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At least 1,081 records · Page 60

The production spectrum of a relativistic Maxwell-Boltzmann gas

A formula is derived for use in the calculation of the spectrum of particles or photons produced through particle collisions in a Maxwell-Boltzmann gas. The result is valid for all temperatures and for the general case when the gas contains different mass particles. It is written in terms of a double integral over the cross section differential in the energy of the produced particles (or photons) in the center-of-momentum system of two colliding particles. Analytic expressions for the reaction rate and luminosity are also derived and reproduce the findings of previous work. Application to the problem of the annihilation spectrum from a relativistic Maxwell-Boltzmann electron-positron gas is made. Agreement is found between the present work and previous numerical and analytical studies.

Dermer, C. D.↗

Thermodynamically Optimized Machine-Learned Reaction Coordinates for Hydrophobic Ligand Dissociation

Ligand unbinding is mediated by its free energy change, which has intertwined contributions from both energy and entropy. It is important, but not easy, to quantify their individual contributions to the free energy profile. We model hydrophobic ligand unbinding for two systems, a methane particle and a C 60 fullerene, both unbinding from hydrophobic pockets in all-atom water. Using a modified deep learning framework, we learn a thermodynamically optimized reaction coordinate to describe the hydrophobic ligand dissociation for both systems. Interpretation of these reaction coordinates reveals the roles of entropic and enthalpic forces as the ligand and pocket sizes change. In both cases, we observe that the free-energy barrier to unbinding is dominated by entropy considerations. Furthermore, the process of methane unbinding is driven by methane solvation, while fullerene unbinding is driven first by pocket wetting and then fullerene wetting. For both solutes, the direct importance of the distance from the binding pocket to the learned reaction coordinate is present, but low. Furthermore, our framework and subsequent feature important analysis thus give useful thermodynamic insight into hydrophobic ligand dissociation problems that are otherwise difficult to glean.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Nanoelectric Materials Laboratory Development

The Ultracapacitor Research and Development project is a collaborative effort between the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) ES43 Parts, Packaging, and Fabrication Branch and the EM41 Nonmetallic Materials Branch. NASA's Ultracapacitor Research is an effort to develop solid-state energy storage devices through processing of ceramic materials into printable dielectric inks, which can be formed and treated to produce solid state ultracapacitor cells capable of exceeding lithium-ion battery energy density at a fraction of the weight. Research and development efforts into solid state ultracapacitors have highlighted a series of technical challenges such as understanding as-received nature of ceramic powders, treatment and optimization of ceramic powders, dielectric and conductor ink formulation, and firing of printed (green) ultracapacitor cells. Two facilities have been continually developed since project inception: the Additive Electronics Lab in Bldg. 4487 and the Nanoelectric Materials Lab in Bldg. 4602. The Nanoelectric Materials Lab has become a unique facility at MSFC, capable of custom processing a wide range of media for additive electronics. As research has progressed, it was discovered that additional in-house processing was necessary to achieve smaller, more uniform particle diameters. A vibratory mill was obtained that can agitate powder and media in three directions, which has shown to be much more effective than ball milling. However, in order to understand the effects of milling, a particle size analysis system has been installed to characterize as-received and milled materials Continued research into the ultracapacitor technology included advanced milling and optimization of ceramic nanoparticles, fluidized bed treatment of atomic-layer deposition- (ALD-) coated ceramic particles, custom development of dielectric and conductor inks, as well as custom ink precursors such as polyvinylidene diflouride- (PVDF-) loaded vehicles. Experiments with graphene-based inks were also conducted.

Allen, Lee↗

Indoor black carbon and biomarkers of systemic inflammation and endothelial activation in COPD patients

Highlights: • Particles from motor vehicles measured as black carbon (BC) infiltrate into the home. • There is limited information regarding systemic effects of these particles. • In COPD patients, short-term (during the past week) in-home exposure to BC is associated with increases in CRP. • The greatest increase in CRP is in persons not taking statins and with diabetes. Evidence linking traffic-related particle exposure to systemic effects in chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) patients is limited.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Comparison of Stopping Power and Range Databases for Radiation Transport Study

The codes used to calculate stopping power and range for the space radiation shielding program at the Langley Research Center are based on the work of Ziegler but with modifications. As more experience is gained from experiments at heavy ion accelerators, prudence dictates a reevaluation of the current databases. Numerical values of stopping power and range calculated from four different codes currently in use are presented for selected ions and materials in the energy domain suitable for space radiation transport. This study of radiation transport has found that for most collision systems and for intermediate particle energies, agreement is less than 1 percent, in general, among all the codes. However, greater discrepancies are seen for heavy systems, especially at low particle energies.

