Project acronym BPT
Project BEYOND PLATE TECTONICS
Researcher (PI) Trond Helge Torsvik
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITETET I OSLO
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary Plate tectonics characterises the complex and dynamic evolution of the outer shell of the Earth in terms of rigid plates. These tectonic plates overlie and interact with the Earth's mantle, which is slowly convecting owing to energy released by the decay of radioactive nuclides in the Earth's interior. Even though links between mantle convection and plate tectonics are becoming more evident, notably through subsurface tomographic images, advances in mineral physics and improved absolute plate motion reference frames, there is still no generally accepted mechanism that consistently explains plate tectonics and mantle convection in one framework. We will integrate plate tectonics into mantle dynamics and develop a theory that explains plate motions quantitatively and dynamically. This requires consistent and detailed reconstructions of plate motions through time (Objective 1).
A new model of plate kinematics will be linked to the mantle with the aid of a new global reference frame based on moving hotspots and on palaeomagnetic data. The global reference frame will be corrected for true polar wander in order to develop a global plate motion reference frame with respect to the mantle back to Pangea (ca. 320 million years) and possibly Gondwana assembly (ca. 550 million years). The resulting plate reconstructions will constitute the input to subduction models that are meant to test the consistency between the reference frame and subduction histories. The final outcome will be a novel global subduction reference frame, to be used to unravel links between the surface and deep Earth (Objective 2).
Summary
Plate tectonics characterises the complex and dynamic evolution of the outer shell of the Earth in terms of rigid plates. These tectonic plates overlie and interact with the Earth's mantle, which is slowly convecting owing to energy released by the decay of radioactive nuclides in the Earth's interior. Even though links between mantle convection and plate tectonics are becoming more evident, notably through subsurface tomographic images, advances in mineral physics and improved absolute plate motion reference frames, there is still no generally accepted mechanism that consistently explains plate tectonics and mantle convection in one framework. We will integrate plate tectonics into mantle dynamics and develop a theory that explains plate motions quantitatively and dynamically. This requires consistent and detailed reconstructions of plate motions through time (Objective 1).
A new model of plate kinematics will be linked to the mantle with the aid of a new global reference frame based on moving hotspots and on palaeomagnetic data. The global reference frame will be corrected for true polar wander in order to develop a global plate motion reference frame with respect to the mantle back to Pangea (ca. 320 million years) and possibly Gondwana assembly (ca. 550 million years). The resulting plate reconstructions will constitute the input to subduction models that are meant to test the consistency between the reference frame and subduction histories. The final outcome will be a novel global subduction reference frame, to be used to unravel links between the surface and deep Earth (Objective 2).
Max ERC Funding
2 499 010 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2016-04-30
Project acronym CPDENL
Project Control of partial differential equations and nonlinearity
Researcher (PI) Jean-Michel Coron
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE - PARIS 6
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE1, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary The aim of this 5,5 years project is to create around the PI a research group on the control of systems modeled by partial differential equations at the Laboratory Jacques-Louis Lions of the UPMC and to develop with this group an intensive research activity focused on nonlinear phenomena.
With the ERC grant, the PI plans to hire post-doc fellows and PhD students, to offer 1-to-3 months positions to confirmed researchers, a regular seminar and workshops.
A lot is known on finite dimensional control systems and linear control systems modeled by partial differential equations. Much less is known for nonlinear control systems modeled by partial differential equations. In particular, in many important cases, one does not know how to use the classical iterated Lie brackets which are so useful to deal with nonlinear control systems in finite dimension.
In this project, the PI plans to develop, with the research group, methods to deal with the problems of controllability and of stabilization for nonlinear systems modeled by partial differential equations, in the case where the nonlinearity plays a crucial role. This is for example the case where the linearized control system around the equilibrium of interest is not controllable or not stabilizable. This is also the case when the nonlinearity is too big at infinity and one looks for global results. This is also the case if the nonlinearity contains too many derivatives. The PI has already introduced some methods to deal with these cases, but a lot remains to be done. Indeed, many natural important and challenging problems are still open. Precise examples, often coming from physics, are given in this proposal.
