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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 109 records · Page 6

Methods for ultraviolet excitation microscopy of biological surfaces

Microscopy with Ultraviolet Surface Excitation (MUSE) for use in the classroom to enhance life sciences education and curricula, or for other applications, including without limtiation the operating room, other medical environments, research environments, and low resource environments. MUSE's suitability is based on multiple key factors including its simplicity of use, the incorporation of inexpensive hardware including LED illumination, and very basic tissue preparation. The ultraviolet excitation acts as passive optical sectioning confining the generated fluorescence signal to only a few micrometers below the tissue surface thus eliminating the out of focus signals. This facilitates image capture of tissue microstructure and organization from specimens at the intact or sliced surface arising from varying fluorophore concentration within the different cellular compartments. Although just the tissue auto fluorescence maybe used, image quality is enhanced with brief application of nontoxic fluorescent dyes to selectively highlight cellular compartments. Sample preparation is safe, efficient and familiar to students with basic chemistry or biology lab experience. Mixed-dye powders may be used to simplify translation of this method for educational, medical, research, low resource, and other settings.

Demos, Stavros G.↗

Using Very Small Rovers to Explore the Surface of Primitive Bodies

This slide presentation reviews the use of very small roving vehicles to assist in exploration of various primitive bodies in the Solar System. It reviews the lessons learned from the mobility of the rovers on Mars, and the importance of the what we learned from these rovers. It also examines the core payload for the what would be a new class of rovers, that include a camera, and spectrometer. It also briefly reviews the MUSES-C (i.e., Hyabusa) mission for which a nano-rover had been planned. A prototype of the rover is shown, along with some of the characteristics.

Muses-C↗

Lunar transfer trajectory design and the four-body problem

The existence of a ballistic trajectory from the Earth to orbit about the Moon was long considered to be impossible based on analysis of the three-body problem. In 1990 a ballistic trajectory from the Earth to lunar orbit was discovered while analyzing a plan to salvage the Muses A (Hiten) spacecraft. This trajectory utilized the Sun's gravity in conjunction with the Earth and Moon's gravity and was thus the first example of a practical four-body trajectory design. This paper presents a review of lunar transfer trajectories that go beyond three-body theory and the Jacobi integral. These include Hiten, Lunar A and the Genesis return trajectory from the vicinity of the Moon to Earth.It is shown that these trajectories may be analyzed by piecing together segments where three-body motion dominates.

Muses↗

The Role of Energy Storage in the Uptake of Renewable Energy: A Model Comparison Approach

The power sector needs to ensure a rapid transition towards a low-carbon energy system to avoid the dangerous consequences of greenhouse gas emissions. Storage technologies are a promising option to provide the power system with the flexibility required when intermittent renewables are present in the electricity generation mix. This paper focuses on the role of electricity storage in energy systems with high shares of renewable sources. The study encompasses a model comparison approach where four models (GENeSYS-MOD, MUSE, NATEM, and urbs - MX) are used to analyse the storage uptake in North America. The analysis addresses the conditions affecting storage uptake in each country and its dependence on resource availability, technology costs, and public policies. Results show that storage may promote emissions reduction at lower costs when renewable mandates are in place whereas in presence of carbon taxes, renewables may compete with other low-carbon options. The study also highlights the main modelling approach shortcomings in the modelling of electricity storage in integrated assessment models.

electricity storage↗

X-ray and gamma-ray tomographic imaging of fuel relocation inside sodium fast reactor test assemblies during severe accidents

