Project acronym 0MSPIN
Project Spintronics based on relativistic phenomena in systems with zero magnetic moment
Researcher (PI) Tomáš Jungwirth
Host Institution (HI) FYZIKALNI USTAV AV CR V.V.I
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary The 0MSPIN project consists of an extensive integrated theoretical, experimental and device development programme of research opening a radical new approach to spintronics. Spintronics has the potential to supersede existing storage and memory applications, and to provide alternatives to current CMOS technology. Ferromagnetic matels used in all current spintronics applications may make it impractical to realise the full potential of spintronics. Metals are unsuitable for transistor and information processing applications, for opto-electronics, or for high-density integration. The 0MSPIN project aims to remove the major road-block holding back the development of spintronics in a radical way: removing the ferromagnetic component from key active parts or from the whole of the spintronic devices. This approach is based on exploiting the combination of exchange and spin-orbit coupling phenomena and material systems with zero macroscopic moment. The goal of the 0MSPIN is to provide a new paradigm by which spintronics can enter the realms of conventional semiconductors in both fundamental condensed matter research and in information technologies. In the central part of the proposal, the research towards this goal is embedded within a materials science project whose aim is to introduce into physics and microelectronics an entirely new class of semiconductors. 0MSPIN seeks to exploit three classes of material systems: (1) Antiferromagnetic bi-metallic 3d-5d alloys (e.g. Mn2Au). (2) Antiferromagnetic I-II-V semiconductors (e.g. LiMnAs). (3) Non-magnetic spin-orbit coupled semiconductors with injected spin-polarized currents (e.g. 2D III-V structures). Proof of concept devices operating at high temperatures will be fabricated to show-case new functionalities offered by zero-moment systems for sensing and memory applications, information processing, and opto-electronics technologies.
Summary
The 0MSPIN project consists of an extensive integrated theoretical, experimental and device development programme of research opening a radical new approach to spintronics. Spintronics has the potential to supersede existing storage and memory applications, and to provide alternatives to current CMOS technology. Ferromagnetic matels used in all current spintronics applications may make it impractical to realise the full potential of spintronics. Metals are unsuitable for transistor and information processing applications, for opto-electronics, or for high-density integration. The 0MSPIN project aims to remove the major road-block holding back the development of spintronics in a radical way: removing the ferromagnetic component from key active parts or from the whole of the spintronic devices. This approach is based on exploiting the combination of exchange and spin-orbit coupling phenomena and material systems with zero macroscopic moment. The goal of the 0MSPIN is to provide a new paradigm by which spintronics can enter the realms of conventional semiconductors in both fundamental condensed matter research and in information technologies. In the central part of the proposal, the research towards this goal is embedded within a materials science project whose aim is to introduce into physics and microelectronics an entirely new class of semiconductors. 0MSPIN seeks to exploit three classes of material systems: (1) Antiferromagnetic bi-metallic 3d-5d alloys (e.g. Mn2Au). (2) Antiferromagnetic I-II-V semiconductors (e.g. LiMnAs). (3) Non-magnetic spin-orbit coupled semiconductors with injected spin-polarized currents (e.g. 2D III-V structures). Proof of concept devices operating at high temperatures will be fabricated to show-case new functionalities offered by zero-moment systems for sensing and memory applications, information processing, and opto-electronics technologies.
