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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Advanced Modeling of Beam Physics and Performance Optimization for Nuclear Physics Colliders

High energy colliders provide a critical tool in nuclear physics study by probing the fundamental structure and dynamics of matter. To maximize the potential of scientific discovery in nuclear physics study, it is important to optimize the parameters of these colliders to attain the best performance. The performance of a collider is typically measured by its integrated luminosity of colliding beams since the probability of a new event is proportional to the integrated luminosity. However, the achievable luminosity is limited by the electromagnetic interactions (beam-beam effects) of two colliding beams at higher energy, and the interplay between the space-charge effects and the beam-beam effects at lower energy. To achieve the best performance of a collider means to attain the highest luminosity of the collider with optimized collider parameters. Optimizing the collider’s machine parameters is both computationally and experimentally expensive. A fast and robust computational framework including beam-beam and space-charge effects will be critical to attaining the best performance of the collider. In this project, we will study the beam dynamics challenges, specifically the interplay of the space-charge and the beam-beam effects, and the machine tuning models for maximizing the performance of RHIC experiments. We will develop an advanced modeling framework based on first-principles physical simulations, lattice models and the state-of-the-art machine learning methods and apply this framework to performance improvement of the RHIC in operation. We will build data manipulation packages to connect the simulation data and the experimental data with the framework, develop a self-consistent hybrid model of space-charge and beam-beam effects, study underlying physics mechanisms, build surrogate models using the labeled data, integrate the models into the advanced modeling framework, and apply the framework to RHIC luminosity (STAR and sPHENIX) optimization. The success of this project would substantially improve the performance of existing and future colliders and increase the opportunity for scientific discovery.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI1968

Nuclear Physics Made Very, Very Easy

The fundamental approach to nuclear physics was prepared to introduce basic reactor principles to various groups of non-nuclear technical personnel associated with NERVA Test Operations. NERVA Test Operations functions as the field test group for the Nuclear Rocket Engine Program. Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application (NERVA) program is the combined efforts of Aerojet-General Corporation as prime contractor, and Westinghouse Astronuclear Laboratory as the major subcontractor, for the assembly and testing of nuclear rocket engines. Development of the NERVA Program is under the direction of the Space Nuclear Propulsion Office, a joint agency of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This report is being reprinted for use in the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission and National Aeronautics and Space Administration educational and technology utilization programs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Scintillating glass for precision calorimetry in nuclear physics

High-performance scintillator materials are needed for particle identification and measurements of energy and momentum of electromagnetic particles in modern nuclear physics experiments. As an example, the US Electron-Ion Collider, a unique collider with diverse physics topics, requires electromagnetic calorimetry enabling high-quality electron identification and detection in the momentum range of 0.3 to tens of GeV. The highest resolution in electromagnetic calorimeters can be provided by homogeneous materials, e.g., lead tungstate crystals. Inorganic glass scintillators have been investigated as an attractive and cost-effective alternative to crystals, that is also easier and faster to manufacture in mass production. In this paper, we discuss progress in the fabrication and characterization of recent scintillating glass samples on both test bench and beam tests. Further, the results are well-reproduced by simulation and are discussed in the context of the Electron-Ion Collider experimental requirements and bench-marked against lead tungstate crystals.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Research Traineeship for Diversity in Nuclear Physics at Yale Wright Laboratory

This report pertains to the grant titled “Research Traineeship for Diversity in Nuclear Physics at Yale Wright Laboratory.” The award aimed to train and retain a diverse group of future scientists, including underrepresented, first-generation, and low-income undergraduates, as prospective nuclear physicists and leaders in science.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Real-Time event reconstruction for Nuclear Physics Experiments using Artificial Intelligence

