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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,459 records · Page 81
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Obscuration-dependent evolution of active galactic nuclei

We aim to constrain the evolution of active galactic nuclei (AGNs) as a function of obscuration using an X-ray-selected sample of ∼2000 AGNs from a multi-tiered survey including the CDFS, AEGIS-XD, COSMOS, and XMM-XXL fields. The spectra of individual X-ray sources are analyzed using a Bayesian methodology with a physically realistic model to infer the posterior distribution of the hydrogen column density and intrinsic X-ray luminosity. We develop a novel non-parametric method that allows us to robustly infer the distribution of the AGN population in X-ray luminosity, redshift, and obscuring column density, relying only on minimal smoothness assumptions. Our analysis properly incorporates uncertainties from low count spectra, photometric redshift measurements, association incompleteness, and the limited sample size. We find that obscured AGNs with N {sub H} > 10{sup 22} cm{sup –2} account for 77{sub −5}{sup +4}% of the number density and luminosity density of the accretion supermassive black hole population with L {sub X} > 10{sup 43} erg s{sup –1}, averaged over cosmic time. Compton-thick AGNs account for approximately half the number and luminosity density of the obscured population, and 38{sub −7}{sup +8}% of the total. We also find evidence that the evolution is obscuration dependent, with the strongest evolution around N {sub H} ≈ 10{sup 23} cm{sup –2}. We highlight this by measuring the obscured fraction in Compton-thin AGNs, which increases toward z ∼ 3, where it is 25% higher than the local value. In contrast, the fraction of Compton-thick AGNs is consistent with being constant at ≈35%, independent of redshift and accretion luminosity. We discuss our findings in the context of existing models and conclude that the observed evolution is, to first order, a side effect of anti-hierarchical growth.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Reconstruction of dark energy and expansion dynamics using Gaussian processes

An important issue in cosmology is reconstructing the effective dark energy equation of state directly from observations. With few physically motivated models, future dark energy studies cannot only be based on constraining a dark energy parameter space, as the errors found depend strongly on the parametrisation considered. We present a new non-parametric approach to reconstructing the history of the expansion rate and dark energy using Gaussian Processes, which is a fully Bayesian approach for smoothing data. We present a pedagogical introduction to Gaussian Processes, and discuss how it can be used to robustly differentiate data in a suitable way. Using this method we show that the Dark Energy Survey - Supernova Survey (DES) can accurately recover a slowly evolving equation of state to σ{sub w} = ±0.05 (95% CL) at z = 0 and ±0.25 at z = 0.7, with a minimum error of ±0.025 at the sweet-spot at z ∼ 0.16, provided the other parameters of the model are known. Errors on the expansion history are an order of magnitude smaller, yet make no assumptions about dark energy whatsoever. A code for calculating functions and their first three derivatives using Gaussian processes has been developed and is available for download.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1974

Sticking probabilities for the adsorption of hydrogen on clean Ni/111/, Ni/100/, Ni sheet and evaporated Ni films

Determination of the sticking probability for hydrogen adsorption on clean Ni(111), Ni(100), polycrystalline nickel sheet, and polycrystalline evaporated nickel films, using a modification of the reflection detector technique of Horgan and King (1970) for metal films. The initial sticking probability for hydrogen adsorption on a nickel film at 300 K by the proposed method is found to be 0.25 in comparison to 0.35 for hydrogen adsorption on a nickel film using the reflection detector technique. Also, the sticking probabilities on smooth single-crystal (111) and (100) planes and polycrystalline sheets are found to be lower than those on the rougher polycrystalline nickel films.

Horgan, A. M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Finite-difference fluid dynamics computer mathematical models for the design and interpretation of experiments for space flight

Numerical methods are used to design a spherical baroclinic flow model experiment of the large scale atmosphere flow for Spacelab. The dielectric simulation of radial gravity is only dominant in a low gravity environment. Computer codes are developed to study the processes at work in crystal growing systems which are also candidates for space flight. Crystalline materials rarely achieve their potential properties because of imperfections and component concentration variations. Thermosolutal convection in the liquid melt can be the cause of these imperfections. Such convection is suppressed in a low gravity environment. Two and three dimensional finite difference codes are being used for this work. Nonuniform meshes and implicit iterative methods are used. The iterative method for steady solutions is based on time stepping but has the options of different time steps for velocity and temperature and of a time step varying smoothly with position according to specified powers of the mesh spacings. This allows for more rapid convergence. The code being developed for the crystal growth studies allows for growth of the crystal as the solid-liquid interface. The moving interface is followed using finite differences; shape variations are permitted. For convenience in applying finite differences in the solid and liquid, a time dependent coordinate transformation is used to make this interface a coordinate surface.