Summary
The aim of this 5,5 years project is to create around the PI a research group on the control of systems modeled by partial differential equations at the Laboratory Jacques-Louis Lions of the UPMC and to develop with this group an intensive research activity focused on nonlinear phenomena.
With the ERC grant, the PI plans to hire post-doc fellows and PhD students, to offer 1-to-3 months positions to confirmed researchers, a regular seminar and workshops.
A lot is known on finite dimensional control systems and linear control systems modeled by partial differential equations. Much less is known for nonlinear control systems modeled by partial differential equations. In particular, in many important cases, one does not know how to use the classical iterated Lie brackets which are so useful to deal with nonlinear control systems in finite dimension.
In this project, the PI plans to develop, with the research group, methods to deal with the problems of controllability and of stabilization for nonlinear systems modeled by partial differential equations, in the case where the nonlinearity plays a crucial role. This is for example the case where the linearized control system around the equilibrium of interest is not controllable or not stabilizable. This is also the case when the nonlinearity is too big at infinity and one looks for global results. This is also the case if the nonlinearity contains too many derivatives. The PI has already introduced some methods to deal with these cases, but a lot remains to be done. Indeed, many natural important and challenging problems are still open. Precise examples, often coming from physics, are given in this proposal.
Max ERC Funding
1 403 100 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2016-09-30
Project acronym DISPEQ
Project Qualitative study of nonlinear dispersive equations
Researcher (PI) Nikolay Tzvetkov
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE DE CERGY-PONTOISE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary We plan to further improve the understanding of the nonlinear dispersive wave propagation phenomena. In particular we plan to develop tools allowing to make a statistical description of the corresponding flows and methods to study transverse stability independently of the very particular arguments based on the inverse scattering. We also plan to study critical problems in strongly non Euclidean geometries.
Summary
We plan to further improve the understanding of the nonlinear dispersive wave propagation phenomena. In particular we plan to develop tools allowing to make a statistical description of the corresponding flows and methods to study transverse stability independently of the very particular arguments based on the inverse scattering. We also plan to study critical problems in strongly non Euclidean geometries.
Max ERC Funding
880 270 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-10-01, End date: 2015-09-30
Project acronym GMODGAMMADYNAMICS
Project Dynamics on homogeneous spaces, spectra and arithmetic
Researcher (PI) Elon Lindenstrauss
Host Institution (HI) THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE1, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary We consider the dynamics of actions on homogeneous spaces of algebraic groups,
We propose to tackle the central open problems in the area, including understanding actions of diagonal groups on homogeneous spaces without an entropy assumption, a related conjecture of Furstenberg about measures on R / Z invariant under multiplication by 2 and 3, and obtaining a quantitative understanding of equidistribution properties of unipotent flows and groups generated by unipotents.
This has applications in arithmetic, Diophantine approximations, the spectral theory of homogeneous spaces, mathematical physics, and other fields. Connections to arithmetic combinatorics will be pursued.
Summary
We consider the dynamics of actions on homogeneous spaces of algebraic groups,
We propose to tackle the central open problems in the area, including understanding actions of diagonal groups on homogeneous spaces without an entropy assumption, a related conjecture of Furstenberg about measures on R / Z invariant under multiplication by 2 and 3, and obtaining a quantitative understanding of equidistribution properties of unipotent flows and groups generated by unipotents.
This has applications in arithmetic, Diophantine approximations, the spectral theory of homogeneous spaces, mathematical physics, and other fields. Connections to arithmetic combinatorics will be pursued.
Max ERC Funding
1 229 714 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-01-01, End date: 2016-12-31
Project acronym HYRAX
Project Rock Hyrax Middens and Climate Change in Southern Africa during the last 50,000 years
Researcher (PI) Brian Mc Kee Chase
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE10, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary In stark contrast to the abundance of high quality palaeoenvironmental records obtained from the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, terrestrial palaeoenvironmental information from southern Africa's drylands comes from discontinuous deposits with poor absolute age control and ambiguous palaeoclimatic significance. Confronted with the possibility of future environmental and social disruption as a result of climate change, the need for reliable records from southern Africa has never been so acute. This project seeks to develop rock hyrax middens as novel palaeoenvironmental archives to investigate long-term climate change. Hyrax middens (fossilised accumulations of urine and faecal pellets) contain a range of palaeoenvironmental proxies, including fossil pollen and stable isotopes. As part of a pilot study, I have created new collection and sampling methodologies, establishing the proof of principle and showing that middens provide continuous sub-annual to multi-decadal multi-proxy records of environmental change spanning the last 50,000 years. This work has been exceptional in terms of its ability to elucidate long-term climate dynamics at the local scale, and I now intend to apply my techniques to studying environmental change across the whole of southern Africa, a climatically sensitive, but poorly understood region of the globe. Developing new sites, proxies and analytical techniques, HYRAX will provide the first opportunity to study rapid climate change events, the extent and phasing of major climatic phenomena, and the direction and potential impacts of future climate change.
