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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Switching of Magnetic Order via Non‐Magnetic Al Addition in FeCoNiMnAl x Films

Magnetic high entropy alloys (HEAs) consisting of 3 d transition metals offer an exciting platform to explore novel magnetic phases as they often house competing exchange interactions in combination with random site disorders. In this work, a sensitive and tunable magnetic order is demonstrated in sputtered single-layer FeCoNiMnAl x films, as a function of non-magnetic Al addition, along with an unexpected exchange bias effect. Thin films of 50 nm FeCoNiMn exhibit a face-centered-cubic ( fcc ) phase, reentrant spin glass (SG) transition near 100 K, and a large exchange bias of over 500 Oe after field-cooling to 5 K. The exchange bias is increased to 930 Oe through a small addition of 5 at.% Al. Further Al addition to 12 at.% results in a body-centered-cubic ( bcc ) phase, coinciding with a large increase in the saturation magnetization, decrease of exchange bias to 50 Oe, and suppression of SG behavior. The change in magnetic order across the Al-induced structural transformation is mediated by the switching of Mn ground state from AF to FM, which is supported by first-principles calculations and experimentally confirmed via X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. These results open up new HEA strategies for explorations of novel magnetic phases.

competing exchange interactions↗
DOE OSTI2021

Widespread co‐occurrence of Sebacinales and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in switchgrass roots and soils has limited dependence on soil carbon or nutrients

Societal Impact Statement This work addresses a novel group of Sebacinales mycorrhizal fungi being considered for development as inoculants in managed ecosystems because of their potential access to nutrients in soil organic matter. By comparing the diversity, distributions, and abundances of the Sebacinales with the more common arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in switchgrass, a biofuel crop, we demonstrate that current suggestions for a Sebacinales revolution in agriculture should be tempered by their ecology. In particular, Sebacinales are rare compared to arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, and are only weakly associated with soil carbon, suggesting that ideas about improved soil carbon cycling associated with Sebacinales need to be sufficiently studied across a range of environmental conditions prior to their consideration for broad‐spectrum soil inoculants. Summary Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are widespread and important root symbionts, but recent work suggests that Sebacinales fungi may play an equally important role in both plant success and ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling based on their worldwide occurrence and putative access to organic matter. However, the ecological impacts of Sebacinales will depend on their abundance and distribution relative to AM fungi and environmental soil carbon and nutrient patterns, which remain unexplored. We characterized Glomeromycota and Sebacinales fungi in switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) roots and soils across 14 sites with diverse soil conditions. We examined group richness differences, co‐occurrence patterns, and how the relative abundance of these fungi related to soil carbon, nutrient stoichiometry, and host size. Sebacinales were widespread, but less diverse, common, and abundant than Glomeromycota. Moreover, co‐occurrences were predominantly random, suggesting relatively few interactions between these groups. Sebacinales increased relative to Glomeromycota in soils with more carbon, but explanatory power was limited. Based on our findings, we suggest that Sebacinales are likely complementary to AM fungi in roots. Expectations that Sebacinales have large effects on soil carbon and nutrient cycling may need to be reconsidered, at least based on their limited abundances relative to AM fungi in switchgrass. This is an important consideration as Sebacinales are candidates for use as inoculants in managed ecosystems.

Lee, Marissa R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Correlated Displacement of Dynamic Elastic Dipoles Produces Nonclassical Electrostriction in Zr-Doped Ceria

By combining experimental data with density functional theory-based ab initio molecular dynamics modeling, this work provides evidence that nonclassical electrostriction in isovalent Zr-doped ceria is due to the correlated anharmonic motion of dynamic elastic dipoles associated with multiple [ZrO 8 ]-local bonding units with a high Zr concentration (Zr 0.1 Ce 0.9 O 2 ). Introduction of 0.5 mol % trivalent or divalent codopants (Sc, Yb, La, or Ca) reduces the longitudinal electrostriction strain coefficient by more than a factor of 10, produces a 3-fold decrease in the relative dielectric permittivity, and increases the elastic modulus. Since these changes depend neither on the radius nor on the valency of the codopant, we conclude that the responsible species are charge-compensating oxygen vacancies (VO). For trivalent dopants (Do 0.005 Zr 0.1 Ce 0.895 O 1.9975 ), oxygen vacancies are present at a concentration ratio 1:40 with respect to Zr, giving, for random distribution, a characteristic interaction distance of ≤2.3 unit cells (1.2 nm). Oxygen vacancies participate in [ZrO 7 -V O ] local bonding units, disrupting the correlated dynamic displacements of the connected [ZrO 8 ]-local bonding units. Finally, such correlated motion of dynamic elastic dipoles may also explain the exponential increase in the longitudinal electrostriction strain coefficient with an increase in Zr concentration to <0.2 mole fraction and must be taken into account for further development of nonclassical electrostrictors based on Zr-doped ceria.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Non-magnetic ion site disorder effects on the quantum magnetism of a spin-1/2 equilateral triangular lattice antiferromagnet

