Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “position measurement”

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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Controlling interactions between high-frequency phonons and single quantum systems using phononic crystals

The ability to control phonons in solids is key in many fields of quantum science, ranging from quantum information processing to sensing. Phonons often act as a source of noise and decoherence when solid-state quantum systems interact with the phonon bath of their host matrix. In this study, we demonstrate the ability to control the phononic local density of states of the host matrix using phononic crystals and measure its positive impact on single quantum systems. We design and fabricate diamond phononic crystals with features down to around 20 nm, resulting in a high-frequency complete phononic bandgap from 50 to 70 GHz. The engineered local density of states is probed using single silicon-vacancy colour centres embedded in the phononic crystals. We observe an 18-fold reduction in the phonon-induced orbital relaxation rate of the emitters compared to bulk, thereby demonstrating that the phononic crystal suppresses spontaneous single-phonon processes. Furthermore, we show that our approach can efficiently suppress single-phonon-emitter interactions up to 20 K, allowing the investigation of multi-phonon processes in the emitters. Our results represent an important step towards the realization of efficient phonon-emitter interfaces that can be used for quantum acoustodynamics and quantum phononic networks.

quantum information↗
DOE OSTI2024

Elastic deformation as a tool to investigate watershed storage connectivity

Storage-discharge relationships and dynamic changes in storage connectivity remain key unknowns in understanding and predicting watershed behavior. In this study, we use Global Positioning System measurements of load-induced Earth surface displacement as a proxy for total water storage change in four climatologically diverse mountain watersheds in the western United States. Comparing total water storage estimates with stream-connected storage derived from hydrograph analysis, we find that each of the investigated watersheds exhibits a characteristic seasonal pattern of connection and disconnection between total and stream-connected storage. We investigate how the degree and timing of watershed-scale connectivity is related to the timing of precipitation and seasonal changes in dominant hydrologic processes. Our results show that elastic deformation of the Earth due to water loading is a powerful new tool for elucidating dynamic storage connectivity and watershed discharge response across scales in space and time.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2021

Powder diffraction

Powder diffraction is a non-destructive technique, which is experimentally simple in principle. Because the physics behind diffraction is well understood, an exceptionally large amount of information can be obtained from a single measurement. The positions and relative intensities of the peaks yield a fingerprint that can be used for qualitative phase analysis. Quantitative phase analysis can be obtained by detailed analysis of the intensities. Unit cells can be derived from the peak positions. Crystal structures can be solved using powder diffraction data and refined by the Rietveld method. The peak profiles contain information about crystallite size, strain and nanostructure. Non-idealities in the intensities give information on texture. Abandoning the crystallographic model provides information about local structure, by pair distribution function analysis. For powder diffraction, everything is a sample; the technique is commonly applied to characterize minerals, ceramics, metals and alloys, catalysts, polymers, pharmaceuticals, organic compounds, environmental and forensic samples, among others. The major features of contemporary laboratory powder diffractometers are described. Methods for obtaining suitable powder specimens are summarized. Major applications of qualitative and quantitative phase analysis, structure solution, size/strain/nanostructure analysis using peak profiles, texture analysis and pair distribution function analysis are introduced.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Color Transformations of Photometric Measurements of Galaxies in Optical and Near-infrared Wide-field Imaging Surveys*

Abstract Over the past 2 decades, wide-field photometric surveys in optical and infrared domains reached a nearly all-sky coverage thanks to numerous observational facilities operating in both hemispheres. However, subtle differences among exact realizations of Johnson and SDSS photometric systems require one to convert photometric measurements into the same system prior to analysis of composite data sets originating from multiple surveys. It turns out that the published photometric transformations lead to substantial biases when applied to integrated photometry of galaxies from the corresponding catalogs. Here we present photometric transformations based on piece-wise linear approximations of integrated photometry of galaxies in the optical surveys SDSS, DECaLS, BASS, MzLS, DES, DELVE, KiDS, VST ATLAS, and the near-infrared surveys UKIDSS, UHS, VHS, and VIKING. We validate our transformations by constructing k -corrected color–magnitude diagrams of non-active galaxies and measuring the position and tightness of the “red sequence.” We also provide transformations for aperture magnitudes and show how they are affected by the image quality difference among the surveys. We present the implementation of the derived transformations in python and idl and also a web-based color transformation calculator for galaxies. By comparing DECaLS and DES, we identified systematic issues in DECaLS photometry for extended galaxies, which we attribute to the photometric software package used by DECaLS. As an application of our method, we compiled two multi-wavelength photometric catalogs for over 200,000 low- and intermediate-redshift galaxies originating from CfA FAST and Hectospec spectral archives.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Parity-violating inelastic electron-proton scattering at low Q 2 above the resonance region

