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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 OSTI2021

Ultrafast thermal modification of strong coupling in an organic microcavity

There is growing interest in using strongly coupled organic microcavities to tune molecular dynamics, including the electronic and vibrational properties of molecules. However, very little attention has been paid to the utility of cavity polaritons as sensors for out-of-equilibrium phenomena, including thermal excitations. Here, we demonstrate that non-resonant infrared excitation of an organic microcavity system induces a transient response in the visible spectral range near the cavity polariton resonances. We show how these optical responses can be understood in terms of ultrafast heating of electrons in the metal cavity mirror, which modifies the effective refractive index and subsequently the strong coupling conditions. The temporal dynamics of the microcavity are strictly determined by carriers in the metal, including the cooling of electrons via electron–phonon coupling and excitation of propagating coherent acoustic modes in the lattice. We rule out multiphoton excitation processes and verify that no real polariton population exists despite their strong transient features. These results suggest the cavity polaritons to be promising as sensitive probes of non-equilibrium phenomena.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evolution of the mean jet shape and dijet asymmetry distribution of an ensemble of holographic jets in strongly coupled plasma

Some of the most important experimentally accessible probes of the quark- gluon plasma (QGP) produced in heavy ion collisions come from the analysis of how the shape and energy of sprays of energetic particles produced within a cone with a specified opening angle (jets) in a hard scattering are modified by their passage through the strongly coupled, liquid, QGP. We model an ensemble of back-to-back dijets for the purpose of gaining a qualitative understanding of how the shapes of the individual jets and the asymmetry in the energy of the pairs of jets in the ensemble are modified by their passage through an expanding cooling droplet of strongly coupled plasma, in the model in a holographic gauge theory that is dual to a 4+1-dimensional black-hole spacetime that is asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AdS). We build our model by constructing an ensemble of strings in the dual gravitational description of the gauge theory. We model QCD jets in vacuum using strings whose endpoints are moving “downward” into the gravitational bulk spacetime with some fixed small angle, an angle that represents the opening angle (ratio of jet mass to jet energy) that the QCD jet would have in vacuum. Such strings must be moving through the gravitational bulk at (close to) the speed of light; they must be (close to) null. This condition does not specify the energy distribution along the string, meaning that it does not specify the shape of the jet being modeled. We study the dynamics of strings that are initially not null and show that strings with a wide range of initial conditions rapidly accelerate and become null and, as they do, develop a similar distribution of their energy density. We use this distribution of the energy density along the string, choose an ensemble of strings whose opening angles and energies are distributed as in perturbative QCD, and show that we can then fix one of the two model parameters such that the mean jet shape for the jets in the ensemble that we have built matches that measured in proton-proton collisions reasonably well. This is a novel way for hybridizing relevant inputs from perturbative QCD and a strongly coupled holographic gauge theory in the service of modeling jets in QGP. We send our ensemble of strings through an expanding cooling droplet of strongly coupled plasma, choosing the second model parameter so as to get a reasonable value for $R$ $^{AA}_{jet}$, the suppression in the number of jets, and study how the mean jet shape and the dijet asymmetry are modified, comparing both to measurements from heavy ion collisions at the LHC.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Solitary and shock structures in a strongly coupled cryogenic quantum plasma

The quantum ion-acoustic (QIA) solitary and shock structures formed in a strongly coupled cryogenic quantum plasma (containing strongly coupled positively charged inertial cold ions and Fermi electrons as well as positrons) have been theoretically investigated. The generalized quantum hydrodynamic model and the reductive perturbation method have been employed to derive the Korteweg-de Vries (K-dV) and Burgers equations. The basic features of the QIA solitary and shock structures are identified by analyzing the stationary solitary and shock wave solutions of the K-dV and Burgers equations. It is found that the basic characteristics (e.g., phase speed, amplitude, and width) of the QIA solitary and shock structures are significantly modified by the effects of the Fermi pressures of electrons and positrons, the ratio of Fermi temperature of positrons to that of electrons, the ratio of effective ion temperature to electron Fermi temperature, etc. It is also observed that the effect of strong correlation among extremely cold ions acts as a source of dissipation, and is responsible for the formation of the QIA shock structures. The results of this theoretical investigation should be useful for understanding the nonlinear features of the localized electrostatic disturbances in laboratory electron-positron-ion plasmas (viz., super-intense laser-dense matter experiments)

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Jeans self gravitational instability of strongly coupled quantum plasma