Max ERC Funding
1 938 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31
Project acronym 2DTHERMS
Project Design of new thermoelectric devices based on layered and field modulated nanostructures of strongly correlated electron systems
Researcher (PI) Jose Francisco Rivadulla Fernandez
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSIDAD DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary Design of new thermoelectric devices based on layered and field modulated nanostructures of strongly correlated electron systems
Summary
Design of new thermoelectric devices based on layered and field modulated nanostructures of strongly correlated electron systems
Max ERC Funding
1 427 190 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-11-01, End date: 2015-10-31
Project acronym 4PI-SKY
Project 4 pi sky: Extreme Astrophysics with Revolutionary Radio Telescopes
Researcher (PI) Robert Philip Fender
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE9, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary Extreme astrophysical events such as relativistic flows, cataclysmic explosions and black hole accretion are one of the key areas for astrophysics in the 21st century. The extremes of physics experienced in these environments are beyond anything achievable in any laboratory on Earth, and provide a unique glimpse at the laws of physics operating in extraordinary regimes. All of these events are associated with transient radio emission, a tracer both of the acceleration of particles to relativistic energies, and coherent emitting regions with huge effective temperatures. By studying radio bursts from these phenomena we can pinpoint the sources of explosive events, understand the budget of kinetic feedback by explosive events in the ambient medium, and probe the physical state of the universe back to the epoch of reionisation, less than a billion years after the big bang. In seeking to push back the frontiers of extreme astrophysics, I will use a trio of revolutionary new radio telescopes, LOFAR, ASKAP and MeerKAT, pathfinders for the Square Kilometre Array, and all facilities in which I have a major role in the search for transients. I will build an infrastructure which transforms their combined operations for the discovery, classification and reporting of transient astrophysical events, over the whole sky, making them much more than the sum of their parts. This will include development of environments for the coordinated handling of extreme astrophysical events, in real time, via automated systems, as well as novel techniques for the detection of these events in a sea of noise. I will furthermore augment this program by buying in as a major partner to a rapid-response robotic optical telescope, and by cementing my relationship with an orbiting X-ray facility. This multiwavelength dimension will secure the astrophysical interpretation of our observational results and help to revolutionise high-energy astrophysics via a strong scientific exploitation program.
Summary
Extreme astrophysical events such as relativistic flows, cataclysmic explosions and black hole accretion are one of the key areas for astrophysics in the 21st century. The extremes of physics experienced in these environments are beyond anything achievable in any laboratory on Earth, and provide a unique glimpse at the laws of physics operating in extraordinary regimes. All of these events are associated with transient radio emission, a tracer both of the acceleration of particles to relativistic energies, and coherent emitting regions with huge effective temperatures. By studying radio bursts from these phenomena we can pinpoint the sources of explosive events, understand the budget of kinetic feedback by explosive events in the ambient medium, and probe the physical state of the universe back to the epoch of reionisation, less than a billion years after the big bang. In seeking to push back the frontiers of extreme astrophysics, I will use a trio of revolutionary new radio telescopes, LOFAR, ASKAP and MeerKAT, pathfinders for the Square Kilometre Array, and all facilities in which I have a major role in the search for transients. I will build an infrastructure which transforms their combined operations for the discovery, classification and reporting of transient astrophysical events, over the whole sky, making them much more than the sum of their parts. This will include development of environments for the coordinated handling of extreme astrophysical events, in real time, via automated systems, as well as novel techniques for the detection of these events in a sea of noise. I will furthermore augment this program by buying in as a major partner to a rapid-response robotic optical telescope, and by cementing my relationship with an orbiting X-ray facility. This multiwavelength dimension will secure the astrophysical interpretation of our observational results and help to revolutionise high-energy astrophysics via a strong scientific exploitation program.
Max ERC Funding
2 999 847 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-07-01, End date: 2017-06-30
Project acronym 5COFM
Project Five Centuries of Marriages
Researcher (PI) Anna Cabré
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT AUTONOMA DE BARCELONA
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH6, ERC-2010-AdG_20100407
Summary This long-term research project is based on the data-mining of the Llibres d'Esposalles conserved at the Archives of the Barcelona Cathedral, an extraordinary data source comprising 244 books of marriage licenses records. It covers about 550.000 unions from over 250 parishes of the Diocese between 1451 and 1905. Its impeccable conservation is a miracle in a region where parish archives have undergone massive destruction. The books include data on the tax posed on each couple depending on their social class, on an eight-tiered scale. These data allow for research on multiple aspects of demographic research, especially on the very long run, such as: population estimates, marriage dynamics, cycles, and indirect estimations for fertility, migration and survival, as well as socio-economic studies related to social homogamy, social mobility, and transmission of social and occupational position. Being continuous over five centuries, the source constitutes a unique instrument to study the dynamics of population distribution, the expansion of the city of Barcelona and the constitution of its metropolitan area, as well as the chronology and the geography in the constitution of new social classes.
