Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “complement 5”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 109 records · Page 6

WTK-LED: The WIND Toolkit Long-Term Ensemble Dataset

To satisfy a wide group of stakeholders across various wind energy disciplines, including but not limited to stakeholders in the distributed and utility scale wind industry, the new emerging airborne wind energy field, grid integration, power systems modeling, environmental modeling, and researchers in academia, and to close some of the gaps that current public datasets have, we aimed at developing an updated version of the meteorological WIND Toolkit, named WIND Toolkit Long-term Ensemble Dataset (WTK-LED), which is a meteorological dataset providing time series every 5 min and 2 km, including model uncertainty of wind speed at every modeling grid point so that users are provided with a range of possible wind speeds every 2 km. The data were produced using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). The vertical grid used in WTK-LED includes many vertical layers in the atmospheric boundary layer to provide information of atmospheric quantities across the rotor layer of utility scale and distributed wind turbines. The WTK-LED includes: 1) Numerical simulations covering the continental United States, Alaska, and Hawaii, with high-resolution data being available for 3 years (2018-2020). 2) Climate simulations from Argonne National Laboratories covering the North American continent, including Alaska, Canada, and most of Mexico and the Caribbean Islands. These simulations complement the new WTK-LED to offer a 4-km dataset covering 20 years, from 2001-2020. 3) Specific long-term,high-resolution offshore simulations have been conducted separately for the US coasts, Hawaii, and the Great Lakes, leading to the 2023 National Offshore Wind data set. This report focuses on a description of the land-based WTK-LED for CONUS, Hawaii, and Alaska, for the 3-year 2-km/5-min dataset and the 20-year 4-km/hourly dataset, as well as the uncertainty quantification method. We also provide limited validation results. Based on our results to date, we suggest use cases and applications for each dataset of the WTK-LED.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Structure-Based Analysis of Semisynthetic Anti-TB Rufomycin Analogues

This study employed structural information from cocrystals of rufomycin 4 (1a) and caseinolytic protein C1 (ClpC1)-NTD-wt to guide design and semisynthesis of rufomycin analogues, evaluate their antituberculosis (TB) biological profiles, and establish structure–activity relationships (SAR). Covering three regions of interest (ROIs, A–C) as modification sites, 14 of the 30 semisynthetic analogues (2–31) showed similar or improved MICs relative to the main natural precursors, rufomycins 4/6 (1a/b). Compounds 5 and 27 exhibited up to 10-fold enhanced potency against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in vitro, with MIC values of 1.9 and 1.4 nM, respectively. Evaluation of ClpC1-binding properties used existing ClpC1-NTD complexes with rufomycin 4 (PDB: 6cn8) and ecumicin (PDB: 6pbs) as references. The newly reported X-ray ClpC1-NTD cocrystal structure of 11 (syn. But4-Cl) revealed significant conformational effects involving the side chains of certain amino acids of the heptapeptide and confirmed the importance of ROIs A–C for medicinal chemistry efforts. Observed interactions of the N-terminal tail of ClpC1 with the rufomycin analogues vs ecumicin explains their different modes of inactivating the ClpC1/P1/P2 homeostatic machinery. Collectively, the observations inform further SAR optimization strategies for the rufomycin class of antibiotics and complement our understanding of their mode of action.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Cool outflows in MaNGA: a systematic study and comparison to the warm phase

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the neutral gas phase of galactic winds via the Na i Dλλ5890, 5895Å feature within z ∼ 0.04 MaNGA galaxies and directly compares their incidence and strength to the ionized winds detected within the same parent sample. We find evidence for neutral outflows in 127 galaxies (∼5 per cent of the analysed line-emitting sample). ${\rm Na\, \small {\rm I}\ D}$ winds are preferentially seen in galaxies with dustier central regions and both wind phases are more often found in systems with elevated star formation rate (SFR) surface densities, especially when there has been a recent upturn in the star formation activity according to the $\rm SFR_{5 \, Myr}/SFR_{800 \, Myr}$ parameter. We find the ionized outflow kinematics to be in line with what we measure in the neutral phase. This demonstrates that, despite their small contributions to the total outflow mass budget, there is value to collecting empirical measurements of the ionized wind phase to provide information on bulk motion in the outflow. Depending on dust corrections applied to the ionized gas diagnostics, the neutral phase has ∼1.2−1.8 dex higher mass outflow rates ($\dot{M}_{\rm out}$), on average, compared to the ionized phase. We quantify scaling relations between $\dot{M}_{\rm out}$ and the strengths of the physical wind drivers (SFR, LAGN). Using a radial–azimuthal stacking method, and by considering inclination dependencies, we find results consistent with biconical outflows orthogonal to the disc plane. Our work complements other multiphase outflow studies in the literature that consider smaller samples, more extreme objects, or proceed via stacking of larger samples.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Hydropower Supply Chain Gap Analysis

