arXiv Physics @arxiv_physics@qoto.org

We introduce a computer program to simulate the results of neutron powder-diffraction experiments at the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The program is freely available as a web application at http://addie.ornl.gov/hfirestimate, and is designed to be straightforward to use for researchers who are new to neutron diffraction. The input includes the crystal structure of the proposed sample, the sample mass, and the instrument configuration. The results include a plot of the simulated data -- including realistic estimates of background and the error bars due to counting statistics -- and suggestions of how to resolve potential problems with the experiment. Here, we explain the design and implementation of this program and demonstrate its performance using comparisons of simulated and experimental data. We hope that this program will enable researchers to plan neutron-scattering experiments more effectively, increasing the likelihood of successful experiments and improving the productivity of neutron-diffraction research.

Fluctuations in photon production within scintillators contribute to the overall energy resolution of scintillation detectors. While typically negligible, this contribution - known as intrinsic resolution (IR) - presents significant challenges for both experimental measurement and Monte Carlo simulation. Using the phenomenological model proposed in~[1], we interpreted multiple datasets of IR measurements in organic scintillators. Although our results generally agree with the IR dataset examined in~[1], a comprehensive evaluation of systematic uncertainties highlights the necessity for more detailed investigation. Based on our findings, we offer specific recommendations for future measurements.

The Inner Tracking System (ITS) of the ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the largest Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor technology application in high-energy physics. The upgraded version of the tracking system, called ITS2, consists of seven concentric layers of ALPIDE monolithic active pixel sensors produced in the 180 nm CMOS process, covering a total sensitive area of about 10 m${}^2$. The ALPIDE sensor features a pixel pitch of 27 $μ$m $\times$ 29 $μ$m and a position resolution of about 5 $μ$m. The very low material budget, 0.36\% $X_{0}$/layer for the three innermost layers and 1.10\% $X_{0}$/layer for the outer layers, in combination with the small radial distance of only 23 mm from the beam, leads to an excellent impact parameter resolution at low transverse momentum. This makes the detector well suited for experimentally challeging physics measurements such as the reconstruction of low transverse momentum heavy-flavor particles in the heavy-ion collision environment. This contribution provides an overview of the ITS2 data Quality Control system (QC), a framework designed to synchronously monitor the detector operating parameters and provide asynchronous reconstruction of the collected data, with the goal of guaranteeing a stable and efficient data taking. The monitoring for fake-hit rate, front-end electronics status, data integrity, cluster and track distributions, are presented, together with an overview of the ITS2 performance during the recent Run 3 pp and Pb--Pb data taking campaigns, as extracted from the QC asynchronous reconstruction.

This paper studies guided transverse scalar modes propagating through helically coiled waveguides. Modeling the modes as solutions of the Helmholtz equation within the three-dimensional (3D) waveguide geometry, a propagation ansatz transforms the mode-finding problem into a 3D quadratic eigenproblem. Through an untwisting map, the problem is shown to be equivalent to a 3D quadratic eigenproblem on a straightened configuration. Next, exploiting the constant torsion and curvature of the Frenet frame of a circular helix, the 3D eigenproblem is further reduced to a two-dimensional (2D) eigenproblem on the waveguide cross section. All three eigenproblems are numerically treated. As expected, significant computational savings are realized in the 2D model. A few nontrivial numerical techniques are needed to make the computation of modes within the 3D geometry feasible. They are presented along with a procedure to effectively filter out unwanted non-propagating eigenfunctions. Computational results show that the geometric effect of coiling is to shift the localization of guided modes away from the coiling center. The variations in modes as coiling pitch is changed are reported considering the example of a coiled optical fiber.

Two recent electrical incidents demonstrate how the design of equipment encouraged electrical workers to take actions that violated NFPA 70E principles. The features that encouraged non-compliant work execution will be described, as well as how the equipment was improved to facilitate safe work practices. Design-stage processes that help identify features that will foster rather than compromise safe work practices will be identified as well.

This article presents the Calorimetry - SimuFísica simulator, an interactive computational tool designed for teaching heat exchange processes. The simulator enables dynamic and audiovisual exploration of phenomena such as the heating of liquids and the establishment of thermal equilibrium between bodies at different temperatures. We describe its interface and the underlying physics, based on the equations of specific heat, latent heat of vaporization, and Newton's law of cooling. Two educational application examples are analyzed, in which the simulation results are compared with calculations typically performed at the high school and early undergraduate levels, highlighting the consistency between theory and simulation and the pedagogical potential of the tool.

Multiconfiguration pair-density functional theory (MC-PDFT) is a post-MCSCF multireference electronic-structure method that explicitly models strong electron correlation, and linearized pair-density functional theory (L-PDFT) is a recently developed multi-state extension that can accurately model conical intersections and locally-avoided crossings. Because MC-PDFT and L-PDFT rely on an on-top energy functional, their accuracy depends on the quality of the on-top functional used. Recent work has introduced translated meta-gradient-approximation (meta-GA) on-top functionals, and specifically the MC23 hybrid meta-GA on-top functional, which is the first on-top functional specifically optimized for MC-PDFT. Here we report the derivation and implementation of analytic nuclear gradients for MC-PDFT calculations using meta-GA and hybrid meta-GA on-top functionals. This development also enables analytic nuclear gradients for the widely successful tPBE0 hybrid on-top functional. Because MC-PDFT nuclear-gradient calculations involve the derivative of the on-top functional, this development also enables the use of meta-GA on-top functionals in L-PDFT single-point energy calculations. We use the new capabilities to test MC23 for ground-state geometries, excited-state geometries, and vertical excitation energies of s-trans-butadiene and benzophenone as well as to test MC23, another hybrid meta-GA, and seven other meta-GA on-top functionals for 441 vertical excitation energies. We find MC23 performs the best of all nine meta and hybrid meta functionals for vertical excitation energies and is comparable in accuracy to tPBE0 and to the NEVPT2 multireference wave function method. Additionally, we directly compare our MC-PDFT vertical excitation results to previously computed TD-DFT values and find that MC-PDFT outperforms even the best performing Kohn-Sham density functional.

