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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

Mechanical cosmology: Simulating scalar fluctuations in expanding universes using synthetic mechanical lattices

Inspired by recent advances in observational astrophysics and continued explorations in the field of analog gravity, we discuss the prospect of simulating models of cosmology within the context of synthetic mechanical lattice experiments. We focus on the physics of expanding universe scenarios described by the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric. Specifically, quantizing scalar fluctuations in a background FLRW spacetime leads to a quadratic bosonic Hamiltonian with temporally varying pair production terms. Here we present a mapping that provides a one-to-one correspondence between these classes of cosmology models and feedback-coupled mechanical oscillators. As proof of principle, we then perform experiments on a synthetic mechanical lattice composed of such oscillators. We simulate two different FLRW expansion scenarios with universes dominated by vacuum energy and matter and discuss our experimental results. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Rhyno, Brendan (ORCID:0000000235266998)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Gravitational waves from stochastic scalar fluctuations

Here, we present a novel mechanism for gravitational wave generation in the early Universe. Light spectator scalar fields during inflation can acquire a blue-tilted power spectrum due to stochastic effects. We show that this effect can lead to large curvature perturbations at small scales (induced by the spectator field fluctuations) while maintaining the observed, slightly red-tilted curvature perturbations at large cosmological scales (induced by the inflaton fluctuations). Along with other observational signatures, such as enhanced dark matter substructure, large curvature perturbations can induce a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB). The predicted strength of SGWB in our scenario, Ω GW ⁢ℎ 2 ≃10 -20 -10 -15 , can be observed with future detectors, operating between 10 -5 Hz and 10 Hz. We note that, in order to accommodate the newly reported NANOGrav observation, one could consider the same class of spectator models. At the same time, one would need to go beyond the simple benchmark considered here and consider a regime in which a misalignment contribution is also important.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

A tail of eternal inflation

Non-trivial inflaton self-interactions can yield calculable signatures of primordial non-Gaussianity that are measurable in cosmic surveys. We calculate the non-Gaussian corrections to Stochastic Inflation within the framework of Soft de Sitter Effective Theory, from which we derive the associated probability distribution for the scalar fluctuations. As a consequence of this new result, we show that the phase transition to slow-roll eternal inflation is often incalculable in these models. Instead, this transition is sensitive to the non-Gaussian tail of the distribution of scalar fluctuations, which probes physics inside the horizon, potentially beyond the cutoff scale of the Effective Field Theory of Inflation. We delineate the parameter space consistent with current observations and weak coupling at horizon crossing in which the large fluctuations relevant for eternal inflation can only be determined by appealing to a UV completion. We also argue that this breakdown of the perturbative description is required for the de Sitter entropy to reflect the number of de Sitter microstates.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Competing magnetic phases and fluctuation-driven scalar spin chirality in the kagome metal YMn 6 Sn 6

Identification, understanding, and manipulation of novel magnetic textures are essential for the discovery of new quantum materials for future spin-based electronic devices. In particular, materials that manifest a large response to external stimuli such as a magnetic field are subject to intense investigation. Here, we study the kagome-net magnet YMn 6 Sn 6 by magnetometry, transport, and neutron diffraction measurements combined with first-principles calculations. We identify a number of nontrivial magnetic phases, explain their microscopic nature, and demonstrate that one of them hosts a large topological Hall effect (THE). We propose a previously unidentified fluctuation-driven mechanism, which leads to the THE at elevated temperatures. This interesting physics comes from parametrically frustrated interplanar exchange interactions that trigger strong magnetic fluctuations. Our results pave a path to chiral spin textures, promising for novel spintronics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Scaling of Turbulence and Microphysics in a Convection–Cloud Chamber of Varying Height