In 2022, DOE conducted supply chain "deep dives" for renewable energy technologies, including hydropower (Uria-Martinez, Hydropower Industry Supply Chain Deep Dive Assessment 2022). The deep dive identified several challenges in the current hydropower supply chain. In addition, Nguyen et. al (2022) conducted an analogous deep-dive assessment on large (> 100-MW) power transformers (LPTs), a critical component of hydropower installations, and concluded that the LPTs as well as several upstream components and materials also have domestic supply chain challenges. These deep dives were the initial high-level assessments of these supply chains and were focused on identifying the biggest issues. Both recommended further investigation. In the two years since the deep dives were published, the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) has focused on improving our understanding of the hydropower supply chain and developing strategies for addressing these challenges. Because the challenges outlined above are most acute for large hydropower systems, most of the report and specifically, this report concentrates on the larger > 100-MW hydropower systems. Early in 2023, DOE's Secretary of Energy asked the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) to engage the hydropower community and seek input on strategies to secure and encourage domestic manufacturing. WPTO has established three focus areas for engagement: 1) Define the market for planned rehabilitations and new construction of the domestic fleet, 2) Provide insights for policies, incentives, loan programs, and technology investments to encourage domestic content, and 3) Define the existing and required domestic hydropower manufacturing capabilities and workforce. This report summarizes these efforts and complements the earlier work by further exploring the identified challenges and identifying potential actions to address these challenges. Furthermore, we conducted a detailed gap analysis of the domestic hydropower supply chain, down to the component level. From this analysis, we then make specific, actionable recommendations for closing these gaps. Section 2 of the report summarizes recent (i.e., since 2021) legislation impacting hydropower deployment and/or its supply chain. It then describes the efforts of WPTO to assess and improve the hydropower supply chain since the publication of the deep-dive assessments. In Section 3, the report updates the earlier supply chain and market studies, identifying specific capabilities by company and location. Section 4 outlines the hydropower demand signal for both new builds due to clean energy goals as well as refurbishments and upgrading of the current domestic fleet. Section 5 is a detailed gap analysis while Section 6 provides actionable recommendations for closing the gaps. Section 7 concludes the report by linking the recommendations to the identified gaps and discusses future efforts.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

The Young Massive Star Cluster Westerlund 2 Observed with MUSE. III. A Cluster in Motion—The Complex Internal Dynamics

Analyzing the dynamical state of nearby young massive star clusters is essential for understanding star cluster formation and evolution during their earliest stages. In this work we analyze the stellar and gas kinematics of the young massive star cluster Westerlund 2 (Wd2) using data from the integral field unit Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) and complement them with proper motions from the Gaia DR2. The mean gas radial velocity of 15.9 km s{sup −1} agrees with the assumption that Wd2 is the result of a cloud–cloud collision. The gas motions show the expansion of the H ii region, driven by the radiation from the many OB stars in the cluster center. The velocity profile of the cluster member stars reveals an increasing velocity dispersion with decreasing stellar mass and that the low-mass stars show five distinct velocity groups. Based on their spatial correlation with the cluster’s two clumps, we concluded that this is the imprint of the initial cloud collapse that formed Wd2. A thorough analysis of the dynamical state of Wd2, which determines a dynamical mass range of M {sub dyn,Wd2} = (7.5 ± 1.9) × 10{sup 4} − (4.4 ± 1.1) × 10{sup 5} M {sub ⊙} and exceeds the photometric mass by at least a factor of two, leads to the conclusion that Wd2 is not massive enough to remain gravitationally bound. Additionally we also identify 22 runaway candidates with peculiar velocities between 30 and 546 km s{sup −1}.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Binding of adenovirus species C hexon to prothrombin and the influence of hexon on vector properties in vitro and in vivo