Roberts, G. O.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Applications of a conservative zonal scheme to transient and geometrically complex problems

A conservative zoning technique, wherein the flow field for a finite-difference calculation is divided into several regions to simplify grid generation, is discussed and is applied in the solution of a two-dimensional problem of complex topology. Calculations are performed on two zonal, or patched, grid systems for the supersonic flow over a double-airfoil configuration. The solution is smooth and continuous across the zonal interfaces, and shock waves pass through the boundaries without distortion. In addition, the time-accuracy of the zonal-boundary method is verified by a two-zone cyclinder calculation with a stationary inner and a rotating outer mesh.The feasibility of the zonal approach for use in the solution of geometrically complex and unsteady problems is thus demonstrated.

Hessenius, K. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Numerical simulation of a turbulent flame stabilized behind a rearward-facing step

Flow of combustible mixtures in a plane channel past a smooth contraction followed by an abrupt expansion, in a typical dump combustor configuration, is modeled by a two-dimensional numerical technique based on the random vortex method. Both the inert and the reacting case are considered. In the latter, the flame is treated as an interface, self-advancing at a prescribed normal burning speed, while the dynamic effects of expansion due to the exothermicity of combustion are expressed by volumetric source lines delineated by its front. Solutions are shown to be in satisfactory agreement with experimental results, especially with respect to global properties such as the average velocity profiles and the reattachment length. The stochastic turbulent velocity components manifest interesting differences, especially near the walls where three-dimensional effects of turbulence are expected to be of importance.

Hsiao, C. C.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Terrestrial Water Mass Load Changes from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE)

Recent studies show that data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) is promising for basin- to global-scale water cycle research. This study provides varied assessments of errors associated with GRACE water storage estimates. Thirteen monthly GRACE gravity solutions from August 2002 to December 2004 are examined, along with synthesized GRACE gravity fields for the same period that incorporate simulated errors. The synthetic GRACE fields are calculated using numerical climate models and GRACE internal error estimates. We consider the influence of measurement noise, spatial leakage error, and atmospheric and ocean dealiasing (AOD) model error as the major contributors to the error budget. Leakage error arises from the limited range of GRACE spherical harmonics not corrupted by noise. AOD model error is due to imperfect correction for atmosphere and ocean mass redistribution applied during GRACE processing. Four methods of forming water storage estimates from GRACE spherical harmonics (four different basin filters) are applied to both GRACE and synthetic data. Two basin filters use Gaussian smoothing, and the other two are dynamic basin filters which use knowledge of geographical locations where water storage variations are expected. Global maps of measurement noise, leakage error, and AOD model errors are estimated for each basin filter. Dynamic basin filters yield the smallest errors and highest signal-to-noise ratio. Within 12 selected basins, GRACE and synthetic data show similar amplitudes of water storage change. Using 53 river basins, covering most of Earth's land surface excluding Antarctica and Greenland, we document how error changes with basin size, latitude, and shape. Leakage error is most affected by basin size and latitude, and AOD model error is most dependent on basin latitude.

Seo, K.-W.↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-C-206-07: A Practical Sparse View Ultra-Low Dose CT Acquisition Scheme for PET Attenuation Correction in the Extended Scan Field-Of-View

