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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 19 records

Implementation of ACTS into sPHENIX Track Reconstruction

Abstract sPHENIX is a high energy nuclear physics experiment under construction at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The primary physics goals of sPHENIX are to study the quark-gluon-plasma, as well as the partonic structure of protons and nuclei, by measuring jets, their substructure, and heavy flavor hadrons in $$p$$ p $$+$$ + $$p$$ p , p + Au, and Au + Au collisions. sPHENIX will collect approximately 300 PB of data over three run periods, to be analyzed using available computing resources at BNL; thus, performing track reconstruction in a timely manner is a challenge due to the high occupancy of heavy ion collision events. The sPHENIX experiment has recently implemented the A Common Tracking Software (ACTS) track reconstruction toolkit with the goal of reconstructing tracks with high efficiency and within a computational budget of 5 s per minimum bias event. This paper reports the performance status of ACTS as the default track fitting tool within sPHENIX, including discussion of the first implementation of a time projection chamber geometry within ACTS.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Emissions and Energy Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act

If goals set under the Paris Agreement are met, the world may hold warming well below 2 degrees C (1); however, parties are not on track to deliver these commitments (2), increasing focus on policy implementation to close the gap between ambition and action. Recently, the US government passed its most prominent piece of climate legislation to date - the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) - designed to invest in a wide range of programs that, among other provisions, incentivize clean energy and carbon management, encourage electrification and efficiency measures, reduce methane emissions, promote domestic supply chains, and address environmental justice concerns (3). IRA's scope and complexity make modeling important to understand impacts on emissions and energy systems. We leverage results from nine independent, state-of-the-art models to examine potential implications of key IRA provisions, showing economy-wide emissions reductions between 43 and 48% below 2005 levels by 2035.

electricity↗

EISA (Energy Independence and Security Act) compliant ethanol fuel from corn stover in a depot-based decentralized system

Cellulosic biofuels face significant problems of feedstock aggregation and logistics leading to poor economies of scale. The current model is based on relatively small biorefineries using locally-gathered feedstocks. Here, we examine the potential capacity of a hypothetically distributed, depot-based, biorefinery system to produce cellulosic ethanol from corn stover in the United States Midwest. The local depots serve to aggregate, pretreat and densify biomass (via pellets), which are collected, transported, and fed to a few very large, cellulosic ethanol biorefineries. We found that a corn stover-based depot system would help establish one or two very large-scale biorefineries capable of processing about 8-12% of total corn stover available in the United States Midwest. About 55-153 depots could supply the pretreated pellets to each distributed biorefinery leading to an annual production of 1.02 - 2.91 billion liters of cellulosic ethanol. Most of the participating depots would be located in Illinois and Iowa. The ethanol selling price in this depot-based biorefinery system would varys between U$S 0.67 and U$S 0.72 liter-1. The estimated range of GHG savings from cellulosic ethanol in the depot system compared to gasoline was 3.35-4.84 Tg CO2 year-1. In addition of being economically competitive, a distributed, depot-based, biorefinery system could meet the 60% GHG reduction requirement of the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA).

Biorefinery, Cellulosic biofuel, Corn stover, Dist↗

ACTS propagation experiment discussion: Ka-band propagation measurements using the ACTS propagation terminal and the CSU-CHILL and Space Communications Technology Center Florida propagation program

Papers on Ka-band propagation measurements using the ACTS propagation terminal and the Colorado State University CHILL multiparameter radar and on Space Communications Technology Center Florida Propagation Program are discussed. Topics covered include: microwave radiative transfer and propagation models; NASA propagation terminal status; ACTS channel characteristics; FAU receive only terminal; FAU terminal status; and propagation testbed.