The present work reports on x-ray and gamma-ray high-spatial resolution computerized tomography measurements of the Pin Bundle Metallic Fuel Relocation (PBR) assemblies tested in the Metallic Uranium Safety Experiment (MUSE) facility at Argonne National Lab (ANL). The aim of the study was to characterize fuel relocation structures that develop during severe core accidents pertaining to SFR assemblies; these include but are not limited to advanced core disruption recreated in the PBR-1 assembly, and cladding breach recreated in the PBR-2 assembly. We report the x-ray tomography measurements were able to resolve small quantities of relocation fuel; with increased presence of relocation fuel, the x-ray 1measurements spatially mapped the material but could not resolve the inner regions of these. The gamma-tomography measurements showed improved results, resolving the relocation structures in great detail. The upper plenum of the PBR-1 assembly where the molten uranium was initially inserted presented high structural damage, reflected by the partial and complete disintegration of the central rods. Relocation fuel filled the subchannels, adhering to surviving cladding walls and the assembly casing. In the lower portion of the measured section, the tomogram degrades due to photon starvation effects hinting at the increased amount of relocation fuel potentially plugging the assembly; flow blockage in this section was difficult to determine due to the tomogram’s degradation from photon starvation. Small fragments were observed further down the assembly, dislodged from the initial insertion of the molten material. This section was used as an unperturbed assembly reference, with a calculated blockage of less than 1% from the present fragments. The PBR-2 assembly was characterized by columnar relocation structures propagating through the subchannels. Three of the relocation structures were captured in the measured section, with evidence of cross migration on to adjacent subchannels. The measured section in this assembly captures the leading edge of two structures. The calculated flow blockage was 16% in the planes where the three relocation structures are present, but this quickly decreases to approximately 5% past the leading edge of two of the structures.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Experimental studies on metallic fuel relocation in a pin bundle core structure of a sodium-cooled fast reactor

Understanding the relocation behavior of metallic fuel in severe accident scenarios is one of the most important factors in the safety assessment of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs). In the present study, the relocation behavior of uranium metallic fuel was investigated by conducting metallic fuel relocation experiments using 19-pin bundle test sections in the Argonne's Metallic Uranium Safety Experiment (MUSE) facility. Post-test radiographic images were taken to characterize the uranium fuel relocation within the pin bundle test section. In addition, the pressure drop in the test sections was measured after the relocation experiments to evaluate the blockage of the sodium coolant channel. The pressure drop in the pin bundle test sections was also analytically calculated by varying the porosity and the pore size of the relocated fuel. The porosity and pore size of the relocated fuel in the pin bundle test sections were estimated by comparing those calculated pressure drop values with the measured pressure drop values from the pressure drop tests. In this work, the experimental results showed that the more formation of the eutectics could lead to more fuel dispersion and less blockage due to the lower freezing point of the eutectics.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

TDCOSMO 2025: Cosmological constraints from strong lensing time delays

We present cosmological constraints from eight strongly lensed quasars (hereafter, the TDCOSMO-2025 sample). Building on previous work, our analysis incorporated new deflector stellar velocity dispersions measured from spectra obtained with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the Keck Telescopes, and the Very Large Telescope (VLT), utilizing improved methods. We used integrated JWST stellar kinematics for five lenses, VLT-MUSE for 2, and resolved kinematics from Keck and JWST for RX J1131−1231. We also considered two samples of non-time-delay lenses: 11 from the Sloan Lens ACS (SLACS) sample with Keck-KCWI resolved kinematics; and four from the Strong Lenses in the Legacy Survey (SL2S) sample. We improved our analysis of line-of-sight effects, the surface brightness profile of the lens galaxies, and orbital anisotropy, and corrected for projection effects in the dynamics. Our uncertainties are maximally conservative by accounting for the mass-sheet degeneracy in the deflectors’ mass density profiles. The analysis was blinded to prevent experimenter bias. Our primary result is based on the TDCOSMO-2025 sample, in combination with Ωm constraints from the Pantheon+ Type Ia supernovae (SN) dataset. In the flat Λ cold dark matter (CDM), we find H0 = 71.6+3.9−3.3 km s−1 Mpc−1. The SLACS and SL2S samples are in excellent agreement with the TDCOSMO-2025 sample, improving the precision on H0 in flat ΛCDM to 4.6%. Using the Dark Energy Survey SN Year-5 dataset (DES-SN5YR) or DESI-DR2 baryonic acoustic oscillations (BAO) likelihoods instead of Pantheon+ yields very similar results. We also present constraints in the open ΛCDM, wCDM, w0waCDM, and wϕCDM cosmologies. The TDCOSMO H0 inference is robust and consistent across all presented cosmological models, and our cosmological constraints in them agree with those from the BAO and SN.Key words: cosmological parameters / cosmology: observations / dark energy / distance scale⋆⋆ Brinson Fellow.⋆⋆⋆ NHFP Einstein Fellow.

