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Creators/Authors contains: "Zhou, Rui"

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  1. Over the past century, supernova (SN) searches have detected multiple supernovae (SNe) in hundreds of individual galaxies. So-called SN siblings discovered in the same galaxy present an opportunity to constrain the dependence of the properties of SNe on those of their host galaxies. To investigate whether there is a connection between sibling SNe in galaxies that have hosted multiple SNe and the properties of galaxies, we have acquired integrated optical spectroscopy of 59 galaxies with multiple core-collapse SNe. Perhaps surprisingly, a strong majority of host galaxy spectra fall within the composite region of the Baldwin–Phillips–Terlevich (BPT) diagram. We find a statistically significant difference (Kolmogorov–Smirnov test p-value = 0.044) between the distributions of the [Nii]λ6583/Hα of galaxies that have hosted a majority of SNe Ibc and those that have hosted a majority of Type II supernovae (SNe II), where the majority of Type Ibc supernovae (SNe Ibc) galaxies have, on average, higher ratios. The difference between the distributions of [Nii]λ6583/Hα may arise from either increased contribution from active galactic nuclei or low-ionization nuclear emission-line regions in SNe Ibc host galaxies, greater metallicity for SNe Ibc host galaxies, or both. When comparing the inferred oxygen abundance and the ionization parameter for the galaxies in the star-forming region on the BPT diagram, we find statistically significant differences between the distributions for SNe Ibc hosts and SNe II hosts (p= 0.008 and p= 0.001, respectively), as well as SNe Ib hosts and SNe II hosts (p = 0.030 and p= 0.006, respectively). We also compare the Hα equivalent width distributions, also integrated across the galaxies, and find no significant difference. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available February 28, 2026
  2. Photoplasticity, the light-induced alteration of mechanical properties in semiconductors, is crucial for the development of advanced optoelectronic devices and the understanding of semiconductor mechanics. Despite progress in understanding this phenomenon, atomic-scale mechanisms, particularly under photoexcitation, remain complex and are partially understood. Here, we introduce a new computational framework combining constrained Density Functional Theory (CDFT) with machine learning potential (MLP) to explore Peierls stress and dislocation dynamics in zinc sulfide (ZnS) under both ground and excited states. Our results reveal that photoexcitation significantly increases Peierls stress by reducing strain concentration at the dislocation core, contributing to the transition from ductility to brittleness under light exposure. Importantly, this enhancement occurs without substantial changes in the dislocation core structure. These insights provide an understanding of the atomic-scale mechanisms behind photoplasticity in ZnS, demonstrating that integrating CDFT with MLP is a highly accurate and efficient approach to study complex material behaviors under photoexcitation. 
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    Free, publicly-accessible full text available January 6, 2026
  3. Sulfide-based solid electrolytes (SEs) are emerging as compelling materials for all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs), primarily due to their high ionic conductivities and robust mechanical stability. In particular, glassy SEs (GSEs) comprising mixed Si and P glassformers show promise, thanks to their efficient synthesis process and their intrinsic ability to prevent lithium dendrite growth. However, to date the complexity of their glassy structures hinders a complete understanding of the relationships between their structures and properties. Here, new machine learning force field (ML- FF) specifically designed for lithium sulfide-based GSEs has been developed. This ML-FF has been used to investigate the structural characteristics, mechanical properties, and lithium ionic conductivities in binary lithium thiosilicate and lithium thiophosphate GSEs, as well as their ternary mixed glassformer (MGF) lithium thiosilicophosphate GSEs. Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations using the ML-FF were conducted to explore the glass structures in varying compositions, including binary Li2S-SiS2 and Li2S-P2S5, as well as ternary Li2S-SiS2-P2S5. The simulations with the ML-FF yielded consistent results in terms of density, elastic modulus, radial distribution functions, and neutron structure factors, compared to DFT and experimental work. A key focus of this study was to investigate the local environments of Si and P molecular clusters. We discovered that most Si atoms in the Li2S-SiS2 GSE are situated in an edge-sharing environment, while the Li2S-P2S5 glass contained a minor proportion of edge-sharing P2S62- environments. In the ternary 60Li2S-32SiS2-8P2S5 glass, the ML-FF predicted similar P environments as observed in the binary Li2S-P2S5 glass. Additionally, it indicated the coexistence of corner and edge-sharing between PS4 and SiS4 tetrahedra in this ternary composition. Concerning lithium ionic conductivity at 300K, all studied glass compositions exhibited similar magnitudes and followed the Arrhenius relationship. The 50Li2S-50SiS2 glass displayed the lowest conductivity at 2.1 mS/cm, while the 75Li2S-25P2S5 composition exhibited the highest at 3.6 2 mS/cm. The ternary glass showed a conductivity of 2.57 mS/cm, sitting between the two. Interestingly, the predicted conductivities were about an order of magnitude higher than experimental values for the binary glasses but aligning more closely with that of the ternary glass. Moreover, an in-depth analysis of lithium-ion diffusion over the MD trajectory in the ternary glass demonstrated a significant correlation between diffusion pathways and the rotational dynamics of nearby SiS4 or PS4 tetrahedra. The ML-FF developed in this study shows immense potential as a versatile tool for exploring a broad spectrum of solid-state and mixed-former sulfide-based electrolytes. 
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  4. Abstract We report the discovery of an extremely magnified star at redshiftz= 2.65 in the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRISS pre-imaging of the A2744 galaxy-cluster field. The star’s background host galaxy lies on a fold caustic of the foreground lens, and the cluster creates a pair of images of the region close to the lensed star. We identified the bright transient in one of the merging images at a distance of ∼0.″15 from the critical curve by subtracting the JWST F115W and F150W imaging from coadditions of archival Hubble Space Telescope (HST) F105W and F125W images and F140W and F160W images, respectively. Since the time delay between the two images should be only hours, the transient must be the microlensing event of an individual star, as opposed to a luminous stellar explosion that would persist for days to months. Analysis of individual exposures suggests that the star’s magnification is not changing rapidly during the observations. From photometry of the point source through the F115W, F150W, and F200W filters, we identify a strong Balmer break, and modeling allows us to constrain the star’s temperature to be approximately 7000–12,000 K. 
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