Summary
In stark contrast to the abundance of high quality palaeoenvironmental records obtained from the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, terrestrial palaeoenvironmental information from southern Africa's drylands comes from discontinuous deposits with poor absolute age control and ambiguous palaeoclimatic significance. Confronted with the possibility of future environmental and social disruption as a result of climate change, the need for reliable records from southern Africa has never been so acute. This project seeks to develop rock hyrax middens as novel palaeoenvironmental archives to investigate long-term climate change. Hyrax middens (fossilised accumulations of urine and faecal pellets) contain a range of palaeoenvironmental proxies, including fossil pollen and stable isotopes. As part of a pilot study, I have created new collection and sampling methodologies, establishing the proof of principle and showing that middens provide continuous sub-annual to multi-decadal multi-proxy records of environmental change spanning the last 50,000 years. This work has been exceptional in terms of its ability to elucidate long-term climate dynamics at the local scale, and I now intend to apply my techniques to studying environmental change across the whole of southern Africa, a climatically sensitive, but poorly understood region of the globe. Developing new sites, proxies and analytical techniques, HYRAX will provide the first opportunity to study rapid climate change events, the extent and phasing of major climatic phenomena, and the direction and potential impacts of future climate change.
Max ERC Funding
1 484 046 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-11-01, End date: 2016-10-31
Project acronym MAD-ESEC
Project Magmas at Depth: an Experimental Study at Extreme Conditions
Researcher (PI) Chrystèle Sanloup
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE - PARIS 6
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE10, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary Magmas, i.e. silicate melts, have played a key role in the chemical and thermal evolution of the Earth and other planets. The Earth's interior today is the outcome of mass transfers which occurred primarily in its early history and still occur now via magmatic events. Present day magmatic and volcanic processes are controlled by the properties of molten silicate at high pressure, considering that magmas are produced at depth. However, the physical properties of molten silicates remain largely unexplored across the broad range of relevant P-T conditions, and their chemical properties are very often assumed constant and equal to those known at ambient conditions. This blurs out our understanding of planetary differentiation and current magmatic processes.
The aim of this proposal is to place fundamental constraints on magma generation and transport in planetary interiors by measuring the properties of silicate melts in their natural high pressures (P) and high temperatures (T) conditions using a broad range of in situ key diagnostic probes (X-ray and neutron scattering techniques, X-ray absorption, radiography, Raman spectroscopy). The completion of this proposal will result in a comprehensive key database in the composition-P-T space that will form the foundation for modelling planetary formation and differentiation, and will provide answers to the very fundamental questions on magma formation, ascent or trapping at depth in the current and past Earth.
This experimental program is allowed by the recent advancements in in situ high P-T techniques, and comes in conjunction with a large and fruitful theoretical effort; time has thus come to understand Earth's melts and their keys to Earth's evolution.
Summary
Magmas, i.e. silicate melts, have played a key role in the chemical and thermal evolution of the Earth and other planets. The Earth's interior today is the outcome of mass transfers which occurred primarily in its early history and still occur now via magmatic events. Present day magmatic and volcanic processes are controlled by the properties of molten silicate at high pressure, considering that magmas are produced at depth. However, the physical properties of molten silicates remain largely unexplored across the broad range of relevant P-T conditions, and their chemical properties are very often assumed constant and equal to those known at ambient conditions. This blurs out our understanding of planetary differentiation and current magmatic processes.