Birrer, Simon [SUNY, Stony Brook] (ORCID:000000033↗

TDCOSMO XXIII. Measurement of the Hubble constant from the doubly lensed quasar HE 1104−1805

Time-delay cosmography leverages strongly lensed quasars to measure the Universe’s current expansion rate, H 0 , independently from other methods. The latest TDCOSMO milestone measurement primarily used quadruply lensed quasars for their mass profile constraints. However, doubly lensed quasars, being more abundant and offering precise time delays, could expand the sample by a factor of 5, significantly advancing towards a 1% precision measurement of H 0 . We present the first TDCOSMO analysis of a doubly imaged source, HE 1104−1805, including the measurement of the four necessary ingredients. First, by combining 17 years of data from the SMARTS, Euler, and WFI telescopes, we measured a time delay of 176.3 +11.4 −10.3 days. Second, using MUSE data, we extracted stellar velocity dispersion measurements in three radial bins with 5% to 13% precision. Third, employing F160W HST imaging for lens modelling and marginalising over various modelling choices, we measured the Fermat potential difference between the images. Fourth, using wide-field imaging, we measured the convergence added by objects not included in the lens modelling. By combining these four ingredients, we measured the time delay distance and the angular diameter distance to the deflector, favouring a power-law mass model over a baryonic and dark matter composite model. The measurement was performed blindly to prevent experimenter bias and resulted in a Hubble constant of H 0 = +5.8 −5.0 × λ int km s −1 Mpc −1 , where λ int is the internal mass sheet degeneracy parameter. This is in agreement with the TDCOSMO-2025 milestone and its precision for λ int = 1 is comparable to that obtained with the best-observed quadruply lensed quasars (4–6%). This work is a stepping stone towards a precise measurement of H 0 using a large sample of doubly lensed quasars, supplementing the current sample. The next TDCOSMO milestone paper will include this system in its hierarchical analysis, constraining λ int and H 0 jointly with multiple lenses.

cosmological parameters↗

A flexible and differentiable coil proxy for stellarator equilibrium optimization

Balancing plasma performance and coil cost is a significant challenge when designing a stellarator power plant. Most current stellarator designs are produced through two-stage optimization: stage-1 for the equilibrium and stage-2 for a coil design that reproduces its magnetic configuration. Because few proxies connect both stages, two-stage optimization can produce plasmas that have high-quality physical properties but overly complex coils. In recent years, single-stage optimization has increasingly been used to optimize the plasma and coils simultaneously in order to improve the plasma–coil balance. However, all existing single-stage tools are specialized for filament coils, cannot model coil systems containing permanent magnets or dipole arrays, and continue to be challenged by numerical problems. The quasi-single-stage optimization finds a middle ground by integrating a coil optimization subproblem into stage-1 optimization. We present a flexible, differentiable coil complexity proxy based on the newly developed QUADCOIL coil optimization code. QUADCOIL is fast and can target realistic coil metrics and constraints that are unavailable to codes with comparable speed. We demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of the QUADCOIL proxy by presenting two QSS optimization studies. The first study produces a permanent magnet solution for the MUSE stellarator with 34% fewer magnets than previous solutions. The second study produces a coil solution for the ARIES-CS stellarator with 30% reductions in both peak and root-mean-square force.

Fu, Lanke [Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PP↗

Cold gas mass measurements for the era of large optical spectroscopic surveys

ABSTRACT Gas plays an important role in many processes in galaxy formation and evolution, but quantifying the importance of gas has been hindered by the challenge to measure gas masses for large samples of galaxies. Data sets of direct atomic and molecular gas measurements are sufficient to establish simple scaling relations, but often not large enough to quantify three-parameter relations, or second-order dependences. As an alternative approach, we derive here indirect cold gas measurements from optical emission lines using photoionization models for galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) main galaxy sample and the PHANGS-MUSE survey. We calibrate the gas surface density measurements using xCOLD GASS and PHANGS-ALMA molecular gas measurements to ensure that our measurements are reliable. We demonstrate the importance of taking into account the scale dependence of the relation between optical depth (τ V ) and gas surface density (Σ gas ) and provide a general prescription to estimate Σ gas from τ V , metallicity, and the dust-to-metal ratio, at any arbitrary physical resolution. To demonstrate that the indirect cold gas masses are accurate enough to quantify the role of gas in galaxy evolution, we study the mass–metallicity relation of SDSS galaxies and show that as a third parameter gas mass is better than star formation rate at reducing the scatter of the relation, as predicted by models and simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