Abstract The convection–cloud chamber enables measurement of aerosol and cloud microphysics, as well as their interactions, within a turbulent environment under steady‐state conditions. Increasing the size of a convection–cloud chamber, while holding the imposed temperature difference constant, leads to increased Rayleigh, Reynolds and Nusselt numbers. Large–eddy simulation coupled with a bin microphysics model allows the influence of increased velocity, time, and spatial scales on cloud microphysical properties to be explored. Simulations of a convection–cloud chamber, with fixed aspect ratio and increasing heights of H = 1, 2, 4, and (for dry conditions only) 8 m are performed. The key findings are: Velocity fluctuations scale as H 1/3 , consistent with the Deardorff expression for convective velocity, and implying that the turbulence correlation time scales as H 2/3 . Temperature and other scalar fluctuations scale as H −3/7 . Droplet size distributions from chambers of different sizes can be matched by adjusting the total aerosol injection rate as the horizontal cross‐sectional area (i.e., as H 2 for constant aspect ratio). Injection of aerosols at a point versus distributed throughout the volume makes no difference for polluted conditions, but can lead to cloud droplet size distribution broadening in clean conditions. Cloud droplet growth by collision and coalescence leads to a broader right tail of the distribution compared to condensation growth alone, and this tail increases in magnitude and extent monotonically as the increase of chamber height. These results also have implications for scaling within turbulent, cloudy mixed‐layers in the atmosphere, such as fog layers.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Geometry versus growth: Internal consistency of the flat ΛCDM model with KiDS-1000

Here, we carry out a multi-probe self-consistency test of the flat Lambda Cold Dark Matter (ΛCDM) model with the aim of exploring potential causes of the reported tensions between high- and low-redshift cosmological observations. We divide the model into two theory regimes determined by the smooth background (geometry) and the evolution of matter density fluctuations (growth), each governed by an independent set of ΛCDM cosmological parameters. This extended model is constrained by a combination of weak gravitational lensing measurements from the Kilo-Degree Survey, galaxy clustering signatures extracted from Sloan Digital Sky Survey campaigns and the Six-Degree Field Galaxy Survey, and the angular baryon acoustic scale and the primordial scalar fluctuation power spectrum measured in Planck cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. For both the weak lensing data set individually and the combined probes, we find strong consistency between the geometry and growth parameters, as well as with the posterior of standard ΛCDM analysis. In the non-split analysis, for which one single set of parameters was used, tension in the amplitude of matter density fluctuations as measured by the parameter S 8 persists at around 3σ, with a 1.5% constraint of S 8 = 0.776$_{–0.008}^{+0.016}$ for the combined probes. We also observe a less significant preference (at least 2σ) for higher values of the Hubble constant, H 0 = 70.5$_{–1.5}^{+0.7}$ km s –1 Mpc –1 , as well as for lower values of the total matter density parameter Ω m = 0.289$_{–0.005}^{+0.007}$ compared to the full Planck analysis. Including the subset of the CMB information in the probe combination enhances these differences rather than alleviate them, which we link to the discrepancy between low and high multipoles in Planck data. Our geometry versus growth analysis does not yet yield clear signs regarding whether the origin of the discrepancies lies in ΛCDM structure growth or expansion history but holds promise as an insightful test for forthcoming, more powerful data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Logarithmic scaling of higher-order temperature moments in the atmospheric surface layer

A generalized logarithmic law for high-order moments of homogeneous passive scalars is proposed for turbulent boundary layers. This law is analogous to the generalized log law that has been proposed for high-order moments of the turbulent longitudinal velocity and is derived by combining the random sweeping decorrelation hypothesis with a spectral model informed by the attached eddy hypothesis. The proposed theory predicts that the high-order moments of passive scalar fluctuations within the inertial sublayer will vary logarithmically with wall-normal distance (), and is evaluated using high frequency time-series measurements of temperature and streamwise velocity fluctuations obtained in the first meter of the atmospheric surface layer (ASL) under near-neutral thermal stratification. The logarithmic dependence with within the inertial sublayer is observed in both the air temperature and velocity moments, with good agreement to the predictions from the proposed theory. Surprisingly, the proposed theory appears to be as, if not more, valid for transported passive scalars than for the longitudinal velocity.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Turbulence-induced bias in time-averaged laser absorption tomography of correlated concentration and temperature fields with a first-order correction