To this end, a digital library and a database, the Barcelona Historical Marriages Database (BHiMaD), are to be created and completed. An ERC-AG will help doing so while undertaking the research analysis of the database in parallel.
The research team, at the U. Autònoma de Barcelona, involves researchers from the Center for Demo-graphic Studies and the Computer Vision Center experts in historical databases and computer-aided recognition of ancient manuscripts. 5CofM will serve the preservation of the original “Llibres d’Esposalles” and unlock the full potential embedded in the collection.
Summary
This long-term research project is based on the data-mining of the Llibres d'Esposalles conserved at the Archives of the Barcelona Cathedral, an extraordinary data source comprising 244 books of marriage licenses records. It covers about 550.000 unions from over 250 parishes of the Diocese between 1451 and 1905. Its impeccable conservation is a miracle in a region where parish archives have undergone massive destruction. The books include data on the tax posed on each couple depending on their social class, on an eight-tiered scale. These data allow for research on multiple aspects of demographic research, especially on the very long run, such as: population estimates, marriage dynamics, cycles, and indirect estimations for fertility, migration and survival, as well as socio-economic studies related to social homogamy, social mobility, and transmission of social and occupational position. Being continuous over five centuries, the source constitutes a unique instrument to study the dynamics of population distribution, the expansion of the city of Barcelona and the constitution of its metropolitan area, as well as the chronology and the geography in the constitution of new social classes.
To this end, a digital library and a database, the Barcelona Historical Marriages Database (BHiMaD), are to be created and completed. An ERC-AG will help doing so while undertaking the research analysis of the database in parallel.
The research team, at the U. Autònoma de Barcelona, involves researchers from the Center for Demo-graphic Studies and the Computer Vision Center experts in historical databases and computer-aided recognition of ancient manuscripts. 5CofM will serve the preservation of the original “Llibres d’Esposalles” and unlock the full potential embedded in the collection.
Max ERC Funding
1 847 400 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2016-04-30
Project acronym ACCI
Project Atmospheric Chemistry-Climate Interactions
Researcher (PI) John Adrian Pyle
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE10, ERC-2010-AdG_20100224
Summary Global change involves a large number of complex interactions between various earth system processes. In the atmosphere, one component of the earth system, there are crucial feedbacks between physical, chemical and biological processes. Thus many of the drivers of climate change depend on chemical processes in the atmosphere including, in addition to ozone and water vapour, methane, nitrous oxide, the halocarbons as well as a range of inorganic and organic aerosols. The link between chemistry and climate is two-way and changes in climate can influence atmospheric chemistry processes in a variety of ways.
Previous studies have looked at these interactions in isolation but the time is now right for more comprehensive studies. The crucial contribution that will be made here is in improving our understanding of the processes within this complex system. Process understanding has been the hallmark of my previous work. The earth system scope here will be ambitiously wide but with a similar drive to understand fundamental processes.
The ambitious programme of research is built around four interrelated questions using new state-of-the-art modelling tools: How will the composition of the stratosphere change in the future, given changes in the concentrations of ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases? How will these changes in the stratosphere affect tropospheric composition and climate? How will the composition of the troposphere change in the future, given changes in the emissions of ozone precursors and greenhouse gases? How will these changes in the troposphere affect the troposphere-stratosphere climate system?
ACCI will break new ground in bringing all of these questions into a single modelling and diagnostic framework, enabling interrelated questions to be answered which should radically improve our overall projections for global change.
Summary
Global change involves a large number of complex interactions between various earth system processes. In the atmosphere, one component of the earth system, there are crucial feedbacks between physical, chemical and biological processes. Thus many of the drivers of climate change depend on chemical processes in the atmosphere including, in addition to ozone and water vapour, methane, nitrous oxide, the halocarbons as well as a range of inorganic and organic aerosols. The link between chemistry and climate is two-way and changes in climate can influence atmospheric chemistry processes in a variety of ways.
Previous studies have looked at these interactions in isolation but the time is now right for more comprehensive studies. The crucial contribution that will be made here is in improving our understanding of the processes within this complex system. Process understanding has been the hallmark of my previous work. The earth system scope here will be ambitiously wide but with a similar drive to understand fundamental processes.
