Science Vignettes
Quantifying Systematic Error in Monte Carlo Simulations
Scientific Achievement Quantifying the potential bias in Monte Carlo eigenvalue simulations due to undersampling (too few particles per fission generation) has been difficult historically because of the computational resources required to obtain reference solutions. Using an ALCC grant on the Cori supercomputer, we obtained finely discretized flux solutions to a small modular reactor (SMR) problem with extremely small statistical error that has allowed us to definitely quantify undersampling… Read More »
Magnetic Reconnection: A bridge to Plasma Kinetic Scales
Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) used Cori to show that magnetic reconnection in a collisional plasma current sheet generates electric forces that overcome the collisional friction, leading to the spontaneous formation of current sheets and magnetic flux-ropes at the kinetic micro-scales. Read More »
How California Wildfires Can Impact Water Availability
Berkeley Lab researchers used NERSC supercomputers to show that conditions left behind by California wildfires lead to greater winter snowpack, greater summer water runoff and increased groundwater storage. Read More »
Predicting Plasma Pressure in Future Fusion Facilities
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have developed new insights into the physics governing the balance of pressure in the scrape-off layer of fusion reactors. Read More »
Hydrogen a Culprit in Battery Degredation
UC Santa Barbara computational materials scientist Chris Van de Walle and colleagues, using NERSC, have uncovered a reason for the loss of capacity that occurs over time in sodium batteries: the unintended presence of hydrogen, which leads to degradation of the battery electrode. Read More »