Charged track reconstruction is a critical task in nuclear physics experiments, enabling the identification and analysis of particles produced in high-energy collisions. Machine learning (ML) has emerged as a powerful tool for this purpose, addressing the challenges posed by complex detector geometries, high event multiplicities, and noisy data. Traditional methods rely on pattern recognition algorithms like the Kalman filter, but ML techniques, such as neural networks, graph neural networks (GNNs), and recurrent neural networks (RNNs), offer improved accuracy and scalability. By learning from simulated and real detector data, ML models can identify and classify tracks, predict trajectories, and handle ambiguities caused by overlapping or missing hits. Moreover, ML-based approaches can process data in near-real-time, enhancing the efficiency of experiments at large-scale facilities like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and Jefferson Lab (JLAB). As detector technologies and computational resources evolve, ML-driven charged track reconstruction continues to push the boundaries of precision and discovery in nuclear physics. In these proceedings, we highlight advancements in charged track identification leveraging Artificial Intelligence within the CLAS12 detector, achieving a notable enhancement in experimental statistics compared to traditional methods. Additionally, we showcase real-time event reconstruction capabilities, including the inference of charged particle properties, such as momentum, direction, and species identification, at speeds matching data acquisition rates. These innovations enable the extraction of physics observables directly from the experiment in real-time.

Gavalian, Gagik (ORCID:0000000267385457)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Research Traineeships for Students from Minority Serving Institutions in Nuclear Physics at the University of Texas at Arlington (Final Technical Report)

This project supported research traineeships for students of minority serving institutions in Texas to perform nuclear physics research at the University of Texas at Arlington, an R1 research university in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. UTA is the leading US institution on the NEXT neutrinoless double beta decay collaboration, and students were paired with junior and senior mentors and undertook research projects in our Nuclear Physics (NP) research laboratories.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Reducing systematic bias in machine learning applications to J/ψ signal extraction in high-energy nuclear physics

Machine learning techniques are increasingly used in high-energy nuclear physics because they can exploit multivariate correlations more efficiently than conventional cut-based analyses. A central challenge is the construction of training samples that faithfully reproduce the detector response observed in data. Signal samples are usually derived from detector simulations; therefore, mismatches between simulation and data can degrade classifier performance and introduce systematic biases. This work presents two practical correction procedures, namely cumulative distribution function (CDF) mapping and a shift-and-scale transformation, to align simulated signal features with those measured in data. Their performance is demonstrated with $J$/$\psi$ yield measurements in $\sqrt{s_{nn}}$ = 200 GeV Ru+Ru and Zr+Zr collisions recorded by STAR. A set of self-consistency tests shows that these procedures substantially suppress the systematic bias associated with data-simulation discrepancies in machine-learning-based signal extraction.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

California Bridge to the EIC: Building a Diverse Workforce for Nuclear Physics Research at the Electron Ion Collider

The California Bridge to the Electron Ion Collider traineeship program established an integrated workforce development effort connecting University of California campuses, California State University Minority Serving Institutions, and DOE national laboratories. The program expanded participation in nuclear physics research among students from underrepresented and socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds while strengthening collaborative activities aligned with the future Electron Ion Collider. During the award period, trainees conducted experimental, theoretical, and computational research, participated in consortium meetings and national laboratory collaborations, and received structured mentoring and professional development. The program achieved strong outcomes in graduate school placement, STEM career transitions, and sustained engagement with DOE Nuclear Physics research.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Theoretical Nuclear Physics (Final Report)

This award from the Department of Energy supported the PI, Che-Ming Ko of Texas A&M University, for the period from April 1, 2022 to August 31, 2025 at an amount of $150,000 to carry out the project entitled “Theoretical nuclear physics”. The scientific goal of the project was to develop transport models for heavy ion collisions at various energies and with both stable and rare isotopes and to carry out systematic comparisons of theoretical predictions with experimental data. Results from this project has led to the publication of 14 papers in and the submission of 10 papers to peer-reviewed journals, the publication of 3 papers in and the submission of 1 paper to conference proceedings. Also, the PI has presented 12 invited talks at international conferences and workshops. In the following, a brief summary of these results is given.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Growing representation in Nuclear Physics in Eastern TN