Purpose: To further reduce CT dose, a practical sparse-view acquisition scheme is proposed to provide the same attenuation estimation as higher dose for PET imaging in the extended scan field-of-view. Methods: CT scans are often used for PET attenuation correction and can be acquired at very low CT radiation dose. Low dose techniques often employ low tube voltage/current accompanied with a smooth filter before backprojection to reduce CT image noise. These techniques can introduce bias in the conversion from HU to attenuation values, especially in the extended CT scan field-of-view (FOV). In this work, we propose an ultra-low dose CT technique for PET attenuation correction based on sparse-view acquisition. That is, instead of an acquisition of full amount of views, only a fraction of views are acquired. We tested this technique on a 64-slice GE CT scanner using multiple phantoms. CT scan FOV truncation completion was performed based on the published water-cylinder extrapolation algorithm. A number of continuous views per rotation: 984 (full), 246, 123, 82 and 62 have been tested, corresponding to a CT dose reduction of none, 4x, 8x, 12x and 16x. We also simulated sparse-view acquisition by skipping views from the fully-acquired view data. Results: FBP reconstruction with Q. AC filter on reduced views in the full extended scan field-of-view possesses similar image quality to the reconstruction on acquired full view data. The results showed a further potential for dose reduction compared to the full acquisition, without sacrificing any significant attenuation support to the PET. Conclusion: With the proposed sparse-view method, one can potential achieve at least 2x more CT dose reduction compared to the current Ultra-Low Dose (ULD) PET/CT protocol. A pre-scan based dose modulation scheme can be combined with the above sparse-view approaches, which can even further reduce the CT scan dose during a PET/CT exam.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2014

Smooth Pursuit of Flicker-Defined Motion

We examined the pursuit response to stimuli defined by space-variant flicker of a dense random dot carrier pattern. On each frame, every element of the pattern could change polarity, with a probability given by a two-dimensional Gaussian distribution. A normal distribution produces a circular region of twinkle, while inverting the distribution results in a spot of static texture in a twinkling surround. In this latter case, the carrier texture could be stationary, or could move with the twinkle modulator,thereby producing first-order motion in the region of the spot. While the twinkle-defined spot produces a strong sensation of motion, the complementary stimulus defined by the absence of twinkle does not;when viewed peripherally, it appears to move in steps even when the generating distribution moves smoothly. We examined pursuit responses to these stimuli using two techniques: 1) the eye movement correlogram, obtained by cross-correlating eye velocity with the velocity of a randomly-moving stimulus; and 2) delayed visual feedback, where transient stabilization of a target can produce spontaneous oscillations of the eye, with a period empirically observed to vary linearly with the applied delay. Both techniques provide an estimate of the internal processing time, which can be as short as100 milliseconds for a first-order target. Assessed by the correlogram method, the response to flicker defined motion is delayed by more than 100 milliseconds, and significantly weaker (especially in the vertical dimension). When initially presented in the delayed feedback condition, purely saccadic oscillation is observed. One subject eventually developed smooth oscillations (albeit with significant saccadic intrusions), showing a period-versus-delay slope similar to that observed for first-order targets. This result is somewhat surprising, given that we interpret the slope of the period-versus-delayfunction as reflecting the balance between position- and velocity-sensitive inputs to pursuit.

smooth pursuit↗
NASA NTRS1975

Surface fitting three-dimensional bodies

The geometry of general three-dimensional bodies was generated from coordinates of points in several cross sections. Since these points may not be on smooth curves, they are divided into groups forming segments and general conic sections are curve fit in a least-squares sense to each segment of a cross section. The conic sections are then blended in the longitudinal direction through longitudinal curves. Both the cross-sectional and longitudinal curves may be modified by specifying particular segments as straight lines or specifying slopes at selected points. This method was used to surface fit a 70 deg slab delta wing and the HL-10 Lifting Body. The results for the delta wing were very close to the exact geometry. Although there is no exact solution for the lifting body, the surface fit generated a smooth surface with cross-sectional planes very close to prescribed coordinate points.

Dejarnette, F. R.↗
DOE OSTI2014

The zero-multipole summation method for estimating electrostatic interactions in molecular dynamics: Analysis of the accuracy and application to liquid systems