The bar rotation rate as a diagnostic of dark matter content in the centre of disc galaxies

We investigate the link between the bar rotation rate and dark matter content in barred galaxies by concentrating on the cases of the lenticular galaxies NGC 4264 and NGC 4277. These two gas-poor galaxies have similar morphologies, sizes, and luminosities. But, NGC 4264 hosts a fast bar, which extends to nearly the corotation, while the bar embedded in NGC 4277 is slow and falls short of corotation. We derive the fraction of dark matter ƒ DM, bar within the bar region from Jeans axisymmetric dynamical models by matching the stellar kinematics obtained with the MUSE integral-field spectrograph and using SDSS images to recover the stellar mass distribution. We build mass-follows-light models as well as mass models with a spherical halo of dark matter, which is not tied to the stars. We find that the inner regions of NGC 4277 host a larger fraction of dark matter (⁠ƒ DM,bar = 0.53±0.02⁠) with respect to NGC 4264 (⁠(⁠ƒ DM,bar = 0.33±0.04⁠) in agreement with the predictions of theoretical works and the findings of numerical simulations, which have found that fast bars live in baryon-dominated discs, whereas slow bars experienced a strong drag from the dynamical friction due to a dense DM halo. This is the first time that the bar rotation rate is coupled to fDM, bar derived from dynamical modelling.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Inference of gravitational lensing and patchy reionization with future CMB data

We develop an optimal Bayesian solution for jointly inferring secondary signals in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) originating from gravitational lensing and from patchy screening during the epoch of reionization. This method is able to extract full information content from the data, improving upon previously considered quadratic estimators for lensing and screening. Here, we forecast constraints using the Marginal Unbiased Score Expansion (MUSE) method, and show that they are largely dominated by CMB polarization, and depend on the exact details of reionization. For models consistent with current data which produce the largest screening signals, a detection (3 σ) of the cross-correlation between lensing and screening is possible with SPT-3G, and a detection of the auto-correlation is possible with CMB-S4. Models with the lowest screening signals evade the sensitivity of SPT-3G, but are still possible to detect with CMB-S4 via their lensing cross-correlation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Cosmology From CMB Lensing and Delensed EE Power Spectra Using 2019-2020 SPT-3G Polarization Data

From CMB polarization data alone we reconstruct the CMB lensing power spectrum, comparable in overall constraining power to previous temperature-based reconstructions, and an unlensed E -mode power spectrum, with clear detections of the third through tenth acoustic peaks. The observations, taken in 2019 and 2020 with the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and the SPT-3G camera, cover 1500 deg 2 at 95, 150, and 220 GHz with arcminute resolution and roughly 4.9 µ K-arcmin coadded noise in polarization. The power spectrum estimates, together with systematic parameter estimates and a joint covariance matrix, follow from a Bayesian analysis using the Marginal Unbiased Score Expansion (MUSE) method. The E -mode spectrum at ℓ > 2000 and lensing spectrum at L > 350 are the most precise to date. Assuming the ΛCDM model, and using only these SPT data and priors on τ and absolute calibration from Planck, we find H 0 = 66.81 ± 0.81 km/s/Mpc, comparable in precision to the Planck determination and in 5.4 σ tension with the most precise H 0 inference derived via the distance ladder. We also find S 8 ≡ σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 = 0.850 ± 0.017, providing further independent evidence of a slight tension with low-redshift structure probes. The ΛCDM model provides a good simultaneous fit to the combined Planck, ACT, and SPT data, and thus passes a powerful test. Combining these CMB datasets with BAO observations, we explore extensions to the ΛCDM model. We find that the effective number of neutrino species, spatial curvature, and primordial helium fraction are consistent with standard model values, and that the 95% confidence upper limit on the neutrino mass sum is 0.075 eV, close to the minimum sum expected from observations of solar and atmospheric neutrino oscillations. The SPT data are consistent with the somewhat weak (< 3 σ ) preference for excess lensing power seen in Planck and ACT data relative to predictions of the ΛCDM model given the combined Planck, ACT, and BAO data sets. Finally, we also detect at greater than 3 σ the influence of non-linear evolution in the CMB lensing power spectrum and discuss it in the context of the S 8 tension. Forthcoming SPT-3G analyses will feature deeper and wider observations in temperature and polarization, providing even tighter constraints and more powerful tests of the ΛCDM model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Elastic positron–proton scattering at low Q$^2$