Bringi, V. N.↗

An integrated strategy for aircraft/airport noise abatement: A legal-institutional control act section 7 to the noise control act of 1972 and proposals based thereon

The development of the aircraft noise control structure since the Griggs case of 1962 was examined. The Noise Control Act of 1972 is described which undertook to establish the legal-institutional framework within which an adequate aircraft/airport noise abatement program might be initiated with concern for full recognition of all the beneficial and detrimental consequences of air transportation and appropriate distribution of benefits and costs.

Mayo, L. H.↗

Measurement of the splashback feature around SZ-selected Galaxy clusters with DES, SPT, and ACT

We present a detection of the splashback feature around galaxy clusters selected using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signal. Recent measurements of the splashback feature around optically selected galaxy clusters have found that the splashback radius, rsp, is smaller than predicted by N-body simulations. A possible explanation for this discrepancy is that rsp inferred from the observed radial distribution of galaxies is affected by selection effects related to the optical cluster-finding algorithms. We test this possibility by measuring the splashback feature in clusters selected via the SZ effect in data from the South Pole Telescope SZ survey and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope Polarimeter survey. The measurement is accomplished by correlating these cluster samples with galaxies detected in the Dark Energy Survey Year 3 data. The SZ observable used to select clusters in this analysis is expected to have a tighter correlation with halo mass and to be more immune to projection effects and aperture-induced biases, potentially ameliorating causes of systematic error for optically selected clusters. We find that the measured r sp for SZ-selected clusters is consistent with the expectations from simulations, although the small number of SZ-selected clusters makes a precise comparison difficult. In agreement with previous work, when using optically selected redMaPPer clusters with similar mass and redshift distributions, r sp is ~2σ smaller than in the simulations. These results motivate detailed investigations of selection biases in optically selected cluster catalogues and exploration of the splashback feature around larger samples of SZ-selected clusters. Additionally, we investigate trends in the galaxy profile and splashback feature as a function of galaxy colour, finding that blue galaxies have profiles close to a power law with no discernible splashback feature, which is consistent with them being on their first infall into the cluster.

Shin, T.↗

Cross-correlation of Dark Energy Survey Year 3 lensing data with ACT and Planck thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect observations. I. Measurements, systematics tests, and feedback model constraints

Here we present a tomographic measurement of the cross-correlation between thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (TSZ) maps from Planck and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and weak galaxy lensing shears measured during the first three years of observations of the Dark Energy Survey. This correlation is sensitive to the thermal energy in baryons over a wide redshift range and is therefore a powerful probe of astrophysical feedback. We detect the correlation at a statistical significance of 21σ, the highest significance to date. We examine the TSZ maps for potential contaminants, including cosmic infrared background and radio sources, finding that cosmic infrared background has a substantial impact on our measurements and must be taken into account in our analysis. We use the cross-correlation measurements to test different feedback models. In particular, we model the TSZ using several different pressure profile models calibrated against hydrodynamical simulations. Our analysis marginalizes over redshift uncertainties, shear calibration biases, and intrinsic alignment effects. We also marginalize over Ω m and σ 8 using Planck or DES priors. We find that the data prefer the model with a low amplitude of the pressure profile at small scales, compatible with a scenario with strong active galactic nuclei feedback and ejection of gas from the inner part of the halos. When using a more flexible model for the shear profile, constraints are weaker, and the data cannot discriminate between different baryonic prescriptions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Cross-correlation of Dark Energy Survey Year 3 lensing data with ACT and P l a n c k thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect observations. II. Modeling and constraints on halo pressure profiles