In the preceding paper [I. Fukuda, J. Chem. Phys. 139, 174107 (2013)], the zero-multipole (ZM) summation method was proposed for efficiently evaluating the electrostatic Coulombic interactions of a classical point charge system. The summation takes a simple pairwise form, but prevents the electrically non-neutral multipole states that may artificially be generated by a simple cutoff truncation, which often causes large energetic noises and significant artifacts. The purpose of this paper is to judge the ability of the ZM method by investigating the accuracy, parameter dependencies, and stability in applications to liquid systems. To conduct this, first, the energy-functional error was divided into three terms and each term was analyzed by a theoretical error-bound estimation. This estimation gave us a clear basis of the discussions on the numerical investigations. It also gave a new viewpoint between the excess energy error and the damping effect by the damping parameter. Second, with the aid of these analyses, the ZM method was evaluated based on molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of two fundamental liquid systems, a molten sodium-chlorine ion system and a pure water molecule system. In the ion system, the energy accuracy, compared with the Ewald summation, was better for a larger value of multipole moment l currently induced until l ≲ 3 on average. This accuracy improvement with increasing l is due to the enhancement of the excess-energy accuracy. However, this improvement is wholly effective in the total accuracy if the theoretical moment l is smaller than or equal to a system intrinsic moment L. The simulation results thus indicate L ∼ 3 in this system, and we observed less accuracy in l = 4. We demonstrated the origins of parameter dependencies appearing in the crossing behavior and the oscillations of the energy error curves. With raising the moment l we observed, smaller values of the damping parameter provided more accurate results and smoother behaviors with respect to cutoff length were obtained. These features can be explained, on the basis of the theoretical error analyses, such that the excess energy accuracy is improved with increasing l and that the total accuracy improvement within l ⩽ L is facilitated by a small damping parameter. Although the accuracy was fundamentally similar to the ion system, the bulk water system exhibited distinguishable quantitative behaviors. A smaller damping parameter was effective in all the practical cutoff distance, and this fact can be interpreted by the reduction of the excess subset. A lower moment was advantageous in the energy accuracy, where l = 1 was slightly superior to l = 2 in this system. However, the method with l = 2 (viz., the zero-quadrupole sum) gave accurate results for the radial distribution function. We confirmed the stability in the numerical integration for MD simulations employing the ZM scheme. This result is supported by the sufficient smoothness of the energy function. Along with the smoothness, the pairwise feature and the allowance of the atom-based cutoff mode on the energy formula lead to the exact zero total-force, ensuring the total-momentum conservations for typical MD equations of motion.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Discretising the velocity distribution for directional dark matter experiments

Dark matter (DM) direct detection experiments which are directionally-sensitive may be the only method of probing the full velocity distribution function (VDF) of the Galactic DM halo. We present an angular basis for the DM VDF which can be used to parametrise the distribution in order to mitigate astrophysical uncertainties in future directional experiments and extract information about the DM halo. This basis consists of discretising the VDF in a series of angular bins, with the VDF being only a function of the DM speed v within each bin. In contrast to other methods, such as spherical harmonic expansions, the use of this basis allows us to guarantee that the resulting VDF is everywhere positive and therefore physical. We present a recipe for calculating the event rates corresponding to the discrete VDF for an arbitrary number of angular bins N and investigate the discretisation error which is introduced in this way. For smooth, Standard Halo Model-like distribution functions, only N=3 angular bins are required to achieve an accuracy of around 10–30% in the number of events in each bin. Shortly after confirmation of the DM origin of the signal with around 50 events, this accuracy should be sufficient to allow the discretised velocity distribution to be employed reliably. For more extreme VDFs (such as streams), the discretisation error is typically much larger, but can be improved with increasing N. This method paves the way towards an astrophysics-independent analysis framework for the directional detection of dark matter.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Deblurring galaxy images with Tikhonov regularization on magnitude domain

Abstract We propose a regularization-based deblurring method that works efficiently for galaxy images. The spatial resolution of a ground-based telescope is generally limited by seeing conditions and is much worse than space-based telescopes. This circumstance has generated considerable research interest in the restoration of spatial resolution. Since image deblurring is a typical inverse problem and often ill-posed, solutions tend to be unstable. To obtain a stable solution, much research has adopted regularization-based methods for image deblurring, but the regularization term is not necessarily appropriate for galaxy images. Although galaxies have an exponential or Sérsic profile, the conventional regularization assumes the image profiles to behave linearly in space. The significant deviation between the assumption and real situations leads to blurring of the images and smoothing out the detailed structures. Clearly, regularization on logarithmic domain, i.e., magnitude domain, should provide a more appropriate assumption, which we explore in this study. We formulate a problem of deblurring galaxy images by an objective function with a Tikhonov regularization term on a magnitude domain. We introduce an iterative algorithm minimizing the objective function with a primal–dual splitting method. We investigate the feasibility of the proposed method using simulation and observation images. In the simulation, we blur galaxy images with a realistic point spread function and add both Gaussian and Poisson noise. For the evaluation with the observed images, we use galaxy images taken by the Subaru HSC-SSP. Both of these evaluations show that our method successfully recovers the spatial resolution of the deblurred images and significantly outperforms the conventional methods. The code is publicly available from the GitHub 〈https://github.com/kzmurata-astro/PSFdeconv_amag〉.