The ambitious programme of research is built around four interrelated questions using new state-of-the-art modelling tools: How will the composition of the stratosphere change in the future, given changes in the concentrations of ozone depleting substances and greenhouse gases? How will these changes in the stratosphere affect tropospheric composition and climate? How will the composition of the troposphere change in the future, given changes in the emissions of ozone precursors and greenhouse gases? How will these changes in the troposphere affect the troposphere-stratosphere climate system?
ACCI will break new ground in bringing all of these questions into a single modelling and diagnostic framework, enabling interrelated questions to be answered which should radically improve our overall projections for global change.
Max ERC Funding
2 496 926 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2017-04-30
Project acronym ACMO
Project Systematic dissection of molecular machines and neural circuits coordinating C. elegans aggregation behaviour
Researcher (PI) Mario De Bono
Host Institution (HI) MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS5, ERC-2010-AdG_20100317
Summary Elucidating how neural circuits coordinate behaviour, and how molecules underpin the properties of individual neurons are major goals of neuroscience. Optogenetics and neural imaging combined with the powerful genetics and well-described nervous system of C. elegans offer special opportunities to address these questions. Previously, we identified a series of sensory neurons that modulate aggregation of C. elegans. These include neurons that respond to O2, CO2, noxious cues, satiety state, and pheromones. We propose to take our analysis to the next level by dissecting how, in mechanistic molecular terms, these distributed inputs modify the activity of populations of interneurons and motoneurons to coordinate group formation. Our strategy is to develop new, highly parallel approaches to replace the traditional piecemeal analysis.
We propose to:
1) Harness next generation sequencing (NGS) to forward genetics, rapidly to identify a molecular ¿parts list¿ for aggregation. Much of the genetics has been done: we have identified almost 200 mutations that inhibit or enhance aggregation but otherwise show no overt phenotype. A pilot study of 50 of these mutations suggests they identify dozens of genes not previously implicated in aggregation. NGS will allow us to molecularly identify these genes in a few months, providing multiple entry points to study molecular and circuitry mechanisms for behaviour.
2) Develop new methods to image the activity of populations of neurons in immobilized and freely moving animals, using genetically encoded indicators such as the calcium sensor cameleon and the voltage indicator mermaid.
This will be the first time a complex behaviour has been dissected in this way. We expect to identify novel conserved molecular and circuitry mechanisms.
Summary
Elucidating how neural circuits coordinate behaviour, and how molecules underpin the properties of individual neurons are major goals of neuroscience. Optogenetics and neural imaging combined with the powerful genetics and well-described nervous system of C. elegans offer special opportunities to address these questions. Previously, we identified a series of sensory neurons that modulate aggregation of C. elegans. These include neurons that respond to O2, CO2, noxious cues, satiety state, and pheromones. We propose to take our analysis to the next level by dissecting how, in mechanistic molecular terms, these distributed inputs modify the activity of populations of interneurons and motoneurons to coordinate group formation. Our strategy is to develop new, highly parallel approaches to replace the traditional piecemeal analysis.
We propose to:
1) Harness next generation sequencing (NGS) to forward genetics, rapidly to identify a molecular ¿parts list¿ for aggregation. Much of the genetics has been done: we have identified almost 200 mutations that inhibit or enhance aggregation but otherwise show no overt phenotype. A pilot study of 50 of these mutations suggests they identify dozens of genes not previously implicated in aggregation. NGS will allow us to molecularly identify these genes in a few months, providing multiple entry points to study molecular and circuitry mechanisms for behaviour.
2) Develop new methods to image the activity of populations of neurons in immobilized and freely moving animals, using genetically encoded indicators such as the calcium sensor cameleon and the voltage indicator mermaid.
This will be the first time a complex behaviour has been dissected in this way. We expect to identify novel conserved molecular and circuitry mechanisms.