The majority of adenovirus (Ad) vectors are based on human Ad type 5, which is a member of Ad species C. Species C also includes the closely-related types 1, 2, 6, 57 and 89. It is known that coagulation factors bind to Ad5 hexon and play a key role in the liver tropism of Ad5 vectors, but it is unclear how coagulation factors affect vectors derived from other species C Ads. We evaluated species C Ad vectors both in vitro and following intravenous injection in mice. To assess the impact of hexon differences, we constructed chimeric Ad5 vectors that contain the hexon hypervariable regions from other species C types, including vectors with hexon mutations that decreased coagulation factor binding. After intravenous injection into mice, vectors with Ad5 or Ad6 hexon had strong liver tropism, while vectors with chimeric hexon from other Ad types had weaker liver tropism due to inhibition by natural antibodies and complement. In addition, we discovered a novel ability of hexon to bind prothrombin, which is the most abundant coagulation factor in blood, and we found striking differences in the affinity of Ads for human, mouse and bovine coagulation factors. When compared to Ad5, vectors with non-Ad5 species C hexons had considerably higher affinity for both human and mouse prothrombin. Most of the vectors tested were strongly dependent on coagulation factors for liver transduction, but vectors with chimeric Ad6 hexon showed much less dependence on coagulation factors than other vectors. We found that in vitro neutralization experiments with mouse serum predicted in vivo behavior of Ad5 vectors, but in vitro experiments did not predict the in vivo behavior of vectors based on other Ad types. In sum, hexons from different human Ad species C viruses confer diverse properties on vectors, including differing abilities to target the liver.

Tian, Jie↗

Extraction of Furfural and Furfural/5-Hydroxymethylfurfural from Mixed Lignocellulosic Biomass-Derived Feedstocks

We present a combined in silico and experimental study on the extraction of furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in aqueous–organic biphasic systems. We predict the liquid–liquid equilibria and furfural/HMF partition coefficients of over 2200 water-organic biphasic systems using the multiscale COSMO-RS model and measure experimentally single-component (furfural) and mixture (furfural and HMF) partition coefficients at room and dehydration reaction-relevant temperatures in 28 solvents. We find the experimental data to be within a factor of 2 from the COSMO-RS predictions. Even though furfural and HMF have chemical similarity, the slight differences in molecular structure render the separation of furfural easier by the supply of more solvents of higher partition coefficient for extraction. We leverage this molecular difference and experimentally demonstrate that with an additional extraction step, using dichloromethane or toluene, we can selectively extract furfural from furfural-HMF mixtures, which can coexist in lignocellulosic biomass dehydration products, despite their partition coefficients being generally correlated. We complement solvent selection criteria for biphasic lignocellulosic biomass processes with a simple mass balance extraction model for determining volume ratios in multistage extraction. Lastly, the molecular nature of the preferential furfural extraction is rationalized using COSMO-RS σ-profile analysis.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Natural abundance nitrate isotopes from Rifle and the East River Watershed, Colorado

This data package provides data on the natural abundance isotopes of nitrate from various sources, including porewater, stream, and precipitation. The overall purpose of this data package is to complement additional data streams for nitrogen cycling metrics (e.g., riverine inorganic and organic nitrogen measurements) with specific data gleaned from the interpretation of terrestrial and riverine isotope measurements and collectively understand on how nitrogen is cycled around this system. The Rifle and East River are part of the Watershed Function Scientific Focus Area (WFSFA) located in the Upper Colorado River Basin, United States. Collection locations include: Pumphouse (multiple sampling dates), River (upstream/ downstream meander C), Shallow soil lysimeters (hillslope, toeslope, floodplain), Hillslope-floodplain borehole wells (i.e., Pumphouse Lower Montane (PLM) wells), and Potassium chloride(KCL)-extracted soil samples. Copper Creek sampling includes 8x river sample points and two tributaries sampled on Sept. Oct. 2017, July 2018. East River below the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory sampling includes 1 access point sampled on July, Sept. Oct. 2017. Rifle floodplain sampling includes well TT03 across multiple collection times over 2014. Data is provided in 5 individual files by location in csv format, or all compiled in Excel format.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Roadmap for IES Modeling and Simulation Activities

