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At least 127 records · Page 7

Chasing Gamma-Ray Signals from Binary Neutron Star Coalescences with the Cherenkov Telescope Array: Prospects and Observing Strategies

The detection of gravitational waves (GWs) from a binary neutron star (BNS) merger by Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo (GW170817), together with its electromagnetic counterpart, the short gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A, heralded the birth of multimessenger astronomy. The detection of TeV emission from GRBs motivates follow-up observations with the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO), which is ideal for detecting such signals due to its unprecedented sensitivity, rapid response, and wide-field survey capabilities. The aim of this work is to evaluate GeV–TeV GW follow-up strategies for CTAO using a multistep simulation pipeline and to estimate the expected rate of joint GW–GRB detections during observing run O5. Using a simulated sample of BNS systems with corresponding GW detections, gamma-ray emission is simulated through phenomenological prescriptions based on the observed population of short GRBs, including off-axis jet scenarios. CTAO observations are simulated to account for instrument response, sky tiling strategies, integration times, and varying observing conditions. Strategies with variable and constant integration times are investigated. We find that, via an optimized follow-up strategy, about 5% of simulated GW-associated short GRBs produce GeV–TeV radiation detectable by CTAO. Detectability is strongly influenced by the jet opening angle and viewing angle, suggesting that even rough estimates of the viewing angle in GW alerts could enhance targeting. This framework motivates future follow-ups of GW-detectable events, including neutron star–black hole mergers, and further supports the development of advanced strategies incorporating galaxy distributions and synergies with future detectors such as the Einstein Telescope.

Abe, S. [University of Tokyo] (ORCID:0000000172503↗

Living with a Star Space Environment Testbed

Summary of activities: (1) FYO1 NRA - Model development and data mining. (2) FY03 NRA - Flight investigations. (3) SET carrier development. (4) Study for accommodation of SET carrier to support advanced detectors. (5) Collaboration with other programs: LWS TR&T to maximize synergy between TR&T space environment research and SET space environment effects research. LWS Data System to optimize dissemination of SET data. NASA Electronic Parts and Packaging Program to leverage ground testing of technologies. Defense Threat Reduction Agency to leverage ground testing and common interests in advanced detectors. and Air Force Research Laboratory to leverage flight opportunities. (6) Education and Public Outreach.

Barth, Janet↗

In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on the Moon: Moessbauer Spectroscopy as a Process Monitor for Oxygen Production

Essential consumables like oxygen must to be produced from materials on the lunar surface to enable a sustained, long-term presence of humans on the Moon. The Outpost Precursor for ISRU and Modular Architecture (OPTIMA) field test on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, facilitated by the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES) of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, was designed to test the implementation of three hardware concepts to extract oxygen from the lunar regolith: Precursor ISRU Lunar Oxygen Testbed (PILOT) developed by Lockheed Martin in Littleton, CO; Regolith & Environmental Science and Oxygen & Lunar Volatiles Extraction (RESOLVE) developed at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL; and ROxygen developed at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. The three concepts differ in design, but all rely on the same general principle: hydrogen reduction of metal cations (primarily Fe2+) bonded to oxygen to metal (e.g., Fe0) with the production of water. The hydrogen source is residual hydrogen in the fuel tanks of lunar landers. Electrolysis of the water produces oxygen and hydrogen (which is recycled). We used the miniaturized M ssbauer spectrometer MIMOS II to quantify the yield of this process on the basis of the quantity of Fe0 produced. Iron M ssbauer spectroscopy identifies iron-bearing phases, determines iron oxidation states, and quantifies the distribution of iron between mineral phases and oxidation states. The oxygen yield can be calculated by quantitative measurements of the distribution of Fe among oxidation states in the regolith before and after hydrogen reduction. A M ssbauer spectrometer can also be used as a prospecting tool to select the optimum feedstock for the oxygen production plants (e.g., high total Fe content and easily reduced phases). As a demonstration, a MIMOS II backscatter spectrometer (SPESI, Germany) was mounted on the Cratos rover (NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OH), which is one of several rover concepts designed to excavate and transfer regolith to the stationary hydrogen reduction plants. Spaceflight versions of the MIMOS II are part of the instrument payloads of NASA s Mars Exploration Rovers and still operating five years after landing on the surface of the planet. MIMOS II was also selected for Phobos-Grunt, a Russian sample return mission to the martian moon Phobos scheduled to launch in 2009, and ESA s ExoMars rover, an exobiology mission scheduled to launch in 2013. An advanced version of the instrument is currently under development. A new detector system with a higher energy resolution will not only reduce the necessary measurement time considerably, but also allow the simultaneous acquisition of an X-ray fluorescence spectrum to determine the elemental composition of samples.