Max ERC Funding
2 439 996 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-04-01, End date: 2017-03-31
Project acronym ACTINONSRF
Project MAL: an actin-regulated SRF transcriptional coactivator
Researcher (PI) Richard Treisman
Host Institution (HI) THE FRANCIS CRICK INSTITUTE LIMITED
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS1, ERC-2010-AdG_20100317
Summary MAL: an actin-regulated SRF transcriptional coactivator
Recent years have seen a revitalised interest in the role of actin in nuclear processes, but the molecular mechanisms involved remain largely unexplored. We will elucidate the molecular basis for the actin-based control of the SRF transcriptional coactivator, MAL. SRF controls transcription through two families of coactivators, the actin-binding MRTFs (MAL, Mkl2), which couple its activity to cytoskeletal dynamics, and the ERK-regulated TCFs (Elk-1, SAP-1, Net). MAL subcellular localisation and transcriptional activity responds to signal-induced changes in G-actin concentration, which are sensed by its actin-binding N-terminal RPEL domain. Members of a second family of RPEL proteins, the Phactrs, also exhibit actin-regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling. The proposal addresses the following novel features of actin biology:
¿ Actin as a transcriptional regulator
¿ Actin as a signalling molecule
¿ Actin-binding proteins as targets for regulation by actin, rather than regulators of actin function
We will analyse the sequences and proteins involved in actin-regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, using structural biology and biochemistry to analyse its control by changes in actin-RPEL domain interactions. We will characterise the dynamics of shuttling, and develop reporters for changes in actin-MAL interaction for analysis of pathway activation in vivo. We will identify genes controlling MAL itself, and the balance between the nuclear and cytoplasmic actin pools. The mechanism by which actin represses transcriptional activation by MAL in the nucleus, and its relation to MAL phosphorylation, will be elucidated. Finally, we will map MRTF and TCF cofactor recruitment to SRF targets on a genome-wide scale, and identify the steps in transcription controlled by actin-MAL interaction.
Summary
MAL: an actin-regulated SRF transcriptional coactivator
Recent years have seen a revitalised interest in the role of actin in nuclear processes, but the molecular mechanisms involved remain largely unexplored. We will elucidate the molecular basis for the actin-based control of the SRF transcriptional coactivator, MAL. SRF controls transcription through two families of coactivators, the actin-binding MRTFs (MAL, Mkl2), which couple its activity to cytoskeletal dynamics, and the ERK-regulated TCFs (Elk-1, SAP-1, Net). MAL subcellular localisation and transcriptional activity responds to signal-induced changes in G-actin concentration, which are sensed by its actin-binding N-terminal RPEL domain. Members of a second family of RPEL proteins, the Phactrs, also exhibit actin-regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling. The proposal addresses the following novel features of actin biology:
¿ Actin as a transcriptional regulator
¿ Actin as a signalling molecule
¿ Actin-binding proteins as targets for regulation by actin, rather than regulators of actin function
We will analyse the sequences and proteins involved in actin-regulated nucleocytoplasmic shuttling, using structural biology and biochemistry to analyse its control by changes in actin-RPEL domain interactions. We will characterise the dynamics of shuttling, and develop reporters for changes in actin-MAL interaction for analysis of pathway activation in vivo. We will identify genes controlling MAL itself, and the balance between the nuclear and cytoplasmic actin pools. The mechanism by which actin represses transcriptional activation by MAL in the nucleus, and its relation to MAL phosphorylation, will be elucidated. Finally, we will map MRTF and TCF cofactor recruitment to SRF targets on a genome-wide scale, and identify the steps in transcription controlled by actin-MAL interaction.
Max ERC Funding
1 889 995 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-10-01, End date: 2017-09-30
Project acronym ACTSELECTCONTEXT
Project Action Selection under Contextual Uncertainty: the Role of Learning and Effective Connectivity in the Human Brain
Researcher (PI) Sven Bestmann
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS5, ERC-2010-StG_20091118
Summary In a changing world, one hallmark feature of human behaviour is the ability to learn about the statistics of the environment and use this prior information for action selection. Knowing about a forthcoming event allows for adjusting our actions pre-emptively, which can optimize survival.
This proposal studies how the human brain learns about the uncertainty in the environment, and how this leads to flexible and efficient action selection.