Here, with the motivation to study how non-magnetic ion site disorder affects the quantum magnetism of Ba 3 CoSb 2 O 9 , a spin-1/2 equilateral triangular lattice antiferromagnet, we performed DC and AC susceptibility, specific heat, elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements on single crystalline samples of Ba 2.87 Sr 0.13 CoSb 2 O 9 with Sr doping on non-magnetic Ba 2+ ion sites. The results show that Ba 2.87 Sr 0.13 CoSb 2 O 9 exhibits (i) a two-step magnetic transition at 2.7 K and 3.3 K, respectively; (ii) a possible canted 120 degree spin structure at zero field with reduced ordered moment as 1.24 μ B /Co; (iii) a series of spin state transitions for both H∥ab-plane and H∥c-axis. For H∥ab-plane, the magnetization plateau feature related to the up–up–down phase is significantly suppressed; (iv) an inelastic neutron scattering spectrum with only one gapped mode at zero field, which splits to one gapless and one gapped mode at 9 T. All these features are distinctly different from those observed for the parent compound Ba 3 CoSb 2 O 9 , which demonstrates that the non-magnetic ion site disorder (the Sr doping) plays a complex role on the magnetic properties beyond the conventionally expected randomization of the exchange interactions. We propose the additional effects including the enhancement of quantum spin fluctuations and introduction of a possible spatial anisotropy through the local structural distortions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Anatomy of information scrambling and decoherence in the integrable Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model

The growth of information scrambling, captured by out-of-time-order correlation functions (OTOCs), is a central indicator of the nature of many-body quantum dynamics. Here, we compute analytically the complete time dependence of the OTOC for an integrable Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev (SYK) model, 𝑁 Majoranas with random two-body interactions of infinite range, coupled to a Markovian bath at finite temperature. In the limit of no coupling to the bath, the time evolution of scrambling experiences different stages. For 𝑡≲√𝑁, after an initial polynomial growth, the OTOC approaches saturation in a power-law fashion with oscillations superimposed. At 𝑡∼√𝑁, the OTOC reverses trend and starts to decrease linearly in time. The reason for this linear decrease is that, despite being a subleading 1/𝑁 effect, the OTOC in this region is governed by the spectral form factor of the antisymmetric couplings of the SYK model. The linear decrease stops at 𝑡∼2⁢𝑁, the Heisenberg time, where saturation occurs. The effect of the environment is an overall exponential decay of the OTOC for times longer than the inverse of the coupling strength to the bath. Here, the oscillations at 𝑡≲√𝑁 indicate lack of thermalization—a desired feature for better performance of quantum information devices.

Open quantum systems & decoherence↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tipping points emerge from weak mutualism in metacommunities

The coexistence of obligate mutualists is often precariously close to tipping points where small environmental changes can drive catastrophic shifts in species composition. For example, microbial ecosystems can collapse by the decline of a strain that provides an essential resource on which other strains cross-feed. Here, we show that tipping points, ecosystem collapse, bistability and hysteresis arise even with very weak (non-obligate) mutualism provided the population is spatially structured. Based on numeric solutions of a metacommunity model and mean-field analyses, we demonstrate that weak mutualism lowers the minimal dispersal rate necessary to avoid stochastic extinction, while species need to overcome a mean threshold density to survive in this low dispersal rate regime. Our results allow us to make numerous predictions for mutualistic metacommunities regarding tipping points, hysteresis effects, and recovery from external perturbations, and let us draw general conclusions for ecosystems even with random, not necessarily mutualistic, interactions and systems with density-dependent dispersal rather than direct mutualistic interactions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1985

Evaluation of parameters for particles acceleration by the zero-point field of quantum electrodynamics

That particles may be accelerated by vacuum effects in quantum field theory has been repeatedly proposed in the last few years. A natural upshot of this is a mechanism for cosmic rays (CR) primaries acceleration. A mechanism for acceleration by the zero-point field (ZPE) when the ZPE is taken in a realistic sense (in opposition to a virtual field) was considered. Originally the idea was developed within a semiclassical context. The classical Einstein-Hopf model (EHM) was used to show that free isolated electromagnrtically interacting particles performed a random walk in phase space and more importantly in momentum space when submitted to the perennial action of the so called classical electromagnrtic ZPE.