Morris, R.V.↗

Lenslet Array to Further Suppress Star Light for Direct Exoplanet Detection

Direct imaging plays a key role in the detection and characterization of exoplanets orbiting within its host star's habitable zone. Many innovative ideas for starlight suppression and wavefront control have been proposed and developed over the past decade. However, several technological challenges still lie ahead to achieve the required contrast, including controlling the observatory pointing performance, fabricating occulting masks with tight optical tolerances, developing wavefront control algorithms, controlling stray light, advancing single photon detecting detectors, and integrated system-level issues. This paper explores how a lenslet array and pinhole mask may be implemented to further suppress uncorrected starlight that leaks through the occulting mask. An external occulter, or star shade, is simulated to demonstrate this concept, although this approach can be implemented for internal coronagraphs as well. We describe how to use simple relay optics to control the scene near the inner working angle and the level of the suppression expected. Furthermore, if the lenslet array is the input to an integral field spectrograph, as planned for the WFIRST mission, the spectral content of the exoplanet atmospheres can be obtained to determine if the observed planet is habitable and ultimately, if it is inhabited.

Integral Field spectrograph↗

Imaging antenna arrays

Many millimeter and far-infrared imaging systems are limited in sensitivity and speed because they depend on a single scanned element. Because of recent advances in planar detectors such as Schottky diodes, superconducting tunnel junctions, and microbolometers, an attractive approach to this problem is a planar antenna array with integrated detectors. A planar line antenna array and optical system for imaging has been developed. The significant advances are a 'reverse-microscope' optical configuration and a modified bow-tie antenna design. In the 'reverse-microscope' configuration, a lens is attached to the bottom of the substrate containing the antennas. Imaging is done through the substrate. This configuration eliminates the troublesome effects of substrate surface waves. The substrate lens has only a single refracting surface, making possible a virtually aplanatic system, with little spherical aberration or coma. The array is characterized by an optical transfer function that is easily measured. An array with 19 dB crosstalk levels between adjacent antennas has been tested and it was found that the array captured 50 percent of the available power. This imaging system was diffraction limited.

Rutledge, D. B.↗

Evaluation and characterization of hybrid arrays

An Infrared Camera was built for astronomical observations and for testing arrays for satellite based work. The detectors are sensitive to mid infrared wavelengths. The camera was tested at the University of Arizona 61 and 90 inch telescopes and the NASA IRTF. These tests have demonstrated a sensitivity consistent with photon shot noise with an approximately 10% quantum efficiency for each pixel when the camera was used with a 1.6% spectral filter or when used with a Fabry-Perot having a resolving power of 2000. Initial measurements of read out noise, dark current, cross talk, and hysteresis were made. The detector chip in current use is a hybrid array manufactured by the Hughes Aircraft Company. Because part of the goal was to develop and advance technology, it was decided to work with a switched MOSFET array. This architecture is very promising, and the detector parameters will be quantified carefully.

Arens, J. F.↗

ATLAST Detector Needs for Direct Spectroscopic Biosignature Characterization in the Visible and Near-IR

Are we alone? Answering this ageless question will be a major focus for astrophysics in coming decades. Our tools will include unprecedentedly large UV-Optical-IR space telescopes working with advanced coronagraphs and starshades. Yet, these facilities will not live up to their full potential without better detectors than we have today. To inform detector development, this paper provides an overview of visible and near-IR (VISIR; lambda = 0.4 − 1.8 micrometers) detector needs for the Advanced Technology Large Aperture Space Telescope (ATLAST), specifically for spectroscopic characterization of atmospheric biosignature gasses. We also provide a brief status update on some promising detector technologies for meeting these needs in the context of a passively cooled ATLAST.

spectroscopic↗

Studies of Avalanche Photodiodes (APDS) as Readout Devices for Scintillating Fibers for High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy Telescopes