The aim of this proposal is to place fundamental constraints on magma generation and transport in planetary interiors by measuring the properties of silicate melts in their natural high pressures (P) and high temperatures (T) conditions using a broad range of in situ key diagnostic probes (X-ray and neutron scattering techniques, X-ray absorption, radiography, Raman spectroscopy). The completion of this proposal will result in a comprehensive key database in the composition-P-T space that will form the foundation for modelling planetary formation and differentiation, and will provide answers to the very fundamental questions on magma formation, ascent or trapping at depth in the current and past Earth.
This experimental program is allowed by the recent advancements in in situ high P-T techniques, and comes in conjunction with a large and fruitful theoretical effort; time has thus come to understand Earth's melts and their keys to Earth's evolution.
Max ERC Funding
1 332 160 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2017-05-31
Project acronym MATHANA
Project Mathematical modeling of anaesthetic action
Researcher (PI) Axel Hutt
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT NATIONAL DE RECHERCHE ENINFORMATIQUE ET AUTOMATIQUE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary General anaesthesia is an important method in today's hospital practice and especially in surgery. To supervise the depth of anaesthesia during surgery, the anaesthesist applies electroencephalography (EEG) and monitors the brain activity of the subject on the scalp. The applied monitoring machine calculates the change of the power spectrum of the brain signals to indicate the anaesthetic depth. This procedure is based on the finding that the concentration increase of the anaesthetic drug changes the EEG-power spectrum in a significant way. Although this procedure is applied world-wide, the underlying neural mechanism of the spectrum change is still unknown. The project aims to elucidate the underlying neural mechanism by a detailed investigating a mathematical model of neural populations.
The investigation is based on analytical calculations in a neural population model of the cortex involving intrinsic neural properties of brain areas and feedback loops to other areas, such as the loop between the cortex and the thalamus. Currently, there are two proposed mechanisms for the charactertisic change of the power spectrum: a highly nonlinear jump in the activation (so-called phase transition) and a linear behavior. The project mainly focusses on the nonlinear jump to finally rule it out or support it. A subsequent comparison to previous experimenta results aims to fit the physiological parameters. Since the cortex population is embedded into a network of other cortical areas and the thalamus, the corresponding analytical investigations takes into account external stochastic (from other brain areas) and time-periodic (thalamic) forces. To this end it is necessary to develop several novel nonlinear analysis technique of neural populations to derive the power spectrum close to the phase transition and conditions for physiological parameters.
Summary
General anaesthesia is an important method in today's hospital practice and especially in surgery. To supervise the depth of anaesthesia during surgery, the anaesthesist applies electroencephalography (EEG) and monitors the brain activity of the subject on the scalp. The applied monitoring machine calculates the change of the power spectrum of the brain signals to indicate the anaesthetic depth. This procedure is based on the finding that the concentration increase of the anaesthetic drug changes the EEG-power spectrum in a significant way. Although this procedure is applied world-wide, the underlying neural mechanism of the spectrum change is still unknown. The project aims to elucidate the underlying neural mechanism by a detailed investigating a mathematical model of neural populations.
The investigation is based on analytical calculations in a neural population model of the cortex involving intrinsic neural properties of brain areas and feedback loops to other areas, such as the loop between the cortex and the thalamus. Currently, there are two proposed mechanisms for the charactertisic change of the power spectrum: a highly nonlinear jump in the activation (so-called phase transition) and a linear behavior. The project mainly focusses on the nonlinear jump to finally rule it out or support it. A subsequent comparison to previous experimenta results aims to fit the physiological parameters. Since the cortex population is embedded into a network of other cortical areas and the thalamus, the corresponding analytical investigations takes into account external stochastic (from other brain areas) and time-periodic (thalamic) forces. To this end it is necessary to develop several novel nonlinear analysis technique of neural populations to derive the power spectrum close to the phase transition and conditions for physiological parameters.
Max ERC Funding
856 500 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-01-01, End date: 2015-10-31
Project acronym MERCURY ISOTOPES
Project Exploring the isotopic dimension of the global mercury cycle
Researcher (PI) Jeroen Sonke
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE10, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary Mass-independent fractionation (MIF) of isotopes in terrestrial geochemical processes was first observed in 1983 for oxygen and in 2000 for sulfur isotopes. Recently mercury (Hg) was added to this shortlist when isotopic anomalies were observed for Hg s two odd isotopes, 199Hg and 201Hg in biological tissues. The objective of the MERCURY ISOTOPES project is to take Hg MIF beyond the initial discovery, and use it to address major outstanding scientific questions of societal and philosophical interest. Similar to the profound insights that carbon and oxygen isotope systematics have brought to climate research, we propose to use variations in Hg isotopic compositions to fingerprint natural and anthropogenic sources, quantify isotope fractionation processes, and provide new constraints on models of mercury cycling.