The Jeans self-gravitational instability is studied for quantum plasma composed of weakly coupled degenerate electron fluid and non-degenerate strongly coupled ion fluid. The formulation for such system is done on the basis of two fluid theory. The dynamics of weakly coupled degenerate electron fluid is governed by inertialess momentum equation. The quantum forces associated with the quantum diffraction effects and the quantum statistical effects act on the degenerate electron fluid. The strong correlation effects of ion are embedded in generalized viscoelastic momentum equation including the viscoelasticity and shear viscosities of ion fluid. The general dispersion relation is obtained using the normal mode analysis technique for the two regimes of propagation, i.e., hydrodynamic and kinetic regimes. The Jeans condition of self-gravitational instability is also obtained for both regimes, in the hydrodynamic regime it is observed to be affected by the ion plasma oscillations and quantum parameter while in the kinetic regime in addition to ion plasma oscillations and quantum parameter, it is also affected by the ion velocity which is modified by the viscosity generated compressional effects. The Jeans critical wave number and corresponding critical mass are also obtained for strongly coupled quantum plasma for both regimes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Inflationary magnetogenesis without the strong coupling problem

The simplest gauge invariant models of inflationary magnetogenesis are known to suffer from the problems of either large backreaction or strong coupling, which make it difficult to self-consistently achieve cosmic magnetic fields from inflation with a field strength larger than 10{sup −32}G today on the Mpc scale. Such a strength is insufficient to act as seed for the galactic dynamo effect, which requires a magnetic field larger than 10{sup −20}G. In this paper we analyze simple extensions of the minimal model, which avoid both the strong coupling and back reaction problems, in order to generate sufficiently large magnetic fields on the Mpc scale today. First we study the possibility that the coupling function which breaks the conformal invariance of electromagnetism is non-monotonic with sharp features. Subsequently, we consider the effect of lowering the energy scale of inflation jointly with a scenario of prolonged reheating where the universe is dominated by a stiff fluid for a short period after inflation. In the latter case, a systematic study shows upper bounds for the magnetic field strength today on the Mpc scale of 10{sup −13}G for low scale inflation and 10{sup −25}G for high scale inflation, thus improving on the previous result by 7-19 orders of magnitude. These results are consistent with the strong coupling and backreaction constraints.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Quark masses and strong coupling constant in 2+1 flavor QCD

We present a determination of the strange, charm and bottom quark masses as well as the strong coupling constant in 2+1 flavor lattice QCD simulations using highly improved staggered quark action. The ratios of the charm quark mass to the strange quark mass and the bottom quark mass to the charm quark mass are obtained from the meson masses calculated on the lattice and found to be mc/ms = 11.877(91) and mb/mc = 4.528(57) in the continuum limit. We also determine the strong coupling constant and the charm quark mass using the moments of pseudoscalar charmonium correlators: α s (μ = m c ) = 0.3697(85) and mc(μ = mc) = 1.267(12) GeV. Our result for αs corresponds to the determination of the strong coupling constant at the lowest energy scale so far and is translated to the value α s (μ = M Z , n f = 5) = 0.11622(84).

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Shear wave vortex solution in a strongly coupled dusty plasma

The properties of electrostatic transverse shear waves in a strongly coupled dusty plasma are examined using the nonlinear version of the generalized hydrodynamic equation. In the kinetic limit, it is shown that strongly coupled plasmas support localized dipolar vortexlike solutions with amplitude modulated periodically.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dynamics of heavy quarks in strongly coupled $\mathcal{N}$ = 4 SYM plasma