New gamma ray and charged particle telescope designs based on scintillating fiber arrays could provide low cost, high resolution, lightweight, very large area and multi radiation length instrumentation for planned NASA space exploration. The scintillating fibers low visible light output requires readout sensors with single photon detection sensitivity and low noise. The sensitivity of silicon Avalanche Photodiodes (APDS) matches well the spectral output of the scintillating fibers. Moreover, APDs have demonstrated single photon capability. The global aim of our work is to make available to NASA a novel optical detector concept to be used as scintillating fiber readouts and meeting the requirements of the new generations of space-borne gamma ray telescopes. We proposed to evaluate the feasibility of using RMD's small area APDs ((mu)APD) as scintillating fiber readouts and to study possible alternative (mu)APD array configurations for space borne readout scintillating fiber systems, requiring several hundred thousand to one million channels. The evaluation has been conducted in accordance with the task description and technical specifications detailed in the NASA solicitation "Studies of Avalanche Photodiodes (APD as readout devices for scintillating fibers for High Energy Gamma-Ray Astronomy Telescopes" (#8-W-7-ES-13672NAIS) posted on October 23, 1997. The feasibility study we propose builds on recent developments of silicon APD arrays and light concentrators advances at RMD, Inc. and on more than 5 years of expertise in scintillating fiber detectors. In a previous program we carried out the initial research to develop a high resolution, small pixel, solid-state, silicon APD array which exhibited very high sensitivity in the UV-VIS spectrum. This (mu)APD array is operated in Geiger mode and results in high gain (greater than 10(exp 8)), extremely low noise, single photon detection capability, low quiescent power (less than 10 (mu)W/pixel for 30 micrometers sensitive area diameter) and output in the 1-5 volt range. If successful, this feasibility study will make possible the development of a scintillating fiber detector with unsurpassed sensitivity, extremely low power usage, a crucial factor of merit for space based sensors and telescopes.

Vasile, Stefan↗

STEM Ptychographic Holography of Electric and Magnetic Potentials

The development of fast an efficient direct electron imaging detectors have enabled the advancement of phase-imaging techniques in STEM such as iterative ptychography. As beneficial as these techniques are to imaging phase objects, the information recorded in the raw data is due to phase gradients across the probe, so it can be challenging to reconstruct slowly varying phase at lower spatial frequencies such as those induced by electric or magnetic potentials within the specimen. STEM holography [1,2] is an interferometric 4D-STEM technique where electrons in the beam are coherently divided into a superposition of two or more spatially separated probes which are then scanned over the specimen. For example, in a two-beam superposition, the two probes form overlapping bright field discs at the detector which then interfere (left of Fig. 1). Furthermore, if one probe passes through vacuum while the other transmits through the specimen, the resulting relative phase shift can be measured by recording shifts in the interference pattern. STEM holography is thus directly sensitive to the phase of the probe relative to the reference beam, and this phase can be measured regardless of the convergence angle of the probe, unlike single beam ptychography.

Biological Sciences↗

Pixel detectors for diffraction-limited storage rings

Dramatic advances in synchrotron radiation sources produce ever-brighter beams of X-rays, but those advances can only be used if there is a corresponding improvement in X-ray detectors. With the advent of storage ring sources capable of being diffraction-limited (down to a certain wavelength), advances in detector speed, dynamic range and functionality is required. While many of these improvements in detector capabilities are being pursued now, the orders-of-magnitude increases in brightness of diffraction-limited storage ring sources will require challenging non-incremental advances in detectors. This article summarizes the current state of the art, developments underway worldwide, and challenges that diffraction-limited storage ring sources present for detectors.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Time-Based CAN IDS Paper Results Code

Modern vehicles are complex cyber-physical systems made of hundreds of electronic control units (ECUs) that communicate over controller area networks (CANs). This inherited complexity has expanded the CAN attack surface which is vulnerable to message injection attacks. These injections change the overall timing characteristics of messages on the bus, and thus, to detect these malicious messages, time-based intrusion detection systems (IDSs) have been proposed. However, time-based IDSs are usually trained and tested on low-fidelity datasets with unrealistic, labeled attacks. This makes difficult the task of evaluating, comparing, and validating IDSs. Here we detail and benchmark four time-based IDSs against the newly published ROAD dataset, the first open CAN IDS dataset with real (non-simulated) stealthy attacks with physically verified effects. We found that methods that perform hypothesis testing by explicitly estimating message timing distributions have lower performance than methods that seek anomalies in a distribution related statistic. In particular, these “distribution-agnostic” based methods outperform “distribution-based” methods by at least 55% in area under the precision-recall curve (AUC-PR). Our results expand the body of knowledge of CAN time-based IDSs by providing details of these methods and reporting their results when tested on datasets with real advanced attacks. Finally, we develop an after-market plug-in detector using lightweight hardware, which can be used to deploy the best performing IDS method on nearly any vehicle.