The MERCURY ISOTOPES project centres on the use of mercury MIF to understand global Hg dynamics at different time scales, from the Pleistocene to modern times. Three main themes will be investigated: 1. the modern Hg cycle focusing on Asian urban-industrial emissions related to coal burning, 2. recent atmospheric Hg deposition in the Arctic, recent Arctic Ocean Hg records from archived biological tissues, and post-glacial Hg deposition from 10,000 yr old ombrotrophic peat records along a mid-latitude sub-Arctic gradient. 3 Continuous atmospheric Hg speciation and isotopic monitoring at the Pic du Midi Observatory (Pyrenees).
By tapping information from the isotopic dimension of Hg cycling, including revolutionary mass-independent effects, I expect a maximum scientific impact while supporting a socially relevant and urgently needed investigation at the frontier of isotope geosciences.
Summary
Mass-independent fractionation (MIF) of isotopes in terrestrial geochemical processes was first observed in 1983 for oxygen and in 2000 for sulfur isotopes. Recently mercury (Hg) was added to this shortlist when isotopic anomalies were observed for Hg s two odd isotopes, 199Hg and 201Hg in biological tissues. The objective of the MERCURY ISOTOPES project is to take Hg MIF beyond the initial discovery, and use it to address major outstanding scientific questions of societal and philosophical interest. Similar to the profound insights that carbon and oxygen isotope systematics have brought to climate research, we propose to use variations in Hg isotopic compositions to fingerprint natural and anthropogenic sources, quantify isotope fractionation processes, and provide new constraints on models of mercury cycling.
The MERCURY ISOTOPES project centres on the use of mercury MIF to understand global Hg dynamics at different time scales, from the Pleistocene to modern times. Three main themes will be investigated: 1. the modern Hg cycle focusing on Asian urban-industrial emissions related to coal burning, 2. recent atmospheric Hg deposition in the Arctic, recent Arctic Ocean Hg records from archived biological tissues, and post-glacial Hg deposition from 10,000 yr old ombrotrophic peat records along a mid-latitude sub-Arctic gradient. 3 Continuous atmospheric Hg speciation and isotopic monitoring at the Pic du Midi Observatory (Pyrenees).
By tapping information from the isotopic dimension of Hg cycling, including revolutionary mass-independent effects, I expect a maximum scientific impact while supporting a socially relevant and urgently needed investigation at the frontier of isotope geosciences.
Max ERC Funding
1 176 924 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-12-01, End date: 2015-11-30
Project acronym MNIQS
Project Mathematics and Numerics of Infinite Quantum Systems
Researcher (PI) Mathieu Lewin
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary The purpose of the project is to study linear and nonlinear models arising in quantum mechanics and which are used to describe
matter at the microscopic and nanoscopic scales. The project focuses on physically-oriented questions (rigorous derivation of a
given model from first principles), analytic problems (existence and properties of bound states, study of solutions to timedependent
equations) and numerical issues (development of reliable algorithmic strategies). Most of the models are nonlinear and
describe physical systems possessing an infinite number of quantum particles, leading to specific difficulties.
The first part of the project is devoted to the study of relativistic atoms and molecules, while taking into account quantum
electrodynamics effects like the polarization of the vacuum. The models are all based on the Dirac operator.
The second part is focused on the study of quantum crystals. The goal is to develop new strategies for describing their behavior in
the presence of defects and local deformations. Both insulators, semiconductors and metals are considered (including graphene).
In the third part, attractive systems are considered (like stars or a few nucleons interacting via strong forces in a nucleus). The
project aims at rigorously understanding some of their specific properties, like Cooper pairing or the possible dynamical collapse of
massive gravitational objects.