Hot, ionized gas leaves an imprint on the cosmic microwave background via the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (tSZ) effect. The cross-correlation of gravitational lensing (which traces the projected mass) with the tSZ effect (which traces the projected gas pressure) is a powerful probe of the thermal state of ionized baryons throughout the Universe and is sensitive to effects such as baryonic feedback. In a companion paper (Gatti et al. Phys. Rev. D 105, 123525 (2022)), we present tomographic measurements and validation tests of the cross-correlation between Galaxy shear measurements from the first three years of observations of the Dark Energy Survey and tSZ measurements from a combination of Atacama Cosmology Telescope and Planck observations. In this work, we use the same measurements to constrain models for the pressure profiles of halos across a wide range of halo mass and redshift. We find evidence for reduced pressure in low-mass halos, consistent with predictions for the effects of feedback from active Galactic nuclei. We infer the hydrostatic mass bias (B ≡ M 500c /M SZ from our measurements, finding B = 1.8 ± 0.1 when adopting the Planck-preferred cosmological parameters. We additionally find that our measurements are consistent with a nonzero redshift evolution of B, with the correct sign and sufficient magnitude to explain the mass bias necessary to reconcile cluster count measurements with the Planck-preferred cosmology. Our analysis introduces a model for the impact of intrinsic alignments (IAs) of galaxy shapes on the shear-tSZ correlation. We show that IA can have a significant impact on these correlations at current noise levels.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Atacama Cosmology Telescope measurements of a large sample of candidates from the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey: Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect confirmation of MaDCoWS candidates using ACT

Context. Galaxy clusters are an important tool for cosmology, and their detection and characterization are key goals for current and future surveys. Using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), the Massive and Distant Clusters of WISE Survey (MaDCoWS) located 2839 significant galaxy overdensities at redshifts 0.7 . z . 1.5, which included extensive follow-up imaging from the Spitzer Space Telescope to determine cluster richnesses. Concurrently, the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) has produced large area millimeter-wave maps in three frequency bands along with a large catalog of Sunyaev-Zeldovich (SZ)-selected clusters as part of its Data Release 5 (DR5). Aims. We aim to verify and characterize MaDCoWS clusters using measurements of, or limits on, their thermal SZ effect signatures. We also use these detections to establish the scaling relation between SZ mass and the MaDCoWS-defined richness. Methods. Using the maps and cluster catalog from DR5, we explore the scaling between SZ mass and cluster richness. We do this by comparing cataloged detections and extracting individual and stacked SZ signals from the MaDCoWS cluster locations. We use complementary radio survey data from the Very Large Array, submillimeter data from Herschel, and ACT 224 GHz data to assess the impact of contaminating sources on the SZ signals from both ACT and MaDCoWS clusters. We use a hierarchical Bayesian model to fit the mass-richness scaling relation, allowing for clusters to be drawn from two populations: one, a Gaussian centered on the mass-richness relation, and the other, a Gaussian centered on zero SZ signal. Results. We find that MaDCoWS clusters have submillimeter contamination that is consistent with a gray-body spectrum, while the ACT clusters are consistent with no submillimeter emission on average. Additionally, the intrinsic radio intensities of ACT clusters are lower than those of MaDCoWS clusters, even when the ACT clusters are restricted to the same redshift range as the MaDCoWS clusters. We find the best-fit ACT SZ mass versus MaDCoWS richness scaling relation has a slope of p1 = 1.84+0.15 −0.14, where the slope is defined as M ∝ λ p1 15 and λ15 is the richness. We also find that the ACT SZ signals for a significant fraction (∼57%) of the MaDCoWS sample can statistically be described as being drawn from a noise-like distribution, indicating that the candidates are possibly dominated by low-mass and unvirialized systems that are below the mass limit of the ACT sample. Further, we note that a large portion of the optically confirmed ACT clusters located in the same volume of the sky as MaDCoWS are not selected by MaDCoWS, indicating that the MaDCoWS sample is not complete with respect to SZ selection. Finally, we find that the radio loud fraction of MaDCoWS clusters increases with richness, while we find no evidence that the submillimeter emission of the MaDCoWS clusters evolves with richness. Conclusions. We conclude that the original MaDCoWS selection function is not well defined and, as such, reiterate the MaDCoWS collaboration’s recommendation that the sample is suited for probing cluster and galaxy evolution, but not cosmological analyses. We find a best-fit mass-richness relation slope that agrees with the published MaDCoWS preliminary results. Additionally, we find that while the approximate level of infill of the ACT and MaDCoWS cluster SZ signals (1–2%) is subdominant to other sources of uncertainty for current generation experiments, characterizing and removing this bias will be critical for next-generation experiments hoping to constrain cluster masses at the sub-percent level.