Rueda, A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Propfan test assessment propfan propulsion system static test report

The propfan test assessment (PTA) propulsion system successfully completed over 50 hours of extensive static ground tests, including a 36 hour endurance test. All major systems performed as expected, verifying that the large-scale 2.74 m diameter propfan, engine, gearbox, controls, subsystems, and flight instrumentation will be satisfactory with minor modifications for the upcoming PTA flight tests on the GII aircraft in early 1987. A test envelope was established for static ground operation to maintain propfan blade stresses within limits for propfan rotational speeds up to 105 percent and power levels up to 3880 kW. Transient tests verified stable, predictable response of engine power and propfan speed controls. Installed engine TSFC was better than expected, probably due to the excellent inlet performance coupled with the supercharging effect of the propfan. Near- and far-field noise spectra contained three dominant components, which were dependent on power, tip speed, and direction. The components were propfan blade tones, propfan random noise, and compressor/propfan interaction noise. No significant turbine noise or combustion noise was evident.

Orourke, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Particle-laden weakly swirling free jets: Measurements and predictions

A theoretical and experimental investigation of particle-laden, weakly swirling, turbulent free jets was conducted. Glass particles, having a Sauter mean diameter of 39 microns, with a standard deviation of 15 microns, were used. A single loading ratio (the mass flow rate of particles per unit mass flow rate of air) of 0.2 was used in the experiments. Measurements are reported for three swirl numbers, ranging from 0 to 0.33. The measurements included mean and fluctuating velocities of both phases, and particle mass flux distributions. Measurements were also completed for single-phase non-swirling and swirling jets, as baselines. Measurements were compared with predictions from three types of multiphase flow analysis, as follows: (1) locally homogeneous flow (LHF) where slip between the phases was neglected; (2) deterministic separated flow (DSF), where slip was considered but effects of turbulence/particle interactions were neglected; and (3) stochastic separated flow (SSF), where effects of both interphase slip and turbulence/particle interactions were considered using random sampling for turbulence properties in conjunction with random-walk computations for particle motion. Single-phase weakly swirling jets were considered first. Predictions using a standard k-epsilon turbulence model, as well as two versions modified to account for effects of streamline curvature, were compared with measurements. Predictions using a streamline curvature modification based on the flux Richardson number gave better agreement with measurements for the single-phase swirling jets than the standard k-epsilon model. For the particle-laden jets, the LHF and DSF models did not provide very satisfactory predictions. The LHF model generally overestimated the rate of decay of particle mean axial and angular velocities with streamwise distance, and predicted particle mass fluxes also showed poor agreement with measurements, due to the assumption of no-slip between phases. The DSF model also performed quite poorly for predictions of particle mass flux because turbulent dispersion of the particles was neglected. The SSF model, which accounts for both particle inertia and turbulent dispersion of the particles, yielded reasonably good predictions throughout the flow field for the particle-laden jets.

Bulzan, Daniel L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Cosmic ray sources, acceleration and propagation

A review is given of selected papers on the theory of cosmic ray (CR) propagation and acceleration. The high isotropy and a comparatively large age of galactic CR are explained by the effective interaction of relativistic particles with random and regular electromagnetic fields in interstellar medium. The kinetic theory of CR propagation in the Galaxy is formulated similarly to the elaborate theory of CR propagation in heliosphere. The substantial difference between these theories is explained by the necessity to take into account in some cases the collective effects due to a rather high density of relativisitc particles. In particular, the kinetic CR stream instability and the hydrodynamic Parker instability is studied. The interaction of relativistic particles with an ensemble of given weak random magnetic fields is calculated by perturbation theory. The theory of CR transfer is considered to be basically completed for this case. The main problem consists in poor information about the structure of the regular and the random galactic magnetic fields. An account is given of CR transfer in a turbulent medium.