We report the measurement of the parity-violating asymmetry for the inelastic scattering of electrons from the proton, at $Q^2 = 0.082$ GeV$^2$ and $ W = 2.23$ GeV, above the resonance region. The result $A_{\rm Inel} = - 13.5 \pm 2.0 ({\rm stat}) \pm 3.9 ({\rm syst})$ ppm agrees with theoretical calculations, and helps to validate the modeling of the $\gamma Z$ interference structure functions $F_1^{\gamma Z}$ and $F_2^{\gamma Z}$ used in those calculations, which are also used for determination of the two-boson exchange box diagram ($\Box_{\gamma Z}$) contribution to parity-violating elastic scattering measurements. A positive parity-violating asymmetry for inclusive $\pi^-$ production was observed, as well as positive beam-normal single-spin asymmetry for scattered electrons and a negative beam-normal single-spin asymmetry for inclusive $\pi^-$ production.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Precision spectroscopy of fast, hot, exotic isotopes using machine-learning-assisted event-by-event Doppler correction

We propose an experimental scheme for performing sensitive, high-precision laser spectroscopy studies on fast exotic isotopes. By inducing a stepwise resonant ionization of the atoms traveling inside an electric field and subsequently detecting the ion and the corresponding electron, time-, and position-sensitive measurements of the resulting particles can be performed. Using a mixture density network, we can leverage this information to predict the initial energy of individual atoms and thus apply a Doppler correction of the observed transition frequencies on an event-by-event basis. We conduct numerical simulations of the proposed experimental scheme and show that kHz-level uncertainties can be achieved for ion beams produced at extreme temperatures ( > 10 8 K), with energy spreads as large as 10 keV and nonuniform velocity distributions. The ability to perform in-flight spectroscopy, directly on highly energetic beams, offers unique opportunities to study short-lived isotopes with lifetimes in the millisecond range and below, produced in low quantities, in hot and highly contaminated environments, without the need for cooling techniques. Such species are of marked interest for nuclear structure, astrophysics, and new physics searches. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Udrescu, S. M. (ORCID:000000021989576X)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Revised astrometric calibration of the Gemini Planet Imager

We present a revision to the astrometric calibration of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI), an instrument designed to achieve the high contrast at small angular separations necessary to image substellar and planetary-mass companions around nearby, young stars. We identified several issues with the GPI data reduction pipeline (DRP) that significantly affected the determination of the angle of north in reduced GPI images. As well as introducing a small error in position angle measurements for targets observed at small zenith distances, this error led to a significant error in the previous astrometric calibration that has affected all subsequent astrometric measurements. We present a detailed description of these issues and how they were corrected. We reduced GPI observations of calibration binaries taken periodically since the instrument was commissioned in 2014 using an updated version of the DRP. These measurements were compared to observations obtained with the NIRC2 instrument on Keck II, an instrument with an excellent astrometric calibration, allowing us to derive an updated plate scale and north offset angle for GPI. This revised astrometric calibration should be used to calibrate all measurements obtained with GPI for the purposes of precision astrometry.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Alignment of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) in space

Abstract The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a precision particle physics detector operating at an altitude of $$\sim 410$$ ∼ 410 km aboard the International Space Station. The AMS silicon tracker, together with the permanent magnet, measures the rigidity (momentum/charge) of cosmic rays in the range from $$\sim 0.5$$ ∼ 0.5 GV to several TV. In order to have accurate rigidity measurements, the positions of more than 2000 tracker modules have to be determined at the micron level by an alignment procedure. The tracker was first aligned using the 400 GeV/c proton test beam at CERN and then re-aligned using cosmic-ray events after being launched into space. A unique method to align the permanent magnetic spectrometer for a space experiment is presented. The developed underlying mathematical algorithm is discussed in detail.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2024

The EIC accelerator: design highlights and project status

The design of the electron-ion collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory is well underway, aiming at a peak electron-proton luminosity of 10e+34 cm^-1·sec^-1. This high luminosity, the wide center-of-mass energy range from 29 to 141 GeV (e-p) and the high level of polarization require innovative solutions to maximize the performance of the machine, which makes the EIC one of the most challenging accelerator projects to date. The complexity of the EIC will be discussed, and the project status and plans will be presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