large↗

Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) Phased Array Demonstrated With ACTS

Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) arrays developed by the NASA Lewis Research Center and the Air Force Rome Laboratory were demonstrated in aeronautical terminals and in mobile or fixed Earth terminals linked with NASA's Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS). Four K/Ka-band experimental arrays were demonstrated between May 1994 and May 1995. Each array had GaAs MMIC devices at each radiating element for electronic beam steering and distributed power amplification. The 30-GHz transmit array used in uplinks to ACTS was developed by Lewis and Texas Instruments. The three 20-GHz receive arrays used in downlinks from ACTS were developed in cooperation with the Air Force Rome Laboratory, taking advantage of existing Air Force integrated-circuit, active-phased-array development contracts with the Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin Corporation. Four demonstrations, each related to an application of high interest to both commercial and Department of Defense organizations, were conducted. The location, type of link, and the data rate achieved for each of the applications is shown. In one demonstration-- an aeronautical terminal experiment called AERO-X--a duplex voice link between an aeronautical terminal on the Lewis Learjet and ACTS was achieved. Two others demonstrated duplex voice links (and in one case, interactive video links as well) between ACTS and an Army high-mobility, multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV, or "humvee"). In the fourth demonstration, the array was on a fixed mount and was electronically steered toward ACTS. Lewis served as project manager for all demonstrations and as overall system integrator. Lewis engineers developed the array system including a controller for open-loop tracking of ACTS during flight and HMMWV motion, as well as a laptop data display and recording system used in all demonstrations. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory supported the AERO-X program, providing elements of the ACTS Mobile Terminal. The successful performance of experimental, proof-of-concept MMIC K/Ka-band arrays developed with U.S. industry in field demonstrations with ACTS indicates that high density MMIC integration at 20 and 30 GHz is indeed feasible. The successful development and demonstration of the MMIC array systems was possible only because of significant intergovernmental and Government/industry cooperation and the high level of teamwork within Lewis. The results provide a strong incentive for continuing the focused development of MMIC-array technology for satellite communications applications, with emphasis on packaging and cost issues, and for continuing the planning and conducting of other appropriate demonstrations or experiments of phased-array technology with ACTS. Given the present pressures on reducing funding for research and development in Government and industry, the extent to which this can be continued in a cooperative manner will determine whether MMIC array technology will make the transition from the proof-of-concept level to the operational system level.

Source record↗

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: High-Resolution Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array Observations of ACT SZE-Selected Clusters from the Equatorial Strip

We present follow-up observations with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich Array (SZA) of optically-confirmed galaxy clusters found in the equatorial survey region of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT): ACT-CL J0022-0036, ACT-CL J2051+0057, and ACT-CL J2337+0016. ACT-CL J0022-0036 is a newly-discovered, massive (10(exp 15) Msun), high-redshift (z=0.81) cluster revealed by ACT through the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE). Deep, targeted observations with the SZA allow us to probe a broader range of cluster spatial scales, better disentangle cluster decrements from radio point source emission, and derive more robust integrated SZE flux and mass estimates than we can with ACT data alone. For the two clusters we detect with the SZA we compute integrated SZE signal and derive masses from the SZA data only. ACT-CL J2337+0016, also known as Abell 2631, has archival Chandra data that allow an additional X-ray-based mass estimate. Optical richness is also used to estimate cluster masses and shows good agreement with the SZE and X-ray-based estimates. Based on the point sources detected by the SZA in these three cluster fields and an extrapolation to ACT's frequency, we estimate that point sources could be contaminating the SZE decrement at the less than = 20% level for some fraction of clusters.

Reese, Erik D.↗