Since inception of the DOE-NE Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program, several program and modeling visions and roadmaps have been published. In 2017, the last modeling and simulation capability development plan was published. In 2020, a comprehensive roadmap for the DOE-NE Integrated Energy Systems program has been published. The current report is meant to update the 2017 modeling and simulation capability roadmap and complement the IES overall program roadmap published in 2020. The role of modeling and simulation within IES is to support the demonstration of new coupled integrated technologies along every step of the technology maturation from the strategic analysis of preferred system architecture to preliminary design, to laboratory testing, up to full commercial testing and integration. To achieve this role, modeling and simulation must be able to assess the technical performance and the economic viability of potential IES. Also, modeling and simulation must provide support for experimental evaluations, i.e., support component design and real time operations of experimental demonstration systems. Finally, modeling and simulation can help scale-up experimental systems to the final commercial systems. This report details the current state of the modeling and simulation efforts within IES for the above-mentioned areas, provides a gap analysis and proposes next steps for a time horizon over the next 4 to 5 years.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Five amino acid mismatches in the zinc-finger domains of Cellulose Synthase 5 and Cellulose Synthase 6 cooperatively modulate their functional properties by controlling homodimerization in Arabidopsis

Cellulose synthase 5 (CESA5) and CESA6 are known to share substantial functional overlap. In the zinc-finger domain (ZN) of CESA5, there are five amino acid (AA) mismatches when compared to CESA6. These mismatches in CESA5 were replaced with their CESA6 counterparts one by one until all were replaced, generating nine engineered CESA5s. Each N-terminal enhanced yellow fluorescent protein-tagged engineered CESA5 was introduced to prc1-1, a cesa6 null mutant, and resulting mutants were subjected to phenotypic analyses. For this work, we found that five single AA-replaced CESA5 proteins partially rescue the prc1-1 mutant phenotypes to different extents. Multi-AA replaced CESA5s further rescued the mutant phenotypes in an additive manner, culminating in full recovery by CESA5 G43R + S49T+S54P+S80A+Y88F . Investigations in cellulose content, cellulose synthase complex (CSC) motility, and cellulose microfibril organization in the same mutants support the results of the phenotypic analyses. Bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays demonstrated that the level of homodimerization in every engineered CESA5 is substantially higher than CESA5. The mean fluorescence intensity of CSCs carrying each engineered CESA5 fluctuates with the degree to which the prc1-1 mutant phenotypes are rescued by introducing a corresponding engineered CESA5. Taken together, these five AA mismatches in the ZNs of CESA5 and CESA6 cooperatively modulate the functional properties of these CESAs by controlling their homodimerization capacity, which in turn imposes proportional changes on the incorporation of these CESAs into CSCs.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

A Systematic Evidence Based Performance Approach to Regulation of Nuclear Sites in England and Wales - 20058