This paper introduces Low-EFFourth (LEF4), a MATLAB-based computational framework designed for generating and studying multilevel model ensembles in continuous dynamical systems. Initially developed to address questions in climate modelling, LEF4 can also be used in other disciplines such as epidemiology, economics, and engineering, with minimal modifications to the code. The framework provides an efficient and flexible approach for investigating uncertainties arising from initial conditions, model parameters, numerical methods, and model formulation. This preprint serves as a formal reference for the LEF4 codebase and provides a concise technical and conceptual overview of its purpose, structure, applications and development pipeline.

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is vital for maintaining the safety and longevity of civil infrastructure, yet current solutions remain constrained by cost, power consumption, scalability, and the complexity of data processing. Here, we present a diffractive vibration monitoring system, integrating a jointly optimized diffractive layer with a shallow neural network-based backend to remotely extract 3D structural vibration spectra, offering a low-power, cost-effective and scalable solution. This architecture eliminates the need for dense sensor arrays or extensive data acquisition; instead, it uses a spatially-optimized passive diffractive layer that encodes 3D structural displacements into modulated light, captured by a minimal number of detectors and decoded in real-time by shallow and low-power neural networks to reconstruct the 3D displacement spectra of structures. The diffractive system's efficacy was demonstrated both numerically and experimentally using millimeter-wave illumination on a laboratory-scale building model with a programmable shake table. Our system achieves more than an order-of-magnitude improvement in accuracy over conventional optics or separately trained modules, establishing a foundation for high-throughput 3D monitoring of structures. Beyond SHM, the 3D vibration monitoring capabilities of this cost-effective and data-efficient framework establish a new computational sensing modality with potential applications in disaster resilience, aerospace diagnostics, and autonomous navigation, where energy efficiency, low latency, and high-throughput are critical.

This paper extends energy flux methods to handle three-dimensional ocean acoustic environments, the implemented solution captures horizontally refracted incoherent acoustic intensity, and its required computational effort is predominantly independent of range and frequency. Energy flux models are principally derived as incoherent solutions for acoustic propagation in bounded waveguides. The angular distribution of incoherent acoustic intensity may be derived from Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin modes transformed to the continuous angular domain via the ray-mode analogy. The adiabatic approximation maps angular distributions of acoustic intensity as waveguide properties vary along a range-dependent environment, and the final solution integrates a modal intensity kernel over propagation angles. Additional integration kernels can be derived that modulate the incoherent field by specific physical wave phenomena such as geometric spreading, refractive focusing, and boundary attenuation and interference. This three-dimensional energy flux model is derived from a double-mode-sum cross-product, is integrated over solid-angles, incorporates a bi-variate convergence factor, accounts for acoustic energy escaping the computational domain through transparent transverse boundaries, and accumulates bottom attenuation along transverse cycle trajectories. Transmission loss fields compare favorably with analytic, ray tracing, and parabolic equation solutions for the canonical ASA wedge problem, and three-dimensional adiabatic ray trajectories for the ideal wedge are demonstrated.

The QCLAM electron spectrometer at the S-DALINAC electron accelerator at Technische Universität Darmstadt has been extended by the DAGOBERT $γ$-detector array consisting of fast timing and high efficiency LaBr$_3$:Ce detectors to perform electron-gamma coincidence measurements. The functionality of the setup and data acquisition system was demonstrated in a commissioning measurement on $^{12}\textrm{C}$ observing the $4.44\,$MeV and $15.11\,$MeV states. A medium-heavy nucleus, $^{96}\textrm{Ru}$, has been studied for the first time up to excitation energies of $15\,$MeV using the $(e,e'γ)$ reaction. In particular, the angular distribution of the $2_1^+$ state and the $γ$-decay branching ratios of the mixed-symmetric $2_3^+$ state were observed. DAGOBERT@QCLAM is a new and worldwide unique setup for nuclear structure studies of excitation and decay using purely electromagnetic probes, with a significantly improved sensitivity compared to previous experiments.

For computational spectrometers, we propose an inverse-design approach in which the scattering media are topology-optimized to achieve better performance in inference, without the need of a training set of spectra and a distribution of detector noise. Our approach also allows the selection of the inference algorithm to be decoupled from that of the scatterer. For smooth spectra, we additionally devise a regularized reconstruction algorithm based on Chebyshev interpolation, which yields higher accuracy compared with conventional methods in which the spectra are sampled at equally spaced frequencies/wavelengths with equal weights. Our approaches are numerically demonstrated via inverse design of integrated computational spectrometers and reconstruction of example spectra. The inverse-designed spectrometers exhibit significantly better performance in the presence of noise than their counterparts with random scatterers.