Tai, H.↗

Viscous dissipation in a gas of one-dimensional fermions with generic dispersion

A well-known feature of the classical monoatomic gas is that its bulk viscosity is strongly suppressed because the single-particle dispersion is quadratic. On the other hand, in condensed matter systems the effective single -particle dispersion is altered by lattice effects and interactions. In this work, we study the bulk viscosity of one-dimensional Fermi gases with generic energy-momentum dispersion relations. As an application, viscous dissipation arising from lattice effects is analyzed for the tight-binding model. In addition, we investigate how weak interactions affect the bulk viscosity. Finally, we discuss viscous dissipation in the regime in which the Fermi gas is not fully equilibrated, as can occur when the system is driven at frequencies that exceed the rate of fermion backscattering. In this case, the Fermi gas is described by three bulk viscosities, which we obtain for a generic single-particle dispersion.

1-dimensional systems↗

The relation between majorization theory and quantum information from entanglement monotones perspective

Entanglement has been studied extensively for understanding the mysteries of non-classical correlations between quantum systems. In the bipartite case, there are well known monotones for quantifying entanglement such as concurrence, relative entropy of entanglement (REE) and negativity, which cannot be increased via local operations. The study on these monotones has been a hot topic in quantum information [1-7] in order to understand the role of entanglement in this discipline. It can be observed that from any arbitrary quantum pure state a mixed state can obtained. A natural generalization of this observation would be to consider local operations classical communication (LOCC) transformations between general pure states of two parties. Although this question is a little more difficult, a complete solution has been developed using the mathematical framework of the majorization theory [8]. In this work, we analyze the relation between entanglement monotones concurrence and negativity with respect to majorization for general two-level quantum systems of two particles.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Radiation dosimetry using three-dimensional optical random access memories

Three-dimensional optical random access memories (3D ORAMs) are a new generation of high-density data storage devices. Binary information is stored and retrieved via a light induced reversible transformation of an ensemble of bistable photochromic molecules embedded in a polymer matrix. This paper describes the application of 3D ORAM materials to radiation dosimetry. It is shown both theoretically and experimentally, that ionizing radiation in the form of heavy charged particles is capable of changing the information originally stored on the ORAM material. The magnitude and spatial distribution of these changes are used as a measure of the absorbed dose, particle type and energy. The effects of exposure on 3D ORAM materials have been investigated for a variety of particle types and energies, including protons, alpha particles and 12C ions. The exposed materials are observed to fluoresce when exposed to laser light. The intensity and the depth of the fluorescence is dependent on the type and energy of the particle to which the materials were exposed. It is shown that these effects can be modeled using Monte Carlo calculations. The model provides a better understanding of the properties of these materials. which should prove useful for developing systems for charged particle and neutron dosimetry/detector applications. c2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Non-NASA Center↗

Solar Absorptivity Degradation of Spacecraft Materials Due to UV and Charged Particles in the Gateway Environment

The Gateway Passive Thermal Control System (PTCS) Group has identified charged particle and UV degradation of Gateway materials as a knowledge gap for the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) and transit environment. Candidate materials and coatings were subjected to expected mission UV and charged particle environments at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). In situ change in reflectivity was observed at specified intervals during testing such that change in solar absorptivity could be plotted as a function of time of solar exposure. Gateway will be an outpost in cislunar space designed to survive a 15-year mission to support human moon landings and future deep space exploration. The Gateway Passive Thermal Control System (PTCS) Group has identified charged particle and UV degradation of potential Gateway materials as a knowledge gap for the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO) and transit environment, especially the slow spiral transit planned for the first two modules. Solar absorptivity degradation is important to quantify because the end-of-life absorptivity impacts thermal performance of the system. To address this, ground testing is being completed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in which potential Gateway materials, including radiators, multi-layer insulation (MLI), and structural materials are subjected to the expected transit plus 15-year on-orbit charged particle fluence (9.86x1015 protons/cm2 at 2.5 keV and 3.1x1016 electrons/cm2 at 10 keV) and up to 5000 Equivalent Solar Hours (ESH). Reflectivity of a single sample of each material was measured in atmosphere and in vacuum inside the chamber after exposure to incremental levels of ESH and charged particle fluence. Increase in absorptivity of most samples were seen throughout the test including large differences in absorptivity of materials of the same category. Future testing will validate these results and include additional materials of interest.