RESONANT MATCHING SECTION FOR CEBAF ENERGY UPGRADE

In order to prevent emittance growth during long stores of the proton beam at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), we need to have some mechanism to provide fast cooling of the dense proton beams. One promising method is coherent electron cooling (CeC), which uses an electron beam to both ?measure? the positions of protons within the bunch and then apply energy kicks which tend to reduce their longitudinal and transverse actions. In this work, we discuss the under- lying physics of this process. We then discuss simulations which constrain the electrons to move only longitudinally in order to perform fast optimizations and long-term track- ing of the bunch evolution, and benchmark these results against fully 3D codes. Additionally, we discuss practical challenges, including the necessity of a high-quality elec- tron beam and sub-micron alignment of the electrons and protons.

Deitrick, K.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Proposed Test of the Two Beam BPM at RHIC

The essence of the ERL operation implies that at least two beams (accelerated and decelerated) are co-propagating in the same vacuum vessel and each beam has its own trajectory. The existing beam position monitors measure only “average” trajectory but not that of an individual beam, unless the time separation between bunches is so large that one can resolve individual bunches. It was proposed to use phase information of the pick-up signal to extract information on the orbit “difference”. We are planning to conduct experiments at RHIC to test the proposed idea. The approach and experiment set-up are described in the paper.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cosmic Background Rejection of the ICARUS experiment at Fermilab

The Short Baseline Neutrino program at Fermilab aims to explore significant regions of parameter space, applicable to sterile neutrinos at the eV mass scale, as suggested by existing experimental anomalies. To this purpose it exploits Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber detectors located along the Booster Neutrino Beamline to measure both νe appearance and νµ disappearance: the Short Baseline Neutrino Detector and the ICARUS-T600 detector at 110 and 600 m from the neutrino source, respectively. The ICARUS T-600 Far Detector, located at shallow depth, is surrounded by a Cosmic Ray Tagger system to mitigate the cosmic ray background. On average ~ 11 muon tracks are expected to cross the detector during the ~ 1 ms drift time. The cosmic ray tagger is composed of plastic scintillator bars, ensuring near 4π coverage of the detector aiming at tagging cosmic muons and thus reject 𝛾s produced by muon interactions in the surrounding materials that can generate an electromagnetic showers mimicking a νe signal. The system allows one to disentangle cosmic rays from particles originated in a neutrino interaction inside the detector by measuring their position and crossing time. A synchronization of the cosmic ray tagger with the ICARUS photon detection system with a nanosecond accuracy allows one to reject cosmic particles recorded during the beam spill and thus select an enriched sample of neutrino triggered events ahead of the event reconstruction. An overview of the cosmic ray tagger system as well as its role in the neutrino events identification and cosmic background rejection will be presented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Muon g-2 Experiment at Fermilab: Precision Measurements and Nonlinear Beam Dynamics

The Muon g-2 Experiment has achieved a significant milestone by measuring the positive muon anomalous magnetic moment to an unprecedented accuracy of 0.20 ppm, paving the way to a better understanding of particle physics, including beyond-the-Standard-Model possibilities. In the experiment, muons are circulated within a storage ring, and their anomalous precession frequency — the spin precession relative to momentum — is determined from decay positron time and energy data, captured using calorimeters. In support of accurate storage ring simulations, we performed high-order calculations of the field of the experiment's high-voltage quadrupoles. We also carried out accurate, transfer map–based calculations of the storage ring's chromaticity. These calculations are essential for understanding the beam dynamics effects in the Muon g-2 storage ring.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

4.5m GTEM RS105 Test Capability Commissioning

This work details the reconfiguration of the 4.5 m Gigahertz Transverse Electromagnetic test facility at Sandia National Laboratories to operate in accordance with the RS105 (radiated susceptibility) test from MIL-STD-461 representing a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse. This reconfiguration involved removal of the existing continuous wave source and connecting both a high voltage feed and a coaxial feed housing the Marx bank pulser. Marx control settings were calibrated for several voltage levels across two pulsers, and position-dependent measurements of the peak electric field were taken throughout the test volume for each pulser. The results showed field uniformity and purity across the test volume comparable to continuous wave operations, and field peaks were measured from 1.63 kV/m to 54.8 kV/m, with maximum capabilities expected to exceed 100 kV/m. Some challenges in consistent pulser operations at lower Marx bank voltages and high frequency reflections in the system were identified for future capability improvements.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Leveraging ARM Data to Improve Models for Predictive Understanding of Energy and Security Challenges