The influence of correlated scalar fluctuations on time-averaged laser absorption tomography measurements of temperature and species in a piloted turbulent premixed flame was examined using a coupled spectroscopic and fluid-dynamic analysis. To understand bias associated with turbulence, spatio-temporally resolved temperature and species mole fraction profiles predicted by large eddy simulations (LES) were used to synthetically generate time-resolved line-of-sight absorption measurements at short time scales (microsecond) to reflect the unsteady nature of a canonical jet burner across various transverse measurement planes. Inversion methods were employed on the time-averaged line-of-sight data to produce radially-resolved temperature and mole fraction profiles, analogous to those produced by laser absorption tomography performed on a time-averaged axisymmetric flowfield. It is shown that bias in the measurements compared to true time-averaged scalar fields is a function primarily of temperature dependence in absorptivity and non-zero correlation between temperature and species concentration scalars. Finally, a first-order correction to tomography measurements is proposed to account for the bias based on estimated correlations and the known spectroscopic parameters of the probed absorption transitions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Baryogenesis, primordial black holes and MHz–GHz gravitational waves

Gravitational waves (GWs) in the MHz–GHz frequency range are motivated by a host of early Universe phenomena such as oscillons, preheating, and cosmic strings. We point out that baryogenesis too serves as a motivation to probe GWs in this frequency range. The connection is through primordial black holes (PBHs): on the one hand, PBHs induce baryogenesis by Hawking evaporating into a species that has baryon number and CP violating decays; on the other, PBHs induce GWs through second order effects when the scalar fluctuations responsible for their formation re-enter the horizon. We describe the interplay of the parameters responsible for successful baryogenesis on the plane of the strain and frequency of the induced GWs, being careful to delineate regimes where PBH domination or washout effects occur. We provide semi-analytic scalings of the GW strain with the baryon number to entropy ratio and other parameters important for baryogenesis. Along the way, we sketch a solution to the dark matter-baryogenesis coincidence problem with two populations of PBHs, which leads to a double-peaked GW signal. Our results underscore the importance of probing the ultra high frequency GW frontier.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

HIGH-FIDELITY SIMULATION OF SOOT FORMATION AND THERMAL RADIATION IN A LABORATORY-SCALE RICH-QUENCH-LEAN BURNER

High-fidelity simulations of a swirl-stabilized turbulent spray flame in a laboratory-scale aero-combustor have been performed to evaluate the predictability of state-of-the-art models in capturing soot formation. The simulations employ a complex chemical mechanism developed for Jet-A with PAH chemistry, coupled with the Hybrid Method of Moments (HMOM) soot model, and a Lagrangian dilute spray model for the fuel injection. Two simulations are performed to compare the results when thermal radiation is neglected or included in the solution with a mean spectral model. Modeling closures for the soot differential diffusion effects in mixture fraction space, as well as turbulence-radiation interaction are also evaluated using the data generated by the simulations. Given the degree of complexity of the simulation, the results showed good agreement with experimental measurements of the spatial distribution of the soot volume fraction ensemble average. A closer agreement with the experiment is observed when thermal radiation is included in the solution. Thermal radiation is observed to reduce the flame temperature and increase the flame intermittency, denoted by the increase in the temperature standard deviation in mixture fraction space. The reduction in temperature also leads to a reduction in PAH production and soot volume fraction. Turbulence is observed to have different effects on radiative emission depending on the mixture fraction. Turbulent scalar fluctuations significantly enhance radiative emission in fuel lean mixtures and can also play a role for fuel rich conditions. The statistical description of the turbulence-radiation interaction, previously proposed in the literature, was observed to correctly reproduce the high-fidelity results. Model coefficients were provided for swirl-stabilized flames. The soot differential diffusion model, previously proposed in the literature, based on the residual between the exact term and its model approximation, was also evaluated. The residual correction term further improved the agreement with exact differential diffusion term evaluated with the high-fidelity simulation data in mixture fraction space. The results suggest that the effective turbulent Lewis number can be equal to unity in simulations of turbulent non-premixed recirculating flames.