We calculate the probability distribution P(k) for a heavy quark with velocity v propagating through strongly coupled N = 4 SYM plasma in the ’t Hooft limit (N c → ∞, λ = g 2 N c → ∞) at a temperature T to acquire a momentum k due to interactions with the plasma. This distribution encodes the well-known drag coefficient η D and the transverse and longitudinal momentum diffusion coefficients κ T and κ L . The jet quenching parameter $\hat{q}$ can be extracted from P(k) for v = 1. Going beyond these known Gaussian characteristics of P(k), our calculation determines all of the higher order and mixed moments to leading order in 1/$\sqrt{λ}$ for the first time. These non-Gaussian features of P(k) include qualitatively novel correlations between longitudinal energy loss and transverse momentum broadening at nonzero v. We show that all higher moments scale characteristically with an effective temperature of the boosted plasma in the heavy quark rest frame, and we demonstrate that these non-Gaussian characteristics can be sizable in magnitude and even dominant in physically relevant situations. We use these results to derive a Kolmogorov equation for the evolution of the probability distribution for the total momentum of a heavy quark that propagates through strongly coupled plasma. This evolution equation accounts for all higher order correlations between transverse momentum broadening and longitudinal energy loss, which we have calculated from first principles. It reduces to a Fokker-Planck equation when truncated to only include the effects of η D , κ T and κ L . Remarkably, while heavy quarks do not reach kinetic equilibrium with the plasma if evolved with this Fokker-Planck equation, by showing that the Boltzmann distribution is a static solution of the all-order Kolmogorov equation that we have derived we demonstrate that heavy quarks do reach kinetic equilibrium if evolved with this equation. Our results thus provide a dynamically complete framework for understanding the thermalization of a heavy quark that may be initially far from equilibrium in the strongly coupled N = 4 SYM plasma — as well as new insight into heavy quark transport and equilibration in quark-gluon plasma.

Holography and Hydrodynamics↗
DOE OSTI2016

Strong coupling of plasmon and nanocavity modes for dual-band, near-perfect absorbers and ultrathin photovoltaics

In this study, when optical resonances interact strongly, hybridized modes are formed with mixed properties inherited from the basic modes. Strong coupling therefore tends to equalize properties such as damping and oscillator strength of the spectrally separate resonance modes. This effect is here shown to be very useful for the realization of near-perfect dual-band absorption with ultrathin (~10 nm) layers in a simple geometry. Absorber layers are constructed by atomic layer deposition of the heavy-damping semiconductor tin monosulfide (SnS) onto a two-dimensional gold nanodot array. In combination with a thin (55 nm) SiO 2 spacer layer and a highly reflective Al film on the back, a semiopen nanocavity is formed. The SnS-coated array supports a localized surface plasmon resonance in the vicinity of the lowest order antisymmetric Fabry–Perot resonance of the nanocavity. Very strong coupling of the two resonances is evident through anticrossing behavior with a minimum peak splitting of 400 meV, amounting to 24% of the plasmon resonance energy. The mode equalization resulting from this strong interaction enables simultaneous optical impedance matching of the system at both resonances and thereby two near-perfect absorption peaks, which together cover a broad spectral range. When paired with the heavy damping from SnS band-to-band transitions, this further enables approximately 60% of normal incident solar photons with energies exceeding the band gap to be absorbed in the 10 nm SnS coating. Thereby, these results establish a distinct relevance of strong coupling phenomena to efficient, nanoscale photovoltaic absorbers and more generally for fulfilling a specific optical condition at multiple spectral positions.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Quantum simulations of strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma

A strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma (QGP) of heavy constituent quasiparticles is studied by a path-integral Monte-Carlo method. This approach is a quantum generalization of the model developed by B.A. Gelman, E.V. Shuryak, and I. Zahed. It is shown that this method is able to reproduce the QCD lattice equation of state and also yields valuable insight into the internal structure of the QGP. The results indicate that the QGP reveals liquid-like rather than gas-like properties. At temperatures just above the critical one it was found that bound quark-antiquark states still survive. These states are bound by effective string-like forces and turn out to be colorless. At the temperature as large as twice the critical one no bound states are observed. Quantum effects turned out to be of prime importance in these simulations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Quantum simulations of strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma

A strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma (QGP) of heavy constituent quasi-particles is studied by a path-integral Monte-Carlo method. This approach is a quantum generalization of the classical molecular dynamics by Gelman, Shuryak, and Zahed. It is shown that this method is able to reproduce the QCD lattice equation of state. The results indicate that the QGP reveals liquid-like rather than gaslike properties. Quantum effects turned out to be of prime importance in these simulations.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Strongly Coupled Dusty Plasmas

A fundamental experimental study of strongly coupled dusty plasma physics will be performed. The objectives include testing theories of nonequilibrium statistical physics, and identifying physical processes in shocks.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Chiral and deconfinement transitions in strong coupling lattice QCD with finite coupling and Polyakov loop effects