materials in the space environment↗

Efficiency Of Charged-Particle Detection with Scintillation-Detector Prototype for the Anticoincidence System of the Signal Experiment

The results obtained by measuring the efficiency of detection of charged particles (atmospheric muons) for a prototype of a polyvinyltoluene-based scintillation detector being created for the anticoincidence system of the Signal experiment on board the Interhelioprobe spacecraft are presented. These measurements rely on determining the ratio of the numbers of triple and double coincidences of pulses that arise as atmospheric muons traverse the detector system.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Symmetrizing relativistic three-body partial wave amplitudes

S matrix principles and symmetries impose constraints on three-particle scattering amplitudes, which can be formulated as a class of integral equations for their partial wave projections. However, these amplitudes are typically expressed in an asymmetric basis, where one of the initial and final state particles is singled out, and all quantum numbers are defined relative to this spectator. In this work, we show how to construct symmetric partial wave amplitudes, which have been symmetrized over all possible spectator combinations, using their asymmetric counterparts and sets of recoupling coefficients. We derive these recoupling coefficients for arbitrary angular momentum and isospin for arbitrary systems of spinless particles with SU(2) flavor symmetry. We propose a simple intensity observable suitable for visualizing the structure of three-body dynamics in Dalitz distributions. Finally, we provide some numerical examples of Dalitz distributions relevant for future lattice QCD calculations of 3⁢𝜋 systems and provide numerical evidence that the symmetrization procedure is consistent with expected symmetries of Dalitz plots.

Lattice QCD↗

Determining Trajectory of Triboelectrically Charged Particles, Using Discrete Element Modeling

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory is participating in an Innovative Partnership Program (IPP) project with an industry partner to modify a commercial off-the-shelf simulation software product to treat the electrodynamics of particulate systems. Discrete element modeling (DEM) is a numerical technique that can track the dynamics of particle systems. This technique, which was introduced in 1979 for analysis of rock mechanics, was recently refined to include the contact force interaction of particles with arbitrary surfaces and moving machinery. In our work, we endeavor to incorporate electrostatic forces into the DEM calculations to enhance the fidelity of the software and its applicability to (1) particle processes, such as electrophotography, that are greatly affected by electrostatic forces, (2) grain and dust transport, and (3) the study of lunar and Martian regoliths.

Source record↗

Dynamics of groups around interacting double ellipticals: Measuring dark matter haloes

Binary galaxies, as binary stars, are important to measure masses, as suggested by Page (1952). Because three orbit parameters are measurable for galaxies at one instant of time, severe uncertainties remain in the orbit and mass determinations. These uncertainties can partly be overcome by statistical studies of selected samples and/or n-body simulations. Close double galaxies (and isolated galaxies) could also be useful to estimate dynamical masses if we can find test particles around them. Interacting elliptical pairs or dumb-bell galaxies are found with a large range, between 0-1200 km s(exp -1), of relative radial velocities. Standard 2-body orbit calculations, highly uncertain due to projection factors, suggest for the largest velocity differences very large galaxy masses, if the systems are bound and stationary. However, recent n-body simulations model these binaries as galaxies captured from hyperbolic orbits, requiring masses of order a few times 10(exp 11) solar maximum (Borne et al. 1988), but producing systems that are short lived. A different picture appears when we study observationally the dynamical mass of interacting double ellipticals using faint satellite galaxies. These satellites contribute little luminosity and, presumably, little mass to the system. The authors present results of two such groups, basically forming systems of test particles, around the dumb-bells NGC 4782/3 and IC 5049. They also briefly discuss the satellite group around the central dumb-bell in the cluster Sersic 40/6. Apparently, they detect large quantities of dark matter in the vicinity of these dumb-bell galaxies, because the system masses of approx. 4.5 times 10(exp 13) solar mass and 8 times 10(exp 13) solar mass for NGC 4782/3 and IC 5049, respectively, are quite high. Likewise, the mass of the Sersic 40/6 inner core is 7 times 10(exp 13) solar mass. The possibility that a common massive dark matter halo increases the merging times of these types of galaxies is suggested. Here, the authors assume H sub o = 100 km s (exp -1) Mpc(exp -1).