Soriano, Bruno [Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)↗
DOE OSTI2024

Inflaton production of scalar dark matter through fluctuations and scattering

We study the effects on particle production of a Planck-suppressed coupling between the inflaton and a scalar dark matter candidate, X. In the absence of this coupling the dominant source for the relic density of X is the long wavelength modes produced from the scalar field fluctuations during inflation. In this case, there are strong constraints on the mass of the scalar and the reheating temperature after inflation from the present-day relic density of X (assuming X is stable). When a coupling σ⁢Φ 2 ⁢X 2 is introduced, with σ = ˜σm$^{2}_{Φ}$/$M$$^{2}_{P}$ ~10 –10 ⁢ ˜σ, where m Φ is the inflaton mass, the allowed parameter space begins to open up considerably even for ˜σ as small as ≳10 –7 . For ˜σ ≳ $\frac{9}{16}$, particle production is dominated by the scattering of the inflaton condensate, either through single graviton exchange or the contact interaction between Φ and X. In this regime, the range of allowed masses and reheating temperatures is maximal. For 0.004 < ˜σ < 50, constraints from isocurvature fluctuations are satisfied, and the production from parametric resonance can be neglected.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

A Goldstone boson equivalence for inflation

The effective field theory of single-field inflation characterizes the inflationary epoch in terms of a pattern of symmetry breaking. An operator acquires a time-dependent vacuum expectation value, defining a preferred spatial slicing. In the absence of dynamical gravity, the fluctuations around the time-dependent background are described by the Goldstone boson associated with this symmetry breaking process. With gravity, the Goldstone is eaten by the metric, becoming the scalar metric fluctuation. In this paper, we will show that in general single-field inflation, the statistics of scalar metric fluctuations are given by the statistics of this Goldstone boson decoupled from gravity up to corrections that are controlled as an expansion in slow-roll parameters. This even holds in the presence of additional parameters, like the speed of sound, that naively enhance the impact of the gravitational terms. In the process, we derive expressions for leading and sub-leading gravitational corrections to all-orders in the Goldstone boson.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Lagrangian and Eulerian Supersaturation Statistics in Turbulent Cloudy Rayleigh–Bénard Convection: Applications for LES Subgrid Modeling

Abstract Turbulent fluctuations of scalar and velocity fields are critical for cloud microphysical processes, e.g., droplet activation and size distribution evolution, and can therefore influence cloud radiative forcing and precipitation formation. Lagrangian and Eulerian water vapor, temperature, and supersaturation statistics are investigated in direct numerical simulations (DNS) of turbulent Rayleigh–Bénard convection in the Pi Convection Cloud Chamber to provide a foundation for parameterizing subgrid-scale fluctuations in atmospheric models. A subgrid model for water vapor and temperature variances and covariance and supersaturation variance is proposed, valid for both clear and cloudy conditions. Evaluation of phase change contributions through an a priori test using DNS data shows good performance of the model. Supersaturation is a nonlinear function of temperature and water vapor, and relative external fluxes of water vapor and heat (e.g., during entrainment-mixing and phase change) influence turbulent supersaturation fluctuations. Although supersaturation has autocorrelation and structure functions similar to the independent scalars (temperature and water vapor), the autocorrelation time scale of supersaturation differs. Relative scalar fluxes in DNS without cloud make supersaturation PDFs less skewed than the adiabatic case, where they are highly negatively skewed. However, droplet condensation changes the PDF shape response: it becomes positively skewed for the adiabatic case and negatively skewed when the sidewall relative fluxes are large. Condensation also increases correlations between water vapor and temperature in the presence of relative scalar fluxes but decreases correlations for the adiabatic case. These changes in correlation suppress supersaturation variability for the nonadiabatic cases and increase it for the adiabatic case. Implications of this work for subgrid microphysics modeling using a Lagrangian stochastic scheme are also discussed.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

On the symmetries of cosmological perturbations

The space of inflationary models is vast, containing wide varieties of mechanisms, symmetries, and spectra of particles. Consequently, the space of observational signatures is similarly complex. Hence, it is natural to look for boundaries of the space of models and their signatures. In this paper, we explore the possible symmetries associated with the primordial cosmological perturbations and their correlators in the asymptotic future. Assuming the observed homogeneity, isotropy and (approximate) scale invariance, we prove three main results. First, correlation functions of scalar metric fluctuations are uniquely characterized by soft theorems and are free from ambiguity under field redefinitions. Second, whatever the particle content and interactions, when the standard soft theorems apply, invariance under de Sitter boosts (linearly realized conformal invariance) is only possible if all connected correlators vanish identically, i.e. if the theory is free. Third, conformal invariance is the largest set of linearly realized (bosonic) symmetries of the correlators of any single scalar, irrespectively of any soft theorems or particle content.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Parameterization of Turbulent Dissipation and Pressure Damping Time Scales in Stably Stratified Inversions, and its Effects on Low Clouds in Global Simulations