I hypothesise that the accumulation of evidence for future movements through learning reflects a fundamental organisational principle for action control. This explains widely distributed perceptual-, learning-, decision-, and movement-related signals in the human brain. However, little is known about the concerted interplay between brain regions in terms of effective connectivity which is required for flexible behaviour.
My proposal seeks to shed light on this unresolved issue. To this end, I will use i) a multi-disciplinary neuroimaging approach, together with model-based analyses and Bayesian model comparison, adapted to human reaching behaviour as occurring in daily life; and ii) two novel approaches for testing effective connectivity: dynamic causal modelling (DCM) and concurrent transcranial magnetic stimulation-functional magnetic resonance imaging.
My prediction is that action selection relies on effective connectivity changes, which are a function of the prior information that the brain has to learn about.
If true, this will provide novel insight into the human ability to select actions, based on learning about the uncertainty which is inherent in contextual information. This is relevant for understanding action selection during development and ageing, and for pathologies of action such as Parkinson s disease or stroke.
Summary
In a changing world, one hallmark feature of human behaviour is the ability to learn about the statistics of the environment and use this prior information for action selection. Knowing about a forthcoming event allows for adjusting our actions pre-emptively, which can optimize survival.
This proposal studies how the human brain learns about the uncertainty in the environment, and how this leads to flexible and efficient action selection.
I hypothesise that the accumulation of evidence for future movements through learning reflects a fundamental organisational principle for action control. This explains widely distributed perceptual-, learning-, decision-, and movement-related signals in the human brain. However, little is known about the concerted interplay between brain regions in terms of effective connectivity which is required for flexible behaviour.
My proposal seeks to shed light on this unresolved issue. To this end, I will use i) a multi-disciplinary neuroimaging approach, together with model-based analyses and Bayesian model comparison, adapted to human reaching behaviour as occurring in daily life; and ii) two novel approaches for testing effective connectivity: dynamic causal modelling (DCM) and concurrent transcranial magnetic stimulation-functional magnetic resonance imaging.
My prediction is that action selection relies on effective connectivity changes, which are a function of the prior information that the brain has to learn about.
If true, this will provide novel insight into the human ability to select actions, based on learning about the uncertainty which is inherent in contextual information. This is relevant for understanding action selection during development and ageing, and for pathologies of action such as Parkinson s disease or stroke.
Max ERC Funding
1 341 805 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31
Project acronym AISENS
Project New generation of high sensitive atom interferometers
Researcher (PI) Marco Fattori
Host Institution (HI) CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE2, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary Interferometers are fundamental tools for the study of nature laws and for the precise measurement and control of the physical world. In the last century, the scientific and technological progress has proceeded in parallel with a constant improvement of interferometric performances. For this reason, the challenge of conceiving and realizing new generations of interferometers with broader ranges of operation and with higher sensitivities is always open and actual.
Despite the introduction of laser devices has deeply improved the way of developing and performing interferometric measurements with light, the atomic matter wave analogous, i.e. the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), has not yet triggered any revolution in precision interferometry. However, thanks to recent improvements on the control of the quantum properties of ultra-cold atomic gases, and new original ideas on the creation and manipulation of quantum entangled particles, the field of atom interferometry is now mature to experience a big step forward.
The system I want to realize is a Mach-Zehnder spatial interferometer operating with trapped BECs. Undesired decoherence sources will be suppressed by implementing BECs with tunable interactions in ultra-stable optical potentials. Entangled states will be used to improve the sensitivity of the sensor beyond the standard quantum limit to ideally reach the ultimate, Heisenberg, limit set by quantum mechanics. The resulting apparatus will show unprecedented spatial resolution and will overcome state-of-the-art interferometers with cold (non condensed) atomic gases.
A successful completion of this project will lead to a new generation of interferometers for the immediate application to local inertial measurements with unprecedented resolution. In addition, we expect to develop experimental capabilities which might find application well beyond quantum interferometry and crucially contribute to the broader emerging field of quantum-enhanced technologies.