We propose to recruit a cohort of undergraduates from Minority Serving Institutions(MSIs) to participate in nuclear physics (NP) research in Eastern Tennessee (ET) as part of the new NPET Fellowship Program. The program balances mentorship from leaders in their fields with professional development and networking workshops throughout the year. Through the activities of the program, the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) Physics and Astronomy Department and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will partner to develop the physics identity and feelings of belonging and will improve the retention of under-represented minority (URM) students in the field.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Bridging nuclear physics across energy scales: from neutrinoless double-beta decay to high-energy heavy-ion collisions

This paper exemplifies how connecting methods at disparate energy scales can illuminate fundamental questions. By demonstrating that nuclear wave function properties governing rare decay processes also influence collective behavior at extreme temperatures and densities, the authors have opened a new pathway for constraining physics beyond the Standard Model. With multiple ton-scale 0νββ experiments under construction, any method reducing NME uncertainties will directly impact our ability to interpret discoveries or constrain neutrino properties. The general principle—that collective phenomena in high-energy collisions can illuminate subtle features of many-body correlations in the colliding nuclei—may find applications across nuclear and particle physics. Furthermore, this intersection of nuclear structure theory, heavy-ion physics, and fundamental symmetry tests represents fertile ground for future discoveries in modern physics.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Applications of quantum materials in nuclear physics experiments (Final Report)

The goals of this project are to search for hypothesized spin-hall effects of neutrons and variants of neutron-electron hybrid spin hall effects in quantum materials with strong spin-orbit-coupling (SOC) – such as: • Deflection of neutrons dependent on spin (polarization) states (a); • Electrical current induced electron spin polarization or (dynamically polarized) nuclear spin polarization (as suggested in PI’s prior work) may affect polarization states of transmitted or reflected neutron beam • Spin polarized neutrons transfer some spin angular momenta to electrons, which get converted to electronic charge voltage via electronic inverse spin Hall effect (b), which if realized, offers an electrical method to detect neutron spins.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Regional Training Program: Promoting Undergraduate Minority Persistence in Nuclear Physics (RTP: PUMP-NP)

A total of two cohorts of research experience were conducted under this grant. The first year of the program in which a cohort of six students were recruited from three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). These students travelled to Durham, NC in summer to participate in this program. Prior to their arrival, the students participated in an orientation in which they selected from a choice of topics for summer research and were paired up with mentors from Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL). The participants of the program were integrated with the larger cohort of summer students who had arrived at TUNL as part of other programs, such as the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU).

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Medium Energy Nuclear Physics Research at the University of Richmond

The first part is a technical paper on the fitting techniques used to extract the neutron detec tion efficiency from the CLAS12 detector at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, VA. The second is the masters thesis of Mr. Jude Buckley who also studied the neutron detection efficiency. He was a student at the University of Surrey in the UK and supported by the grant.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Theoretical tools for neutrino scattering: interplay between lattice QCD, EFTs, nuclear physics, phenomenology, and neutrino event generators

Maximizing the discovery potential of increasingly precise neutrino experiments will require an improved theoretical understanding of neutrino-nucleus cross sections over a wide range of energies. Low-energy interactions are needed to reconstruct the energies of astrophysical neutrinos from supernovae bursts and search for new physics using increasingly precise measurement of coherent elastic neutrino scattering. Higher-energy interactions involve a variety of reaction mechanisms including quasi-elastic scattering, resonance production, and deep inelastic scattering that must all be included to reliably predict cross sections for energies relevant to DUNE and other accelerator neutrino experiments. Refined nuclear interaction models in these energy regimes will also be valuable for other applications, such as measurements of reactor, solar, and atmospheric neutrinos. This manuscript discusses the theoretical status, challenges, required resources, and path forward for achieving precise predictions of neutrino-nucleus scattering and emphasizes the need for a coordinated theoretical effort involved lattice QCD, nuclear effective theories, phenomenological models of the transition region, and event generators.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