Ptuskin, V. S.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Radio Occultation Investigation of the Rings of Saturn and Uranus

The proposed work addresses two main objectives: (1) to pursue the development of the random diffraction screen model for analytical/computational characterization of the extinction and near-forward scattering by ring models that include particle crowding, uniform clustering, and clustering along preferred orientations (anisotropy). The characterization is crucial for proper interpretation of past (Voyager) and future (Cassini) ring, occultation observations in terms of physical ring properties, and is needed to address outstanding puzzles in the interpretation of the Voyager radio occultation data sets; (2) to continue the development of spectral analysis techniques to identify and characterize the power scattered by all features of Saturn's rings that can be resolved in the Voyager radio occultation observations, and to use the results to constrain the maximum particle size and its abundance. Characterization of the variability of surface mass density among the main ring, features and within individual features is important for constraining the ring mass and is relevant to investigations of ring dynamics and origin. We completed the developed of the stochastic geometry (random screen) model for the interaction of electromagnetic waves with of planetary ring models; used the model to relate the oblique optical depth and the angular spectrum of the near forward scattered signal to statistical averages of the stochastic geometry of the randomly blocked area. WE developed analytical results based on the assumption of Poisson statistics for particle positions, and investigated the dependence of the oblique optical depth and angular spectrum on the fractional area blocked, vertical ring profile, and incidence angle when the volume fraction is small. Demonstrated agreement with the classical radiative transfer predictions for oblique incidence. Also developed simulation procedures to generate statistical realizations of random screens corresponding to uniformly packed ring models, and used the results to characterize dependence of the extinction and near-forward scattering on ring thickness, packing fraction, and the ring opening angle.

Marouf, Essam A.↗
DOE OSTI2022

A particle resolved simulation approach for studying shock interactions with moving, colliding solid particles

This work applies a new combination of techniques for the fully resolved simulation of compressible, gas–particle multiphase flows. Here, the adaptive wavelet collocation method is used to dynamically, and efficiently, adapt the computational grid to localized flow features and the particles. A characteristic-based volume penalization method that imposes arbitrary Dirichlet, Neumann, or Robin-type immersed boundary conditions, is used to enforce the no-slip condition at particle surfaces. A hard-sphere collision model is applied to capture the particle–particle collisions. Proof of concept test cases are presented, showcasing the dynamic grid adaptation and fully resolved two-way coupling between the phases that is possible with this approach. Results for a shock-driven single cylinder under viscous and inviscid conditions are presented along with a demonstration of a shock interacting with a cloud of randomly distributed cylinders and spheres.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Slow scrambling and hidden integrability in a random rotor model

In this work, we analyze the out-of-time-order correlation functions of a solvable model of a large number $\textit{N}$ of $\textit{M}$-component quantum rotors coupled by Gaussian-distributed random, infinite-range exchange interactions. We focus on the growth of commutators of operators at a temperature $\textit{T}$ above the zero temperature quantum critical point separating the spin-glass and paramagnetic phases. In the large $\textit{N, M}$ limit, the squared commutators of the rotor fields do not display any exponential growth of commutators, in spite of the absence of any sharp quasiparticlelike excitations in the disorder-averaged theory. We show that in this limit, the problem is integrable and points out interesting connections to random-matrix theory. At leading order in 1/$\textit{M}$, there are no modifications to the critical behavior but an irrelevant term in the fixed-point action leads to a small exponential growth of the squared commutator. We also introduce and comment on a generalized model involving $\textit{p}$-pair rotor interactions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optical filters made from random metasurfaces using Bayesian optimization

Abstract We theoretically investigate the ability to design optical filters from a single material and a single layer of randomly dispersed resonant dielectric particles, defining a random metasurface. Using a Bayesian and generalized Mie inverse-design approach, we design particle radii distributions that give rise to longpass, shortpass, bandpass, and bandstop spectral bands in the infrared. The optical response is shown to be directly related to electric and magnetic multipole scattering of the constituent particles and their near field coupling. We discuss the effect of the particle size distribution and particle–particle coupling interactions on filter design in random systems lacking long-range order.

Materials Science↗
DOE OSTI2021

Material Interactions in Severe Accidents – Benchmarking the MELCOR V2.2 Eutectics Model for a BWR-3 Mark-I Station Blackout: Part II – Uncertainty Analysis