Finally, the last part is devoted to general properties of infinite quantum systems, in particular the proof of the existence of the
thermodynamic limit
Summary
The purpose of the project is to study linear and nonlinear models arising in quantum mechanics and which are used to describe
matter at the microscopic and nanoscopic scales. The project focuses on physically-oriented questions (rigorous derivation of a
given model from first principles), analytic problems (existence and properties of bound states, study of solutions to timedependent
equations) and numerical issues (development of reliable algorithmic strategies). Most of the models are nonlinear and
describe physical systems possessing an infinite number of quantum particles, leading to specific difficulties.
The first part of the project is devoted to the study of relativistic atoms and molecules, while taking into account quantum
electrodynamics effects like the polarization of the vacuum. The models are all based on the Dirac operator.
The second part is focused on the study of quantum crystals. The goal is to develop new strategies for describing their behavior in
the presence of defects and local deformations. Both insulators, semiconductors and metals are considered (including graphene).
In the third part, attractive systems are considered (like stars or a few nucleons interacting via strong forces in a nucleus). The
project aims at rigorously understanding some of their specific properties, like Cooper pairing or the possible dynamical collapse of
massive gravitational objects.
Finally, the last part is devoted to general properties of infinite quantum systems, in particular the proof of the existence of the
thermodynamic limit
Max ERC Funding
905 700 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-10-01, End date: 2015-09-30
Project acronym MULTIMOD
Project Multi-Mathematics for Imaging and Optimal Design Under Uncertainty
Researcher (PI) Habib Ammari
Host Institution (HI) CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE1, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary The aim of this interdisciplinary project is to develop new mathematical and statistical tools, probabilistic approaches, and inversion and optimal design methods to address emerging modalities in medical imaging, nondestructive testing, and environmental inverse problems. It merges the complementary expertise of the investigators in order to make a breakthrough in the field of
mathematical imaging and optimal design by solving the most challenging problems posed by new imaging modalities. The PI and Co-PI are leading experts in their respective fields (applied
analysis and probability) and their researches have very strong interdisciplinary nature.
The goal of this project is to synergize asymptotic imaging, stochastic modelling, and analysis of both deterministic and stochastic wave propagation phenomena. We want to throw a bridge across the deterministic and stochastic aspects and tools of mathematical imaging. This requires a deep understanding of the different scales in the physical problem, an accurate modelling of the noise sources, and fine mathematical analysis of complex phenomena. The emphasis of this project will be put on deriving for each of the challenging imaging problems that we will consider, the best possible imaging functionals in the sense of stability and resolution. For optimal design problems, we
will evaluate the effect of uncertainties on the geometrical or physical parameters and design accurate optimal design methodologies.
In this project, we will build an exceptional interdisciplinary research and an innovative approach to training in applied mathematics. We will train a new generation of applied mathematicians who will master both the probabilistic and analytical tools to best meet the challenges of emerging technologies.
Summary
The aim of this interdisciplinary project is to develop new mathematical and statistical tools, probabilistic approaches, and inversion and optimal design methods to address emerging modalities in medical imaging, nondestructive testing, and environmental inverse problems. It merges the complementary expertise of the investigators in order to make a breakthrough in the field of
mathematical imaging and optimal design by solving the most challenging problems posed by new imaging modalities. The PI and Co-PI are leading experts in their respective fields (applied
analysis and probability) and their researches have very strong interdisciplinary nature.
The goal of this project is to synergize asymptotic imaging, stochastic modelling, and analysis of both deterministic and stochastic wave propagation phenomena. We want to throw a bridge across the deterministic and stochastic aspects and tools of mathematical imaging. This requires a deep understanding of the different scales in the physical problem, an accurate modelling of the noise sources, and fine mathematical analysis of complex phenomena. The emphasis of this project will be put on deriving for each of the challenging imaging problems that we will consider, the best possible imaging functionals in the sense of stability and resolution. For optimal design problems, we
will evaluate the effect of uncertainties on the geometrical or physical parameters and design accurate optimal design methodologies.
In this project, we will build an exceptional interdisciplinary research and an innovative approach to training in applied mathematics. We will train a new generation of applied mathematicians who will master both the probabilistic and analytical tools to best meet the challenges of emerging technologies.
Max ERC Funding
1 920 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-04-01, End date: 2016-03-31
