Rayleigh-Taylor Instability in a Relativistic Shock

Modern superconducting radio frequency (SRF) applications demand precise control over material properties across multiple length scales—from microscopic composition, to mesoscopic defect structures, to macroscopic cavity geometry. We present a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) framework that incorporates spatially varying parameters derived from experimental measurements and ab initio calculations, enabling realistic, sample-specific simulations. As a demonstration, we model Sn-deficient islands in Nb₃Sn and calculate the field at which vortex nucleation first occurs for various defect configurations. These thresholds serve as a predictive tool for identifying defects likely to degrade SRF cavity performance. We then simulate the resulting dissipation and show how aggregate contributions from multiple small defects can reproduce trends consistent with high-field 𝑄-slope behavior observed experimentally. Our results offer a pathway for connecting microscopic defect properties to macroscopic SRF performance using a computationally efficient mesoscopic model.

We present the discovery of 30 transiting giant planets that were initially detected using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission. These new planets orbit relatively bright (G ≤ 12.5) FGK host stars with orbital periods between 1.6 and 8.2 days, and have radii between 0.9 and 1.7 Jupiter radii. We performed follow-up ground-based photometry, high angular resolution imaging, high-resolution spectroscopy, and radial velocity monitoring for each of these objects to confirm that they are planets and determine their masses and other system parameters. The planets’ masses span more than an order of magnitude (0.17 MJ < Mp < 3.3 MJ). For two planets, TOI-3593 b and TOI-4961 b, we measured significant nonzero eccentricities of  and  , respectively, while for the other planets, the data typically provide a 1σ upper bound of 0.15 on the eccentricity. These discoveries represent a major step toward assembling a complete, magnitude-limited sample of transiting hot Jupiters around FGK stars.

It has been known for decades that microscopic dust particles can become trapped near the focus of a continuous laser beam when surrounded by ambient gas such as air. In this photophoretic interaction, the laser heats the particle, which interacts with surrounding gas molecules. Trapped particles typically scatter significant laser light as they are suspended in midair and can be easily observed from the side of the beam. We report on the first on-axis images of photophoretically trapped particles together with the laser-beam profile responsible for the trapping. The radial structure of the laser is recorded using 1:1 imaging, where the 1 W beam must be strongly attenuated without introducing distortion. The trapped particle is weakly illuminated using a different wavelength, chosen to transmit through the filters used to attenuate the laser.

Polymer foams play a critical role in contemporary inertial fusion energy (IFE) target designs by enhancing energy yield and optimizing implosion dynamics. However, the lack of high-resolution characterization of the nanostructure of these foams restricts progress in fusion science. In this work, we demonstrate the first high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of a low-density, Si-doped polymer foam fabricated via two-photon polymerization, using ptychographic x-ray computed tomography (PXCT) at an x-ray free electron laser (XFEL). This imaging method reconstructs two-dimensional (2D) attenuation and phase information at multiple sample angles that are combined into a 3D density map used to extract local mass density and determine structural dimensions. We achieve a 2D spatial resolution of 19 ± 3 nm on a high-contrast Ronchi pattern target and 78.7 ± 3 nm for low-contrast polymer foams, marking a significant advancement for XFEL-based ptychography of low-density materials. Furthermore, our experimental results reveal an average foam strut thickness of 1.17 ± 0.4 μm, consistent with fabrication expectations, and a reconstructed average mass density of 0.35 g/cc, aligning closely with the predicted density of 0.29 g/cc. These findings provide important insights for improving foam design and refining radiation hydrodynamics modeling in future IFE experiments. Our study establishes PXCT at an XFEL as a powerful tool for high-resolution characterization of fusion-relevant materials, paving the way for enhanced target performance in IFE research.

Atmospheric turbulence causes fluctuations in the angle-of-arrival (AOA) of sound waves. These fluctuations adversely affect the performance of sensor arrays used for source detection, ranging, and recognition. This article examines, from a theoretical perspective, the variance of the AOA fluctuations measured with two microphones. The AOA variance is expressed in terms of the propagation range, transverse distance between two microphones, acoustic frequency, and effective spectrum of quasi-homogeneous and isotropic turbulence, with parameters dependent upon the height above the ground. The effective spectrum is modeled with the von Kármán and Kolmogorov spectral models. In the latter case, the results simplify significantly, and the variance depends on the path-averaged effective structure-function parameter, which characterizes the intensity of temperature and wind velocity fluctuations in the inertial subrange of turbulence. The standard deviation of the AOA fluctuations is studied numerically for typical meteorological regimes of the daytime atmospheric boundary layer. For the cases considered, the standard deviation varies from a fraction of degree to around 1°–2°, and increases with increasing friction velocity and surface heat flux.

Time reversal (TR) is a process that can be used to generate high amplitude focusing of sound. It has been previously shown that high amplitude focused sound using TR in reverberant environments exhibits multiple nonlinear features including waveform steepening and a nonlinear increase in peak compression pressures [Patchett and Anderson, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 151(6), 3603–3614 (2022)]. The present study investigates the removal of one possible cause for these phenomena: free-space Mach stems. By constraining the focusing in the system to one-dimensional (1-D) waves, the potential formation of Mach stems is eliminated so that remaining nonlinear effects can be observed. A system of pipes is used to restrict the focused waves to be planar in a 1-D reverberant environment. Results show that waveform steepening effects remain, as expected, but that the nonlinear increase in compression amplitudes that appears in TR focusing of three-dimensional (3-D), finite-amplitude sound in rooms disappears here because Mach stems cannot form in a 1-D system. These experiments do not prove that Mach stems cause the nonlinear increase observed for focusing in a 3-D environment, but they do support the Mach stem explanation.