Summary
Interferometers are fundamental tools for the study of nature laws and for the precise measurement and control of the physical world. In the last century, the scientific and technological progress has proceeded in parallel with a constant improvement of interferometric performances. For this reason, the challenge of conceiving and realizing new generations of interferometers with broader ranges of operation and with higher sensitivities is always open and actual.
Despite the introduction of laser devices has deeply improved the way of developing and performing interferometric measurements with light, the atomic matter wave analogous, i.e. the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), has not yet triggered any revolution in precision interferometry. However, thanks to recent improvements on the control of the quantum properties of ultra-cold atomic gases, and new original ideas on the creation and manipulation of quantum entangled particles, the field of atom interferometry is now mature to experience a big step forward.
The system I want to realize is a Mach-Zehnder spatial interferometer operating with trapped BECs. Undesired decoherence sources will be suppressed by implementing BECs with tunable interactions in ultra-stable optical potentials. Entangled states will be used to improve the sensitivity of the sensor beyond the standard quantum limit to ideally reach the ultimate, Heisenberg, limit set by quantum mechanics. The resulting apparatus will show unprecedented spatial resolution and will overcome state-of-the-art interferometers with cold (non condensed) atomic gases.
A successful completion of this project will lead to a new generation of interferometers for the immediate application to local inertial measurements with unprecedented resolution. In addition, we expect to develop experimental capabilities which might find application well beyond quantum interferometry and crucially contribute to the broader emerging field of quantum-enhanced technologies.
Max ERC Funding
1 068 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2011-01-01, End date: 2015-12-31
Project acronym ALORS
Project Advanced Lagrangian Optimization, Receptivity and Sensitivity analysis applied to industrial situations
Researcher (PI) Matthew Pudan Juniper
Host Institution (HI) THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2010-StG_20091028
Summary In the last ten years there has been a surge of interest in non-modal analysis applied to canonical problems in fundamental fluid mechanics. Even in simple flows, the stability behaviour predicted by non-modal analysis can be completely different from and far more accurate than that predicted by conventional eigenvalue analysis.
As well as being more accurate, the tools of non-modal analysis, such as Lagrangian optimization, are very versatile. Furthermore, the outputs, such as receptivity and sensitivity maps of a flow, provide powerful insight for engineers. They describe where a flow is most receptive to forcing or where the flow is most sensitive to modification.
The application of non-modal analysis to canonical problems has set the scene for step changes in engineering practice in fluid mechanics and thermoacoustics. The technical objectives of this proposal are to apply non-modal analysis to high Reynolds number flows, reacting flows and thermoacoustic systems, to compare theoretical predictions with experimental measurements and to embed these techniques within an industrial design tool that has already been developed by the group.
This research group s vision is that future generations of engineering CFD tools will contain modules that can perform non-modal analysis. The generalized approach proposed here, combined with challenging scientific and engineering examples that are backed up by experimental evidence, will make this possible and demonstrate it to a wider engineering community.
Summary
In the last ten years there has been a surge of interest in non-modal analysis applied to canonical problems in fundamental fluid mechanics. Even in simple flows, the stability behaviour predicted by non-modal analysis can be completely different from and far more accurate than that predicted by conventional eigenvalue analysis.
As well as being more accurate, the tools of non-modal analysis, such as Lagrangian optimization, are very versatile. Furthermore, the outputs, such as receptivity and sensitivity maps of a flow, provide powerful insight for engineers. They describe where a flow is most receptive to forcing or where the flow is most sensitive to modification.
The application of non-modal analysis to canonical problems has set the scene for step changes in engineering practice in fluid mechanics and thermoacoustics. The technical objectives of this proposal are to apply non-modal analysis to high Reynolds number flows, reacting flows and thermoacoustic systems, to compare theoretical predictions with experimental measurements and to embed these techniques within an industrial design tool that has already been developed by the group.
This research group s vision is that future generations of engineering CFD tools will contain modules that can perform non-modal analysis. The generalized approach proposed here, combined with challenging scientific and engineering examples that are backed up by experimental evidence, will make this possible and demonstrate it to a wider engineering community.
Max ERC Funding
1 301 196 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-12-01, End date: 2016-06-30
