle self-assembly with DNA-based materials. However, methods to conjugate DNA to nanoparticle surfaces are limited, inefficient, and lack control. Inspired by DNA tile nanotechnology, we demonstrate a new approach to nanoparticle modification based on electrostatic attraction between negatively charged DNA tiles and positively charged nanoparticles. This approach does not disrupt nanoparticle surfaces and leverages the programmability of DNA nanotechnology to control DNA presentation. We demonstrated this approach using a variety of nanoparticles, including polymeric micelles, polystyrene beads, gold nanoparticles, and superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 5–20 nm in diameter. DNA cage formation was confirmed through transmission electron microscopy (TEM), neutralization of zeta potential, and a series of fluorescence experiments. DNA cages present “handle” sequences that can be used for reversible target attachment or self-assembly. Handle functionality was verified in solution, at the solid–liquid interface, and inside fixed cells, corresponding to applications in biosensing, DNA microarrays, and erasable immunocytochemistry. Finally, these experiments demonstrate the versatility of the electrostatic DNA caging approach and provide a new pathway to nanoparticle modification with DNA that will empower further applications of these materials in medicine and materials science.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

Proposal for a dedicated search for millicharged and fractionally charged particles at LANL

In this paper, we propose an experiment, LANSCE-mQ, aiming to detect fractionally charged and millicharged particles (mCPs) using an 800 MeV proton beam fixed target at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE) facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. This search can shed new light on numerous fundamental questions, including charge quantization, the predictions of string theories and grand unification theories, the gauge symmetry of the Standard Model, dark sector models, and the tests of cosmic reheating. We propose to install two-layer scintillation detectors made of plastic (such as EJ-200) or CeBr 3 to search for mCPs. Dedicated geant4 detector simulations and in situ measurements have been conducted to obtain a preliminary determination of the background rate. The dominant backgrounds are beam-induced neutrons and coincident dark current signals from the photomultiplier tubes, while beam-induced high-energy photons ( γ ’s) and cosmic muons are subdominant. We determined that LANSCE-mQ, the dedicated mCP experiment, has the leading mCP sensitivity for mass between ∼ 1 and 300 MeV.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2021

SYSM-562: DIM Fiber Connection Improvement Analysis

The National Ignition Facility is equipped with a wide suite of diagnostics including optical, x-ray, and neutron diagnostics to analyze experiments and look for areas of improvements. NIF diagnostics are either deployed to a fixed location on the target chamber or on a Diagnostic Instrument Manipulator (DIM). DIMs are two-stage telescoping devices used to insert, retract, position, and align a diagnostic instrument in the target chamber. Additionally, DIMs provide a standard set of cables to support operation of all DIM-based diagnostic instruments.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2020

A fixed-target platform for serial femtosecond crystallography in a hydrated environment

For serial femtosecond crystallography at X-ray free-electron lasers, which entails collection of single-pulse diffraction patterns from a constantly refreshed supply of microcrystalline sample, delivery of the sample into the X-ray beam path while maintaining low background remains a technical challenge for some experiments, especially where this methodology is applied to relatively low-ordered samples or those difficult to purify and crystallize in large quantities. This work demonstrates a scheme to encapsulate biological samples using polymer thin films and graphene to maintain sample hydration in vacuum conditions. The encapsulated sample is delivered into the X-ray beam on fixed targets for rapid scanning using the Roadrunner fixed-target system towards a long-term goal of low-background measurements on weakly diffracting samples. As a proof of principle, we used microcrystals of the 24 kDa rapid encystment protein (REP24) to provide a benchmark for polymer/graphene sandwich performance. The REP24 microcrystal unit cell obtained from our sandwiched in-vacuum sample was consistent with previously established unit-cell parameters and with those measured by us without encapsulation in humidified helium, indicating that the platform is robust against evaporative losses. While significant scattering from water was observed because of the sample-deposition method, the polymer/graphene sandwich itself was shown to contribute minimally to background scattering.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2023