Abstract It is difficult for coarse‐resolution global models of the atmosphere to accurately simulate the observed distribution of low clouds. In particular, it is difficult for moist turbulence closure models to simulate sufficiently bright near‐coastal stratocumulus (Sc) without simulating overly bright marine shallow cumuli (Cu). To parameterize bright Sc, a turbulence parameterization must damp the turbulent fluxes of heat and moisture above cloud top in order to prevent excessive entrainment of dry air into cloud top. To parameterize dim shallow Cu, the subgrid variances of temperature and moisture must remain large, in order to permit partial cloudiness. However, damping the fluxes but not the variances just above cloud top is difficult if a parameterization uses a single “master” time scale to damp both. In nature, the above‐cloud fluxes are damped by pressure fluctuations, whereas scalar variances are damped by a different process, namely, turbulent dissipation. In a stably stratified inversion above cloud, pressure damping is large but turbulent dissipation is small. To avoid this problem, a multitime scale parameterization for damping has been developed. The damping parameterization has been implemented in a global model and evaluated. The parameterization is capable of dimming shallow Cu while producing adequately bright Sc.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Dark matter trigger for early dark energy coincidence

Current cosmological measurements present a persistent tension in the value of the current cosmic expansion rate, the Hubble constant, as inferred from cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure (LSS) data compared to that inferred from the classical distance ladder. Early dark energy (EDE), whose cosmological role is localized in time around the epoch of matter-radiation equality just prior to the release of the CMB photons, is designed to resolve this "Hubble tension". However, the model introduces a new coincidence problem: Why should the EDE dynamics occur near matter-radiation equality if EDE is decoupled from both matter and radiation? The resolution of this problem may lie in an early dark sector (EDS), wherein the dark matter mass is dependent on the EDE scalar field. In this work, we construct such an EDS model and show that it naturally resolves the EDE coincidence problem at the background level without any fine-tuning of the coupling to dark matter or of the initial conditions. When fitting to current cosmological data, including that from the local distance ladder, CMB, and LSS, our EDS maximum-likelihood model performs comparably to EDE for resolving the Hubble tension. However, fitting the Planck CMB data requires a specific range of initial field positions to balance the scalar field fluctuations that drive acoustic oscillations, providing testable differences with other EDE models and a platform for future model-building.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Interferometer response to geontropic fluctuations

We model vacuum fluctuations in quantum gravity with a scalar field, characterized by a high occupation number, coupled to the metric. The occupation number of the scalar is given by a thermal density matrix, whose form is motivated by fluctuations in the vacuum energy, which have been shown to be conformal near a light-sheet horizon. For the experimental measurement of interest in an interferometer, the size of the energy fluctuations is fixed by the area of a surface bounding the volume of spacetime being interrogated by an interferometer. We compute the interferometer response to these “geontropic” scalar-metric fluctuations, and apply our results to current and future interferometer measurements, such as LIGO and the proposed GQuEST experiment.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Power of halometry

Astrometric weak gravitational lensing is a powerful probe of the distribution of matter on sub-Galactic scales, which harbor important information about the fundamental nature of dark matter. Here we propose a novel method that utilizes angular power spectra to search for the correlated pattern of apparent motions of celestial objects induced from time-dependent lensing by a population of Galactic subhalos. Application of this method to upcoming astrometric datasets will allow for the direct measurement of the properties of Galactic substructure, with implications for the underlying particle physics. We show that, with near-future astrometric observations, it may be possible to statistically detect populations of cold dark matter subhalos, compact objects, as well as density fluctuations sourced by scalar field dark matter. Currently unconstrained parameter space will already be accessible using upcoming data from the ongoing Gaia mission.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