We investigate chiral and deconfinement transitions in the framework of the strong coupling lattice QCD for color SU(3) with one species of unrooted staggered fermion at finite temperature and quark chemical potential. We take account of the leading order Polyakov loop terms as well as the next-to-next-to-leading order (1/g{sup 4}) fermionic terms of the strong coupling expansion in the effective action. We investigate the Polyakov loop effects by comparing two approximation schemes, a Haar measure method (no fluctuation from the mean field) and a Weiss mean-field method (with fluctuations). The effective potential is obtained in both cases, and we analytically clarify the Polyakov loop contributions to the effective potential. The Polyakov loop is found to suppress the chiral condensate and to reduce the chiral transition temperature at {mu}=0, and the chiral transition temperature roughly reproduces the Monte Carlo results at {beta}=2N{sub c}/g{sup 2} < or approx. 4. The deconfinement transition is found to be the crossover and first order for light (am{sub 0} < or approx. 4 at {beta}=4) and heavy quark masses, respectively.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Low energy determination of the QCD strong coupling constant on the lattice

Here we present a determination of the strong coupling constant from lattice QCD using the moments of pseudo-scalar charmonium correlators calculated using highly improved staggerered quark action. We obtain a value α s ( μ = mc) = 0.3397(56), which is the lowest energy determination of the strong coupling constant so far.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effective theory of superconductivity in strongly coupled amorphous materials

A theory of phonon-mediated superconductivity in strong-coupling amorphous materials is developed based on an effective description of structural disorder and its effect on the vibrational spectrum. The theory accounts for the diffusivelike transport of vibrational excitations due to disorder-induced scattering within the Eliashberg theory of strong-coupling superconductivity. The theory provides a good analytical description of the Eliashberg function $α^2F(ω)$ in comparison with experiments and allows one to disentangle the effects of transverse and longitudinal excitations on the Eliashberg function. In particular, it shows that the transverse excitations play a crucial role in driving an increase or excess in the Eliashberg function at low energy, which is related to the boson peak phenomenon in vibrational spectra of glasses. This low-energy excess, on the one hand, drives an enhancement of the electron-phonon coupling but at the same time reduces the characteristic energy scale $ω_{\text{log}}$ in the Allen-Dynes formula. As a consequence, the nonmonotonicity of $T_c$ as a function of alloying (disorder) in Pb-based systems can be rationalized. Further, the case of Al-based systems, where disorder increases $T_c$ from the start, is also analyzed. General material-design principles for enhancing $T_c$ in amorphous superconductors are presented.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2010

Chiral gap and collective excitations in monolayer graphene from strong coupling expansion of lattice gauge theory

Using the strong coupling expansion of the compact and noncompact U(1) lattice gauge theories for monolayer graphene, we show analytically that fermion band gap and pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone exciton ({pi} exciton) are dynamically generated due to chiral symmetry breaking. The mechanism is similar to the generation of quark mass and pion excitation in quantum chromodynamics (QCD). We derive a formula for the {pi}-exciton analogous to the Gell-Mann-Oakes-Renner (GOR) relation in QCD. Experimental confirmation of the GOR relation on a suspended monolayer graphene would be a clear evidence of chiral symmetry breaking.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dissecting a strongly coupled scalar nucleon

We continue our investigation of the stress within a strongly coupled scalar nucleon, and now dissect the gravitational form factors into contributions from its constituents, the (mock) nucleon and the (mock) pion. The computation is based on a nonperturbative solution of the scalar Yukawa model in the light-front Hamiltonian formalism with a Fock sector expansion, including up to one nucleon and two pions. By employing the “good currents” T i + + , T i + − and T i 12 , we extract the full set of gravitational form factors A i , D i , c ¯ i without the contamination of the spurious form factors and free of uncanceled UV divergences. With these results, we decompose the mass of the system into its constituents and compute the matter and mechanical radii, gaining insights into the strongly coupled system. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Cao, Xianghui (ORCID:0009000359096713)↗
DOE OSTI2010

Collective Dynamics of Strongly Coupled Dusty Plasmas

Some selected highlights of theoretical and experimental research at IPR in the area of strongly coupled plasmas are presented. Theoretical analysis using the generalized hydrodynamics model have found interesting modifications in the linear propagation characteristics of dust acoustic waves (DAWs) including additional dispersive contributions and regions where {partial_derivative}{omega}/{partial_derivative}k<0. The analysis also predicted the existence of transverse shear waves in the liquid state of the dust component which were subsequently detected for the first time in laboratory experiments done at the Institute. Interesting experimental results in the strongly coupled regime were also obtained for DAWs including the first ever observations of solitary pulse propagation in such a medium.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