The Environment Agency for England has developed a systematic evidence-based approach to pursue our strategic environmental objectives for the regulation of nuclear sites. We use an annual evidence review process to ensure effective and efficient targeting of limited resources to achieve those objectives. Over the last 8 years, we have been developing and refining this approach to ensure risk-based and value driven regulation. The approach comprises nuclear site and nuclear sector review processes known as Site Environment Review (SER) and Nuclear Environment Review (NER). This approach complements our regulation of nuclear site permit holders under the Environmental Permitting Regulations (EPR). We deliver our regulation of nuclear sites in England and Wales alongside the Office for Nuclear Regulation. The SER process involves the lead regulator for each nuclear site assessing the permit holder's environmental performance across 14 themes, set within the context of the site's main activities and associated waste disposals. Our themes include environmental leadership, resources and climate change, radioactive waste management, facility management and decommissioning, groundwater, and environmental radiological protection. We use evidence from site inspections and working within our subject matter groups to grade current and predicted future environmental performance. We are particularly interested in sustainability and the application of Best Available Techniques (BAT) to prevent the creation, and minimise the disposal, of radioactive wastes. We use risk analysis (strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities) to examine performance against our strategic environmental objectives, which are set out, in our 5-year Nuclear Delivery Plan (NDP). The output supports the targeting of our resources at each nuclear site. We consult the relevant permit holders on the SER priorities and use their feedback to refine our plans. We expect all permit holders to take account of our priorities when considering their own programmes of work, objectives and plans. The NER process brings together what we learn and achieve through regulation across the sector. It provides input to planning priorities, supported by qualitative and semi-quantitative evidence. It covers the 28 nuclear sites in England and Wales and spans the same 14 environmental themes. During the process we collate, compile and summarise evidence from the SERs and other sources such as inspection reports and evidence from our other nuclear work programmes. The output is the NER annual report. This provides a snapshot of the status of the nuclear sector and gives insights to enable us to regulate more efficiently and effectively. It also takes account of cross-cutting issues and risks such as changes in international standards, domestic policy, regulatory framework, domestic standards and guidance, learning from experience such as incidents, events and good practice, and innovation, research and development. It provides graphics that illustrate the grading of environmental performance for the nuclear sector across the fourteen environmental themes. This analysis allows benchmarking of nuclear site's environmental performance and the visualisation provides a convenient comparison of performance across themes, sites, and over time. We use this intelligence to inform our investment in training and development of our staff, and our cross-cutting engagement on strategic issues with government, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and other corporate organisations. Adopting this approach can provide benefits with organisational reputation, stakeholder participation and ensuring value from the public investment. This paper describes the history of the SER/NER process, a selection of outputs from the process and ideas for improvement. The paper will be of interest to other regulators and organisations across the world that are interested in supporting continuous improvement. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Multiple Degradation Mechanisms in Reinforced Concrete Structures, Modeling and Risk Analysis

The overarching goal of this project is to complement ongoing Department of Energy (DOE) Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS)-funded Grizzly concrete modeling development efforts by providing improved multi-physics models for incorporation into the Grizzly and BlackBear codes. Objectives of this work identified at the outset of this project include: 1. Coupling between mechanical damage and transport processes. The mechanical damage will be characterized by nonlinear mechanical constitutive models appropriate for concrete used in nuclear power plants (NPPs). 2. Improved representation of the coupling among the transport process, building on the current moisture and thermal transport models in Grizzly. The parameters for coupling among heat and mass transport in the multi-physics model will be experimentally determined. 3. Coupling among different scale levels of concrete constituents, fine and coarse aggregates, cement paste, hydration products, and pore structure. 4. Probabilistic analysis of the random nature of the heterogeneous concrete structure and the environmental factors (ambient temperature and humidity) and their multiple effects on concrete deterioration. 5. Benchmark verification, validation and uncertainty quantification of the thermo-hygro- chemo-mechanical (THCM) concrete formulation. The end goal of this work was to provide a comprehensive and robust simulation capability that can be applied at the engineering scale for analysis of realistic deterioration scenarios in NPP concrete structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Identification and characterization of mono- and bifunctional galactan synthases in the pediatric pathogen Kingella kingae

The emerging pediatric pathogen Kingella kingae elaborates a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) that is extended with a galactofuranose homopolymer called galactan, which is a key virulence determinant that contributes to resistance to complement-mediated and neutrophil-mediated killing. Previous work has demonstrated that the pamABCDE locus is required for galactan synthesis. In this study, mutational studies suggested that the pamC gene product is a UDP-galactofuranose (Galf) transferase and is the galactan synthase. Analysis of genome sequence data revealed two distinct pamC alleles designated pamC1 and pamC2, which correlate with the two galactan structures in K. kingae. Examination of isogenic mutants expressing either pamC1 or pamC2 demonstrated that the pamC alleles are the determinants of galactan structure. Experiments with recombinant PamC1 and PamC2 in vitro established that these proteins are galactan synthases capable of extending synthetic Galf disaccharide acceptors in the presence of UDP-Galf. Homology analysis identified critical amino acids that are essential for PamC1 and PamC2 enzymatic activity both in vitro and in K. kingae. Structural analysis of the in vitro-modified synthetic acceptors implicated PamC1 as a monofunctional enzyme capable of generating a β-(1 → 5) Galf linkage and PamC2 as a bifunctional enzyme capable of generating β-(1 → 3) and β-(1 → 6) Galf linkages. This study advances our understanding of the GT2 family of UDP-galactofuranosyltransferases.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