Dense nuclear matter equation of state from heavy-ion collisions

The nuclear equation of state (EOS) is at the center of numerous theoretical and experimental efforts in nuclear physics. With advances in microscopic theories for nuclear interactions, the availability of experiments probing nuclear matter under conditions not reached before, endeavors to develop sophisticated and reliable transport simulations to interpret these experiments, and the advent of multi-messenger astronomy, the next decade will bring new opportunities for determining the nuclear matter EOS, elucidating its dependence on density, temperature, and isospin asymmetry. Among controlled terrestrial experiments, collisions of heavy nuclei at intermediate beam energies (from a few tens of MeV/nucleon to about 25 GeV/nucleon in the fixed-target frame) probe the widest ranges of baryon density and temperature, enabling studies of nuclear matter from a few tenths to about 5 times the nuclear saturation density and for temperatures from a few to well above a hundred MeV, respectively. Collisions of neutron-rich isotopes further bring the opportunity to probe effects due to the isospin asymmetry. However, capitalizing on the enormous scientific effort aimed at uncovering the dense nuclear matter EOS, both at RHIC and at FRIB as well as at other international facilities, depends on the continued development of state-of-the-art hadronic transport simulations. Furthermore, this white paper highlights the essential role that heavy-ion collision experiments and hadronic transport simulations play in understanding strong interactions in dense nuclear matter, with an emphasis on how these efforts can be used together with microscopic approaches and neutron star studies to uncover the nuclear EOS.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Light and Dark in Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber Neutrino Detectors

Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detectors have emerged as a detector technology poised to perform measurements of neutrino interactions with unprecedented precision and as a result answer some of the largest open questions in neutrino physics in the coming decade. This thesis describes methods developed to tackle the computational challenges faced as LArTPC detectors increase in scale and complexity moving towards the multi-kiloton DUNE detectors. These include a new, approximated, model that enables rapid simulation of scintillation light in very large scale detectors, as well as the first demonstration of running the LArSoft software framework on a high performance computer. The high precision of LArTPC detectors designed for next-generation neutrino measurements enables them to also search for Beyond the Standard Model physics produced in high-energy proton--fixed-target collisions in neutrino beams. This thesis presents searches for two dark-sector models performed with the ArgoNeuT experiment: Heavy Neutral Leptons and Heavy QCD Axions. Between them, these models can provide solutions for various unresolved puzzles including neutrino mass generation, the baryon asymmetry of the universe, dark matter and the strong CP problem. In both cases, the dark-sector particles could be produced in the NuMI neutrino beam and can then decay to a pair of oppositely charged muons observable in ArgoNeuT and the downstream MINOS near detector. Both measurements required the development of novel experimental selection techniques and enabled new constraints to be set on the existence of these particles in previously unexplored parameter-space. These searches are both the first of their kind in LArTPC neutrino detectors and pave the way for searches at future neutrino facilities.Date of Award31 Dec 2022Original languageEnglishAwarding InstitutionThe University of ManchesterSupervisorStefan Soldner-Rembold (Supervisor) & Justin Evans (Supervisor)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2023

An overview of new measurements of flow, chirality and vorticity from STAR experiment

In relativistic heavy-ion collisions, the properties of quark–gluon plasma (QGP) and complex dynamics of multi-scale processes in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) are studied by analyzing the final state produced particles in a variety of different ways. In these proceedings, we present an overview of new detailed measurements of flow, chirality and vorticity by the STAR experiment at Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Furthermore, STAR’s future opportunities for the precision measurements on small systems, fixed-target (FXT) mode, and Beam Energy Scan (BES-II) program are discussed.

Physics↗

DOE OSTI2024

Using double pulse laser ablation in air to enhance the strength of laser-driven shocks

In the process of multi-pulse laser ablation, inter-pulse delay time, Δ t , is known to be an important parameter for maximizing ablation efficiency as well as impulse imparted to the target. In this work, using photon Doppler velocimetry, we show that for single pairs of colinear pulses (1064 nm, 8 ns, ∼ 60 J cm -2 per pulse) in air, the peak free surface velocity of the back surface of an aluminum target (125 µm thick) is increased, by a factor of nearly 3, when Δ t = 10 microseconds, compared with both pulses arriving simultaneously (Δ t = 0). Fast imaging of the ablation process suggests this enhancement is due to rarefaction of the contiguous air in the passage of the leading shock produced by ablation, which then in turn allows a larger fraction of the energy of the second pulse to reach the target surface. This interpretation is strengthened by additional experiments in which the two pulses do not overlap on the target surface, but the shock strength is nevertheless enhanced. Given a fixed energy budget this work suggests a prescription for maximizing laser-driven shock strength by judicious choice of inter-pulse delay.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