Extreme weather and natural hazards can disrupt the energy sector, affecting demand, generation, transmission, distribution, consumption and operational planning at regional and national scales. These disruptions stem from a broad range of atmospheric phenomena, including winter storms, freezing rain, wet snow loading, severe convection, flooding and landslides, wildfires, prolonged heat, and drought. Many of these same phenomena can also affect national security through impacts to transportation and infrastructure. To support the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) focus on energy resilience and national security, the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) User Facility is uniquely positioned to contribute measurement data, analyses, and modeling frameworks that can significantly improve predictive understanding of these hazards to mitigate their effects. To explore this opportunity, ARM convened a two-part virtual workshop in November 2025. The workshop engaged interdisciplinary experts in atmospheric science, energy systems, modeling, and operations. The goal of the meeting was to engage with these interdisciplinary experts to address three questions: • What are examples of atmospheric processes that represent significant risks to energy security or national security and where are those risks greatest? • What measurements or measurement strategies would improve ARM’s capacity to address these issues? • How can ARM and users of the ARM facility better work with the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) and multi-sector modeling communities to apply ARM data to improving E3SM simulations of these phenomena? Participants were asked to submit white papers ahead of the meeting to initiate thinking on these themes and to help organize discussions. Workshop sessions were then organized around themes identified in the white papers. First from the white papers and then through subsequent discussions, workshop participants identified many examples that address the three questions listed above. Participants called out energy system vulnerabilities to weather phenomena such as the impact of freezing rain, strong winds, and excessive heat on power grids. They also noted the effects that weather phenomena could have on energy demand or supply (e.g., through effects of extreme temperatures). They called out security vulnerabilities such as impacts to crops from aerosol-borne pathogens and risks to industry due to melting permafrost in the Arctic. In all, over a dozen meteorological phenomena were linked to energy or security vulnerabilities. For many of the identified phenomena, participants pointed out where ARM was well poised to address issues (e.g., through measurements of cloud microphysics to inform studies of freezing rain) but also noted needs for additional measurements or modified measurement strategies. For example, adaptive scanning of severe weather would be valuable for probing winter storms or severe convection. Participants pointed out the value in integrating external observations with ARM measurements and with applying artificial intelligence (AI) to ARM observation analysis and they advocated for using model simulations to help optimize measurement strategies through Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs). It was clear from the workshop that there are many ways that ARM observations can be used to mitigate energy and security concerns, but meeting participants were also asked to identify what they considered to be the greatest opportunities by ranking issues pertaining to the three workshop questions. This was accomplished through a survey administered to participants between the two virtual sessions. The highest-priority phenomena identified were winter storms, severe convection, and arctic processes. Discussion in the second session, therefore, focused primarily on these three areas, which were most fully developed in exploring ARM opportunities. Nevertheless, it was also clear that ARM has opportunities to contribute to all the identified topics. This report describes the workshop, including input from discussion and white papers (Sections 2 and 3) and a list of priority recommendations (section 4). Many other ideas for ARM contributions are discussed in individual white papers (Appendix D).

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Low Mass Straw Tube Tracker for the Mu2e Experiment

The Mu2e Tracker is a state of the art low mass straw tube detector that will look for charged lepton flavor violation (CLFV) by measuring the position and the momentum of the monochromatic 105 MeV/c electron from the $\mu^- N\rightarrow e^- N$ neutrinoless electron conversion in the presence of aluminum nucleus. To achieve this goal, the tracker needs to have momentum resolution of less than 180 keV/c \cite{TDR} for the conversion electron spectrum. The tracker is still under construction with the joint effort of several institutes. This paper will detail technical information about the Mu2e tracker and show early cosmics data taken with a production tracker plane.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

Detection of Thermal Emission at Millimeter Wavelengths from Low-Earth Orbit Satellites

The detection of satellite thermal emission at millimeter wavelengths is presented using data from the 3rd-Generation receiver on the South Pole Telescope (SPT-3G). This represents the first reported detection of thermal emission from artificial satellites at millimeter wavelengths. Satellite thermal emission is shown to be detectable at high signal-to-noise on timescales as short as a few tens of milliseconds. An algorithm for downloading orbital information and tracking known satellites given observer constraints and time-ordered observatory pointing is described. Consequences for cosmological surveys and short-duration transient searches are discussed, revealing that the integrated thermal emission from all large satellites does not contribute significantly to the SPT-3G survey intensity map. Measured satellite positions are found to be discrepant from their two-line element (TLE) derived ephemerides up to several arcminutes which may present a difficulty in cross-checking or masking satellites from short-duration transient searches.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