The dark energy survey: detection of weak lensing magnification of supernovae and constraints on dark matter haloes

The residuals of the distance moduli of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) relative to a Hubble diagram fit contain information about the inhomogeneity of the Universe, due to weak lensing magnification by foreground matter. By correlating the residuals of the Dark Energy Survey Year 5 SN Ia sample (DES-SN5YR) with extragalactic foregrounds from the DES Y3 Gold catalogue, we detect the presence of lensing at |$6.0 \sigma$| significance. This is the first detection with a significance level above |$5\sigma$|⁠. Constraints on the effective mass-to-light ratios and radial profiles of dark matter haloes surrounding individual galaxies are also obtained. We show that the scatter of SNe Ia around the Hubble diagram is reduced by modifying the standardization of the distance moduli to include an easily calculable de-lensing (i.e. environmental) term. We use the de-lensed distance moduli to recompute cosmological parameters derived from SN Ia, finding in Flat wcold dark matter a difference of |$\Delta \Omega _{\rm M} = +0.036$| and |$\Delta w = -0.056$| compared to the unmodified distance moduli, a change of |$\sim 0.3\sigma$|⁠. We argue that our modelling of SN Ia lensing will lower systematics on future surveys with higher statistical power. We use the observed dispersion of lensing in DES-SN5YR to constrain |$\sigma _8$|⁠, but caution that the fit is sensitive to uncertainties at small scales. Nevertheless, our detection of SN Ia lensing opens a new pathway to study matter inhomogeneity that complements galaxy–galaxy lensing surveys and has unrelated systematics.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

HDF5 in the exascale era: Delivering efficient and scalable parallel I/O for exascale applications

Accurately modeling real-world systems requires scientific applications at exascale to generate massive amounts of data and manage data storage efficiently. However, parallel input and output (I/O) faces challenges due to new application workflows and the state-of-the-art memory, interconnect, and storage architectures considered in exascale designs. The storage hierarchy has expanded with node-local persistent memory, solid-state storage, and traditional disk and tape-based storage, thus requiring efficiency at each layer and much more efficient data movement among these layers. This paper discusses how the ExaHDF5 project improved the I/O performance and data management for exascale architectures by enhancing HDF5, a widely used parallel I/O library. The team developed an Asynchronous I/O Virtual Object Layer (VOL) connector that allowed overlapping I/O with computation. They also created a Cache VOL to complement asynchronous I/O by incorporating fast storage layers, such as burst buffer and node-local storage, into the parallel I/O workflow through caching and staging data. Additionally, the team enabled data aggregation and I/O at the node level by using a Subfiling Virtual File Driver (VFD). To demonstrate superior I/O performance with HDF5 at exascale, the ExaHDF5 team collaborated with several exascale applications. In this paper, we show I/O performance improvements for three applications: Cabana (a particle-based simulation library), EQSIM (a regional earthquake simulation software), and E3SM (a climate system modeling library).

Asynchronous I/Ol↗

High repetition-rate 0.5 Hz broadband neutron source driven by the Advanced Laser Light Source

Neutron beams are an essential tool to investigate material structure and perform nondestructive analysis, as they give unique access to element composition, thus ideally complementing density analysis allowed by standard x-rays investigation. Laser-driven neutron sources, though compact and cost-effective, currently have lower average flux than conventional neutron sources, due to the limited repetition rate of the lasers used so far. However, advancements in laser technology allow nowadays to address this challenge. Here, we report results obtained at the Advanced Laser Light Source characterizing stable production of broadband (0.1–2 MeV) neutrons produced at a high repetition rate (0.5 Hz). The interaction of laser pulses of 22 fs duration and 3.2 J on-target energy with 2-μm-thick tantalum targets produced protons in the Target Normal Sheath Acceleration (TNSA) regime up to 7.3 MeV. These protons were subsequently converted into neutrons by (p,n) reactions in lithium fluoride (LiF). Activation measurements and bubble detectors were used to characterize neutron emissions, with a neutron fluence of up to ∼1.4×105 neutrons/shot/sr and energies mainly between a few hundred of kilo-electron volt and 2 MeV. The total neutron yield was ∼5×105 neutrons/shot. This paves the way for numerous applications, e.g., in homeland security, materials science, or cultural heritage.