DOE OSTI2021

Fixed-target serial femtosecond crystallography using in cellulo grown microcrystals

The crystallization of recombinant proteins in living cells is an exciting new approach in structural biology. Recent success has highlighted the need for fast and efficient diffraction data collection, optimally directly exposing intact crystal-containing cells to the X-ray beam, thus protecting the in cellulo crystals from environmental challenges. Serial femtosecond crystallography (SFX) at free-electron lasers (XFELs) allows the collection of detectable diffraction even from tiny protein crystals, but requires very fast sample exchange to utilize each XFEL pulse. Here, an efficient approach is presented for high-resolution structure elucidation using serial femtosecond in cellulo diffraction of micometre-sized crystals of the protein HEX-1 from the fungus Neurospora crassa on a fixed target. Employing the fast and highly accurate Roadrunner II translation-stage system allowed efficient raster scanning of the pores of micro-patterned, single-crystalline silicon chips loaded with living, crystal-containing insect cells. Compared with liquid-jet and LCP injection systems, the increased hit rates of up to 30% and reduced background scattering enabled elucidation of the HEX-1 structure. Using diffraction data from only a single chip collected within 12 min at the Linac Coherent Light Source, a 1.8 Å resolution structure was obtained with significantly reduced sample consumption compared with previous SFX experiments using liquid-jet injection. This HEX-1 structure is almost superimposable with that previously determined using synchrotron radiation from single HEX-1 crystals grown by sitting-drop vapour diffusion, validating the approach. This study demonstrates that fixed-target SFX using micro-patterned silicon chips is ideally suited for efficient in cellulo diffraction data collection using living, crystal-containing cells, and offers huge potential for the straightforward structure elucidation of proteins that form intracellular crystals at both XFELs and synchrotron sources.

Lahey-Rudolph, J. Mia (ORCID:0000000152797267)↗

DOE OSTI2024

A High-Field Polarized 3 He Target for Jefferson Lab’s CLAS12 Spectrometer

Polarized 3He nuclear targets are invaluable surrogates for polarized neutron targets in spin-dependent scattering studies of the structure of matter. Traditional polarized 3He targets have seen steady improvements and active use over the last three decades, however they have been limited to operation in low magnetic fields. This has precluded their use in spectrometers that utilize high-magnetic-field tracking systems, such as Jefferson Lab's CLAS12 spectrometer. Developments in high-magnetic-field metastability exchange optical pumping of 3He, recently incorporated into the design of a polarized 3He ion source for RHIC and the EIC, could enable a new, polarized 3He fixed target to operate within high fields. Combining high-field techniques with the double-cell cryogenic target design used for the MIT-Bates 88-02 experiment, polarization and target density comparable to traditional polarized 3He targets could be reached while within a high magnetic field environment. We discuss the conceptual design for such a target, show our progress in this target's development, and outline plans for in-beams tests in Jefferson Lab's Hall B.

Maxwell, James↗

DOE OSTI2021

2'-O methylation of RNA cap in SARS-CoV-2 captured by serial crystallography

The genome of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus has a capping modification at the 5'-untranslated region (UTR) to prevent its degradation by host nucleases. These modifications are performed by the Nsp10/14 and Nsp10/16 heterodimers using S-adenosylmethionine as the methyl donor. Nsp10/16 heterodimer is responsible for the methylation at the ribose 2'-O position of the first nucleotide. To investigate the conformational changes of the complex during 2'-O methyltransferase activity, we used a fixed-target serial synchrotron crystallography method at room temperature. We determined crystal structures of Nsp10/16 with substrates and products that revealed the states before and after methylation, occurring within the crystals during the experiments. Here we report the crystal structure of Nsp10/16 in complex with Cap-1 analog ( m7 GpppA m2'-O ). Inhibition of Nsp16 activity may reduce viral proliferation, making this protein an attractive drug target.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2026