Murata, Kazumi↗
NASA NTRS2014

Smooth Pursuit of Flicker-Defined Motion

We examined the pursuit response to stimuli defined by space-variant flicker of a dense random dot carrier pattern. On each frame, every element of the pattern could change polarity, with a probability given by a two-dimensional Gaussian distribution. A normal distribution produces a circular region of twinkle, while inverting the distribution results in a spot of static texture in a twinkling surround. In this latter case, the carrier texture could be stationary, or could move with the twinkle modulator, thereby producing first-order motion in the region of the spot. While the twinkle-defined spot produces a strong sensation of motion, the complementary stimulus defined by the absence of twinkle does not, when viewed peripherally, it appears to move in steps even when the generating distribution moves smoothly. We examined pursuit responses to these stimuli using two techniques: 1) the eye movement correlogram, obtained by cross-correlating eye velocity with the velocity of a randomly-moving stimulus; and 2) delayed visual feedback, where transient stabilization of a target can produce spontaneous oscillations of the eye, with a period empirically observed to vary linearly with the applied delay. Both techniques provide an estimate of the internal processing time, which can be as short as 100 milliseconds for a first-order target. Assessed by the correlogram method, the response to flicker-defined motion is delayed by more than 100 milliseconds, and significantly weaker (especially in the vertical dimension). When initially presented in the delayed feedback condition, purely saccadic oscillation is observed. One subject eventually developed smooth oscillations (albeit with significant saccadic intrusions), showing a period-versus-delay slope similar to that observed for first-order targets. This result is somewhat surprising, given that we interpret the slope of the period-versus-delay-function as reflecting the balance between position- and velocity-sensitive inputs to pursuit.

eye movements↗
DOE OSTI2013

A fast, high-order solver for the Grad–Shafranov equation

We present a new fast solver to calculate fixed-boundary plasma equilibria in toroidally axisymmetric geometries. By combining conformal mapping with Fourier and integral equation methods on the unit disk, we show that high-order accuracy can be achieved for the solution of the equilibrium equation and its first and second derivatives. Smooth arbitrary plasma cross-sections as well as arbitrary pressure and poloidal current profiles are used as initial data for the solver. Equilibria with large Shafranov shifts can be computed without difficulty. Spectral convergence is demonstrated by comparing the numerical solution with a known exact analytic solution. A fusion-relevant example of an equilibrium with a pressure pedestal is also presented.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

Clean Nanotube Unzipping by Abrupt Thermal Expansion of Molecular Nitrogen: Graphene Nanoribbons with Atomically Smooth Edges

We report a novel physicochemical route to produce highly crystalline nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons. The technique consists of an abrupt N2 gas expansion within the hollow core of nitrogen-doped multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNx-MWNTs) when exposed to a fast thermal shock. The multiwalled nanotube unzipping mechanism is rationalized using molecular dynamics and density functional theory simulations, which highlight the importance of open-ended nanotubes in promoting the efficient introduction of N2 molecules by capillary action within tubes and surface defects, thus triggering an efficient and atomically smooth unzipping. The so-produced nanoribbons could be few-layered (from graphene bilayer onward) and could exhibit both crystalline zigzag and armchair edges. In contrast to methods developed previously, our technique presents various advantages: (1) the tubes are not heavily oxidized; (2) the method yields sharp atomic edges within the resulting nanoribbons; (3) the technique could be scaled up for the bulk production of crystalline nanoribbons from available MWNT sources; and (4) this route could eventually be used to unzip other types of carbon nanotubes or intercalated layered materials such as BN, MoS2, WS2, etc.

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2015

Photoluminescence studies of polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2}: Lateral inhomogeneities beyond Abbe's diffraction limit

We analyze Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} absorbers with a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) by photoluminescence (PL). Such measurements allow one to extract local fluctuations of the integral PL yield, the quasi-Fermi level splitting, and the material composition in the submicron range. However, the experimental findings depend strongly on the surface roughness of the absorber: If the surface is rough, artifact-prone correlations between surface contour and PL features measured by SNOM can be found that complicate the study of recombination effects. For smooth surfaces, such correlations no longer exist and the influence of grain boundaries on the integral PL yield and the quasi-Fermi level splitting is revealed. The method also allows a detailed determination of the local band gaps in neighboring grains and their spatial variation inside, and thus of possibly local changes in chemical composition of different grains.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