Moriano, Pablo [Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oa↗

Overview of the NASA LISA Laser System Development

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is developing the Laser System (LS) for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, led by the European Space Agency (ESA) with a launch date of 2035. The LS under development at NASA GSFC consists of the Laser Head (LH), the Frequency Reference System (FRS), and the Power Monitor (PMON) Detector Assemblies. Since late 2017, we have been developing various models to advance the technology readiness level (TRL) for the LH from prototype (TRL4) to a system model demonstration in a relevant environment (TRL6). For the LH and FRS, the models further breakdown into the optical and electronics modules where the LH is made up of the Laser Optical Module (LOM) and the Laser Electronics Module (LEM) and the FRS consists of the FRS Optical Reference Cavity (FRS-O) and the FRS Electronics (FRS-E). The LS development follows the established NASA process in demonstrating the performance requirements [1] through the TRL4 effort and then advancing the form factor and package design to meet relevant environment requirements and qualifying the TRL6 design through rigorous testing and performance verification for space applications. The LOM for the LH is a main oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) with wavelength of 1064 nm and nominal output power of 2 Watt throughout the mission. The low-power, low-noise main oscillator (MO) is a custom micro non-planar ring oscillator (µNPRO) [2] that is phase modulated then amplified by the forward pumped ytterbium-dope fiber power amplifier (PA) stage to meet the output power requirement. The FRS is baselined on the GRACE Follow-On (GFO) [3] approach with updated FRS-E design to work with the LH-LEM. The PMON is located on the Optical Bench Assembly (OBA) [4] that samples a small portion of the LH output signal and provides the feedback signal to the LH-LEM for relative intensity noise (RIN) control. In this paper, we will report on the latest status of the LH testing and system level tests, explain the other subsystems involved in the test campaigns, and discuss the path to bring each LS subsystem to TRL6. We will also present the NASA GSFC roadmap in advancing the LISA LS to TRL6+ and plans for future system level testing as well as the preparation for space flight development to meet the LISA launch date of 2035.

amplifier↗

X-ray diagnostic developments in the perspective of DEMO

Soft X-ray diagnostics at present are not adequate for a burning plasma experiment, neither in term of hardware nor as diagnostic conception. Detectors have to be radiation tolerant, easily shielded, with low sensitivity to neutrons and gammas and with energy discrimination. Layout and viewing capability should be more flexible, thanks to the use also of optical devices, going toward a configuration intermediate between discrete tomography and pure imaging. The general conception of these diagnostics should therefore evolve in the direction of pattern recognition for a real time feedback. This work is focused on the diagnostic developments undertaken at the ENEA- Frascati X-ray Laboratory, following in particular three directions: gas detector for fast and advanced high density tomography, C-MOS solid state imaging detectors for slow control and X-ray polycapillary optics. GEM gas detectors in photon counting mode (noise free) were developed in the range 1-30 keV having high efficiency, high time resolution (up to microseconds), energy discrimination in bands and optical flexibility. Discrimination of X-rays, neutrons and gammas has been demonstrated, thanks to the combination of intrinsic gain and discrimination thresholds, at neutron fluxes (10{sup 7} n/s*cm{sup 2}) comparable with the expected ones at the ports of ITER. GEM detectors are also extremely flexible in the design, allowing optimization of the measurements and solutions for shielding or minimization of the effect of background radiation. Two solid state C-MOS imagers working in photon counting mode, one based on Si semiconductor (Medipix-2, range 5-30 keV) and the other one having a CdTe sensor (Pixirad, range 2-100 keV) have been characterized in laboratory. C-MOS imagers have features and performances thoroughly complementary to the GEM detector and, thanks to their higher pixel density, could be used as remote imaging detectors coupled to optics. X-ray polycapillary lenses have been therefore studied in the laboratory both as imaging optical device (full lens) or to define a line of sight (cylinder lens); the preliminary results are encouraging toward the goal of using these lenses to transport X-ray radiation far from the reactor. Reflective or diffractive X-ray optics can be also an option for tomography. A GEM detector has been installed at KSTAR and in the next future hopefully the other approaches will be tested there: once their feasibility will be demonstrated, the issue of the improvement of the radiation tolerance will be faced and the development of algorithms for data analysis as well.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Scalable and accurate multi-GPU-based image reconstruction of large-scale ptychography data