Wind lidar operations and observations from Tundra Pigeon

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory brought a ZX-300 profiling lidar to the Tundra Pigeon experiment for the purpose of collecting wind measurements in the lower atmospheric boundary layer. The ZX-300 lidar is a portable Doppler lidar which uses light to track naturally occurring aerosols across a measurement cone, thereby deriving wind speed (horizontal and vertical) and wind direction. The ZX-300 is programable between the heights of 10 m and 300 m above ground level and additionally has a 1 m onboard meteorological sensor for collecting measurements of air temperature, relative humidity, air pressure and wind at 1 m height. We programmed the ZX-300 to target altitudes of most interest to the tracer experiment. These heights were 10, 15, 20, 30, 38, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 and 200 m. Note that the 38 m level is a fixed calibration height and cannot be changed. This measurement strategy prioritized winds close to the surface while ensuring that we’d also collect information about the winds aloft. The wind measurements are collected directly over the lidar instrument and represent a vertical profile of the winds over that location. However, given that there were minimal terrain and vegetation differences in the area, we’d expect these wind conditions to be representative of a larger volume area, discussed in more detail below.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2024

Constraining nucleon effective masses with flow and stopping observables from the S π RIT experiment

Properties of the nuclear equation of state (EoS) can be probed by measuring the dynamical properties of nucleus-nucleus collisions. In this study, we present the directed flow (υ 1 ), elliptic flow (υ 2 ) and stopping (VarXZ) measured in fixed target Sn + Sn collisions at 270 AMeV with the SπRIT Time Projection Chamber. We perform Bayesian analyses in which EoS parameters are varied simultaneously within the Improved Quantum Molecular Dynamics-Skyrme (ImQMD-Sky) transport code to obtain a multivariate correlated constraint. The varied parameters include symmetry energy, S 0 , and slope of the symmetry energy, L, at saturation density, isoscalar effective mass, $m^{⁎}_{S}$/$m_{N}$ , isovector effective mass, $m^{⁎}_{υ}$/$m_{N}$ and the in-medium cross-section enhancement factor η. We find that the flow and VarXZ observables are sensitive to the splitting of proton and neutron effective masses and the in-medium cross-section. Comparisons of ImQMD-Sky predictions to the SπRIT data suggest a narrow range of preferred values for $m^{⁎}_{S}$/$m_{N}$, $m^{⁎}_{υ}$/$m_{N}$ and η.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗

DOE OSTI2021

Probing Axion-Like-Particles at the CERN Gamma Factory

We report the aim of the proposed CERN Gamma Factory is to produce ≈10 17 photons per second with energies up to 400 MeV. The photon beam intensity is expected to be a factor of $\mathcal{O}$(10 7 ) larger than that of the presently available photon beams in the MeV energy range. In this work, its potential to probe physics beyond the Standard Model is explored. In particular, searches for axion like particles (ALPs) with dominant couplings to photons are discussed and various production scenarios - fixed target, photon-photon collision, and conversion by a magnetic field - and detection schemes considered - via decay to photons or back-conversion. It is found that the Gamma Factory in a fixed target mode can probe ALPs with mass m a ≲ $\mathcal{O}$(100 MeV) and decay constants larger than 10 7 GeV, improving by an order of magnitude the discovery potential of previous beam dump experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2022

Normalizing flows for likelihood-free inference with fusion simulations

Fluid-based scrape-off layer transport codes, such as UEDGE, are heavily utilized in tokamak analysis and design, but typically require user-specified anomalous transport coefficients to match experiments. Determining the uniqueness of these parameters and the uncertainties in them to match experiments can provide valuable insights to fusion scientists. Here, we leverage recent work in the area of likelihood-free inference (‘simulation-based inference’) to train a neural network, which enables accurate statistical inference of the anomalous transport coefficients given experimental plasma profile input. UEDGE is treated as a black-box simulator and runs multiple times with anomalous transport coefficients sampled from priors, and the neural network is trained on these simulations to emulate the posterior. The neural network is trained as a normalizing flow model for density estimation, allowing it to accurately represent complicated, high-dimensional distribution functions. With a fixed simulation budget, we compare a single-round procedure to a multi-round approach that guides the training simulations toward a specific target observation. Finally, we discuss the future possibilities for use of amortized models, which train on a wide range of simulations and enable fast statistical inference for results during experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