Single case comparisons between severe accident simulations can provide detailed insights into severe accident model behavior, however, they cannot offer insights into model uncertainty, sensitivity to uncertain parameters, or underlying model biases.Here in this analysis, the single case benchmark comparison of the MELCOR material interaction models for a station blackout (SBO) scenario of a boiling water reactor (BWR) using representative Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 boundary conditions is expanded to include an uncertainty analysis. As part of this uncertainty analysis, 1200 simulations are performed for each material interaction model (2400 total), with random sampling of 14 uncertain MELCOR input parameters. Input parameters are selected for their impact on models representing core degradation processes. These include candling, fuel rod failure, debris quenching and dryout. The analysis performed here is not a traditional “best-estimate” uncertainty analysis that uses best-estimate parameters or identifies best-estimate figure of merit distributions. Instead, it is an exploratory uncertainty analysis that identifies and interrogates underlying model form biases of the two material interaction models (eutectics and interactive materials models). Uniform distributions are applied to all uncertain parameters to ensure coverage of the model parameter uncertainty space. Key findings from this study include underlying model form biases exhibited by material interaction models, and notable differences in accident progression outcomes between the material interaction models. This uncertainty study extends and confirms the conclusions from the first part of this study, which compared the impact of material interaction modeling on simulation of a short-term station blackout scenario with representative Fukushima Daiichi Unit I boundary conditions. In particular, this study confirms that the eutectics model generally exhibits accelerated degradation and failure of fuel components, the core plate, and the lower head. The eutectics model also has a tendency to exhibit a greater degree of core degradation, greater debris mass formation, and larger debris mass ejection. Finally, the eutectics model exhibits higher maximum temperatures for fuel, cladding, particulate debris, oxidic molten pool, and metallic molten pool components than the interactive materials model; interactive materials model simulations exhibit a soft “limitation” on maximum temperatures that is related to the temperature at which material relocation occurs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Ab initio calculations of monopole sum rules: From finite nuclei to infinite nuclear matter

We compute moments of the isoscalar monopole response of 𝑁 = 𝑍 closed-shell nuclei based on chiral nucleon-nucleon plus three-nucleon interactions. We employ the random-phase approximation (RPA) and two ab initio many-body approaches, the in-medium similarity renormalization group (IMSRG) and coupled-cluster theory (CC). In the IMSRG framework, the moments are obtained as ground-state expectation values, whereas in the CC approach, they are evaluated through excited-state calculations. We find good agreement between the IMSRG and CC results across all nuclei studied. RPA provides a reasonable approximation to the correlated methods if the interaction is soft. From the calculated moments, we extract average energies of the monopole response, compute finite-nucleus incompressibilities, and estimate the incompressibility of symmetric nuclear matter by a fit to a leptodermous expansion. Our extrapolated values are lower than those obtained in nuclear-matter calculations with the same interactions, but the values are consistent with phenomenological ranges.

Bonaiti, Francesca [Michigan State Univ., East Lan↗
NASA NTRS1974

Cosmic ray scintillations. II - General theory of interplanetary scintillations

The motion of charged particles in a stochastic magnetic field with nonzero mean is considered via a generalized quasi-linear expansion of Liouville's equation. The general result is an equation relating cosmic ray scintillations to magnetic fluctuations and to cosmic ray gradients. The resonant interaction between particles and the random magnetic field is considered in detail, and the effect of nonlinear terms in the equations is considered. The nonlinear terms are important in damping out initial conditions and in determining conditions near cyclotron resonances. The application of the theory to the propagation of cosmic rays during quiet times in interplanetary space is considered. It is concluded that cosmic ray scintillations in interplanetary space may provide useful information about interplanetary particles and fields and also about nonlinear plasma interactions.

Owens, A. J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Extended Interacting Boson Model with Configuration Mixing Description For 98 Mo

An extended version of the interacting boson model (IBM), encompassing two-particle–two-hole (2p-2h) excitations originating from below a valence shell and one-particle–one-hole (1p-1h) excitations extending to the upper next-nearest major shell, is developed to investigate cross-shell excitation effects in the transitional nucleus 98 Mo. This extended IBM framework is utilized to reproduce experimentally observed properties such as low-lying positive-parity level energies, 𝐵⁡(𝐸⁢2) values, and the electric quadrupole moment of the 2$^{+}_{1}$ state, 𝜌 2 ⁡(𝐸⁢0, 0$^{+}_{2}$ → 0$^{+}_{g}$), as well as the strength functions of the isoscalar giant monopole resonance (ISGMR) and the isoscalar giant quadrupole resonance (ISGQR) in 98 Mo. It is shown that the extended consistent-𝑄 IBM, incorporating configuration mixing of both 2p-2h excitations from below the valence shell and 1p-1h excitations to the upper next-nearest major shell, describes the low-lying structural properties and the ISGMR and ISGQR strength distributions of 98 Mo quite well, with the ISGMR and the ISGQR strength distributions comparable to the results of the self-consistent quasiparticle random-phase approximation with Skyrme interactions.

90 ≤ A ≤ 149↗