Abstract While the advances in synchrotron light sources, together with the development of focusing optics and detectors, allow nanoscale ptychographic imaging of materials and biological specimens, the corresponding experiments can yield terabyte-scale volumes of data that can impose a heavy burden on the computing platform. Although graphics processing units (GPUs) provide high performance for such large-scale ptychography datasets, a single GPU is typically insufficient for analysis and reconstruction. Several works have considered leveraging multiple GPUs to accelerate the ptychographic reconstruction. However, most of these works utilize only the Message Passing Interface to handle the communications between GPUs. This approach poses inefficiency for a hardware configuration that has multiple GPUs in a single node, especially while reconstructing a single large projection, since it provides no optimizations to handle the heterogeneous GPU interconnections containing both low-speed (e.g., PCIe) and high-speed links (e.g., NVLink). In this paper, we provide an optimized intranode multi-GPU implementation that can efficiently solve large-scale ptychographic reconstruction problems. We focus on the maximum likelihood reconstruction problem using a conjugate gradient (CG) method for the solution and propose a novel hybrid parallelization model to address the performance bottlenecks in the CG solver. Accordingly, we have developed a tool, called PtyGer ( Pty chographic G PU(multipl e )-based r econstruction), implementing our hybrid parallelization model design. A comprehensive evaluation verifies that PtyGer can fully preserve the original algorithm’s accuracy while achieving outstanding intranode GPU scalability.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

AXIS: An instrument for imaging Compton radiographs using the Advanced Radiography Capability on the NIF

Compton radiography is an important diagnostic for Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF), as it provides a means to measure the density and asymmetries of the DT fuel in an ICF capsule near the time of peak compression. The AXIS instrument (ARC (Advanced Radiography Capability) X-ray Imaging System) is a gated detector in development for the National Ignition Facility (NIF), and will initially be capable of recording two Compton radiographs during a single NIF shot. The principal reason for the development of AXIS is the requirement for significantly improved detection quantum efficiency (DQE) at high x-ray energies. AXIS will be the detector for Compton radiography driven by the ARC laser, which will be used to produce Bremsstrahlung X-ray backlighter sources over the range of 50 keV–200 keV for this purpose. It is expected that AXIS will be capable of recording these high-energy x-rays with a DQE several times greater than other X-ray cameras at NIF, as well as providing a much larger field of view of the imploded capsule. AXIS will therefore provide an image with larger signal-to-noise that will allow the density and distribution of the compressed DT fuel to be measured with significantly greater accuracy as ICF experiments are tuned for ignition.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Summaries of FY16 LANL experimental campaigns at the OMEGA and EP Laser Facilities

In FY16, Los Alamos National Laboratory carried out 22 shot days on the OMEGA and OMEGA- EP laser facilities in the areas of High Energy Density (HED) Science and Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF). In HED our focus areas were on radiation flow, hydrodynamic turbulent mix and burn, warm dense matter equations of state, and coupled Kelvin-­Helmholtz (KH)/Richtmyer-­ Meshkov (RM) instability growth. For ICF our campaigns focused on the Priority Research Directions (PRD) of implosion phase mix and stagnation and burn, specifically as they pertain to Laser Direct Drive (LDD). We also had several focused shot days on transport properties in the kinetic regime. We continue to develop advanced diagnostics such as Neutron Imaging, Gamma Reaction History, and Gas Cherenkov Detectors. Below are a summary of our campaigns, their motivation, and main results from this year.

42 ENGINEERING↗

ECFA Higgs, electroweak, and top Factory Study

The ECFA Higgs, electroweak, and top Factory Study ran between 2021 and 2025 as a broad effort across the experimental and theoretical particle physics communities, bringing together participants from many different proposed future collider projects. Activities across three main working groups advanced the joint development of tools and analysis techniques, fostered new considerations of detector design and optimisation, and led to a new set of studies resulting in improved projected sensitivities across a wide physics programme. This report demonstrates the significant expansion in the state-of-the-art understanding of the physics potential of future e+e- Higgs, electroweak, and top factories, and has been submitted as input to the 2025 European Strategy for Particle Physics Update.

Altmann, J. [Monash U.]↗

Research of advanced techniques for X-ray detectors and telescopes with applications to rockets and the LAMAR facility

A program for the development of high throughput instrumentation for X-ray astronomy based upon focusing optics is being carried out by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The instrumentation is applicable to investigations requiring large area focusing optics for direct imaging or dispersive spectroscopy. The long range goals of this program are the development of telescopes and gratings for future major X-ray astronomy facilities, including additions to the LAMAR OSS-2/SHEAL experiment after the initial flights. Tests of the devices and their more immediate utilization in scientific investigations can be carried out with SPARTAN payloads deployed and retrieved by the Space Shuttle. However, the present backlog of approved SPARTAN missions is longer than the three-year duration of the program described in this program. Laboratory studies and breadboarding of instrumentation are discussed.

Gorenstein, P.↗