Physics↗

Fisher for complements: extracting cosmology and neutrino mass from the counts-in-cells PDF

In this work, we comprehensively analyse the cosmology dependence of counts-in-cells statistics. Furthermore, we focus on the shape of the one-point probability distribution function (PDF) of the matter density field at mildly non-linear scales. Based on large-deviation statistics, we parametrize the cosmology dependence of the matter PDF in terms of the linear power spectrum, the growth factor, the spherical collapse dynamics, and the non-linear variance. We extend our formalism to include massive neutrinos, finding that the total matter PDF is highly sensitive to the total neutrino mass Mν and can disentangle it from the clustering amplitude σ 8 . Additionally, using more than a million PDFs extracted from the Quijote simulations, we determine the response of the matter PDF to changing parameters in the νΛCDM model and successfully cross-validate the theoretical model and the simulation measurements. We present the first νΛCDM Fisher forecast for the matter PDF at multiple scales and redshifts, and its combination with the matter power spectrum. We establish that the matter PDF and the matter power spectrum are highly complementary at mildly non-linear scales. The matter PDF is particularly powerful for constraining the matter density Ωm, clustering amplitude σ 8 and the total neutrino mass Mν. Adding the mildly non-linear matter PDF to the mildly non-linear matter power spectrum improves constraints on Ω m by a factor of 5 and σ 8 by a factor of 2 when considering the three lowest redshifts. In our joint analysis of the matter PDF and matter power spectrum at three redshifts, the total neutrino mass is constrained to better than 0.01 eV with a total volume of 6 (Gpc h -1 ) 3 . We discuss how density-split statistics can be used to translate those encouraging results for the matter PDF into realistic observables in galaxy surveys.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Competing magnetic phases in Cr 3+𝛿 ⁢Te 4 are spatially segregated

Cr 1+𝑥⁢ Te 2 is a self-intercalated van der Waals system that is of current interest for its room-temperature room-temperature ferromagnetic (FM) phases and tunable topological properties. In bulk samples, the strain from the interstitial Cr ions leads to distinct structural phases for different ranges of 𝑥. Early neutron powder diffraction (NPD) measurements on the monoclinic phase Cr 3 ⁢Te 4 (𝑥=0.5) presented evidence for competing FM and antiferromagnetic (AFM) phases. Here we apply neutron diffraction to a single crystal of Cr 3+𝛿 ⁢Te 4 with 𝛿=−0.10 and discover that it consists of two distinct monoclinic phases, one with FM order below 𝑇 C ≈321 K and another that develops AFM order below 𝑇 N ≈86 K. In contrast, we find that a crystal with 𝛿=−0.26 exhibits only FM order below 𝑇 C ≈285 K. The single-crystal analysis is complemented by results obtained with NPD, x-ray powder diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) measurements on the 𝛿=−0.10 composition. From observations of spontaneous magnetostriction of opposite sign at 𝑇 C and 𝑇 N , along with the TEM evidence for both monoclinic phases in a single thin ( ≈100 nm) grain, we conclude that the two phases must have a fine-grained ( ≲100 nm) intergrowth character, as might occur from high-temperature spinodal decomposition during the growth process. Calculations of the relaxed lattice structures for the FM and AFM phases with density functional theory provide a rationalization of the observed spontaneous magnetostrictions. Correlations between the magnitude and orientation of the magnetic moments with lattice parameter variation demonstrate that the magnetic orders are sensitive to strain, thus explaining why magnetic ordering temperatures and anisotropies can be different between bulk and thin-film samples, when the latter are subject to epitaxial strain. Our results point to the need to investigate the supposed coexistence FM and AFM phases reported elsewhere in the Cr 1+𝑥 ⁢Te 2 system, such as in the Cr 5 ⁢Te 8 phase (𝑥=0.25).

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