Systematic differences in the the proton's charge radius, as determined by ordinary atoms and muonic atoms, have caused a resurgence of interest in elastic lepton scattering measurements. The proton's charge radius, defined as the slope of the charge form factor at Q$^2$=0, does not depend on the probe. Any difference in the apparent size of the proton, when determined from ordinary versus muonic hydrogen, could point to new physics or need for the higher order corrections. While recent measurements seem to now be in agreement, there is to date no high precision elastic scattering data with both electrons and positrons. A high precision proton radius measurement could be performed in Hall B at Jefferson Lab with a positron beam and the calorimeter based setup of the PRad experiment. This measurement could also be extended to deuterons where a similar discrepancy has been observed between the muonic and electronic determination of deuteron charge radius. A new, high precision measurement with positrons, when viewed alongside electron scattering measurements and the forthcoming MUSE muon scattering measurement, could help provide new insights into the origins of the proton radius puzzle, and also provide new experimental constraints on radiative correction calculations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Non-equilibrium Dynamics of the Quark Gluon Plasma (Final Report)

During this funding period I continued my work on far-from-equilibrium formulations of hydrodynamics and bottomonium suppression in the quark-gluon plasma. I published 23 peer-reviewed articles and 9 proceedings contributions. The publications produced during this period have thus far received 705 citations. I delivered 22 talks, seminars, and colloquia about my work, most of which were invited. In addition to the work on hydrodynamics and heavy quarkonia, I also worked on high-order perturbative calculations of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills thermodynamics and contributed to the efforts of the MUSES collaboration whose focus is developing a modular equation-of-state framework for use in modeling neutron stars and neutron star mergers.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

QuarkNet High School Cosmic Ray Projects

QuarkNet High School teachers and students perform experiments with cosmic ray muons. Their data is available to all on the i2u2.org site; enable measurements of muon flux, speed, and lifetime. The pandemic restricted access to many detectors, so QuarkNet provided virtual resources allowing users to carry out simpler experiments with already uploaded data. Some QuarkNet high school groups have also carried out more complex projects, e.g. Solar Eclipse 2017, MUSE at Fermilab, storm tracking, and g-2, that required assembling entire physics collaborations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Measuring Young Stars in Space and Time. II. The Pre-main-sequence Stellar Content of N44

The Hubble Space Telescope survey Measuring Young Stars in Space and Time (MYSST) entails some of the deepest photometric observations of extragalactic star formation, capturing even the lowest-mass stars of the active star-forming complex N44 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We employ the new MYSST stellar catalog to identify and characterize the content of young pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars across N44 and analyze the PMS clustering structure. To distinguish PMS stars from more evolved line of sight contaminants, a non-trivial task due to several effects that alter photometry, we utilize a machine-learning classification approach. This consists of training a support vector machine (SVM) and a random forest (RF) on a carefully selected subset of the MYSST data and categorize all observed stars as PMS or non-PMS. Combining SVM and RF predictions to retrieve the most robust set of PMS sources, we find ∼26,700 candidates with a PMS probability above 95% across N44. Employing a clustering approach based on a nearest neighbor surface density estimate, we identify 16 prominent PMS structures at 1σ significance above the mean density with sub-clusters persisting up to and beyond 3σ significance. The most active star-forming center, located at the western edge of N44's bubble, is a subcluster with an effective radius of ∼5.6 pc entailing more than 1100 PMS candidates. Furthermore, we confirm that almost all identified clusters coincide with known H ii regions and are close to or harbor massive young O stars or YSOs previously discovered by MUSE and Spitzer observations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