Quintana, H.↗

Phase transitions in continuum ferromagnets with unbounded spins

States of thermal equilibrium of an infinite system of interacting particles in ℝ{sup d} are studied. The particles bear “unbounded” spins with a given symmetric a priori distribution. The interaction between the particles is pairwise and splits into position-position and spin-spin parts. The position-position part is described by a superstable potential, and the spin-spin part is attractive and of finite range. Thermodynamic states of the system are defined as tempered Gibbs measures on the space of marked configurations. It is proved that the set of such measures contains at least two elements if the activity is big enough.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Single- and two-particle finite size effects in interacting lattice systems

Simulations of extended quantum systems are typically performed by extrapolating results of a sequence of finite-system-size simulations to the thermodynamic limit. In the quantum Monte Carlo community, twist-averaging was pioneered as an efficient strategy to eliminate one-body finite size effects. In the dynamical mean field community, cluster generalizations of the dynamical mean field theory were formulated to study systems with nonlocal correlations. In this work, we put the twist-averaging and the dynamical cluster approximation variant of the dynamical mean field theory onto equal footing, discuss commonalities and differences, and compare results from both techniques to the standard periodic boundary technique. At the example of Hubbard-type models with local, short-range and Yukawa-like longer range interactions we show that all methods converge to the same limit, but that the convergence speed differs in practice. We show that embedding theories are an effective tool for managing both one-body and two-body finite size effects, in particular if interactions are averaged over twist angles.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Coupled Electron-Photon Monte Carlo Radiation Transport for Next-Generation Computing Systems

Traditional Monte Carlo particle transport codes are expected to run inefficiently on next-generation architectures as they are memory-intensive and highly divergent. Since electrons and photons also behave differently, the future for coupled electron-photon radiation transport looks even worse. This project describes preliminary efforts to improve the performance of Monte Carlo particle transport codes when using accelerators like the graphics processing unit (GPU). Two key issues are addressed: how to handle memory-intensive tallies, and how to reduce divergence. Tallying on the GPU can be done efficiently by post-processing particle data, or by using a feature called warp shuffle for summing scores in parallel during the simulation. Reducing divergence is possible by using an event-based algorithm for particle tracking instead of the traditional history-based one. Although performance tests presented in this work show that the history-based algorithm generally outperformed the event-based one for simple problems, this outcome will likely change as the complexity of the code increases.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

INTEGRATED WORKFLOW MANAGEMENT FOR PARTICLE ACCELERATOR SIMULATION

Supercomputing systems are used for a wide range of computationally demanding tasks in many fields of science and engineering. They play a key role in numerical simulation, in which mathematical models are computed in order to simulate the behavior of physical systems. Scientists and engineers that use supercomputers for numerical simulation often have their productivity limited by the need to manually organize and manage extremely large amounts of data that are often produced and consumed by the software programs run on these systems. Recognizing these limitations, Kitware Inc. (Clifton Park, NY) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (Menlo Park, CA) are developing an advanced software platform that can reduce the cognitive overhead required by knowledge workers when using supercomputers for numerical simulation. Phase I of the project is complete and includes the development of new capabilities for organizing simulation project files, improvements to the user interface and overall usability, and deployment of a “middle tier” server to sit between user desktop machines and supercomputers to offload much of the data management workload. The project also developed prototype software for executing sequences of numerical simulations, and a prototype for migrating supercomputing software to cloud-based computing systems to provide a potential alternative to supercomputers with different logistical and price-to-performance tradeoffs.

Tourtellott, John↗