ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

The main goal of this proposal to the ERC Starting Grant scheme is to make ground-breaking progress in our understanding of the dynamical processes that shape the structure of protoplanetary disks. This will be achieved by performing state-of-the-art high resolution numerical simulations of protoplanetary disks, using novel computing techniques and taking advantage of the future European petascale supercomputers. The project will address the following fundamental questions in accretion disks theory: - What are the properties of MHD turbulence in protoplanetary disks? - What are the effects of radiative processes on protoplanetary disks structure? - What are the consequences of dead zones for protoplanetary disk structure? In addition, the project will look for potential observational signatures of these processes that might be detected by ALMA. Since planetary systems like our own are believed to emerge from protoplanetary disks, the project will make decisive contributions in describing the structure of the environment in which planetary systems form, the interest of which extends to the entire planet formation community.

1 093 152 €

Start date: 2011-09-01, End date: 2016-08-31

Peptidoglycan (PGN) is a major essential and unique component of the cell wall of both of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Because of the central role of PGN metabolism in bacterial cell structure and shape, in antibiotic resistance and in host-microbe interactions, any process affecting one of these aspects has direct consequence on the other two. Hence, the study of PGN metabolism is of seminal importance for a better understanding of bacteria in their environment. My project is centered on these three major aspects of PGN metabolism using several bacterial models. The project can be divided in two parts, one aimed at studying PGN metabolism to better understand how bacteria assemble a mature PGN that confers rigidity and shape to the cell despite a highly dynamic process to accompany cell growth and division (Part A). I propose to continue using Helicobacter pylori as a bacterial model since genome analysis indicates a minimal set of genes involved in PGN metabolism and assembly suggesting it might be a simpler model to study PGN metabolism. By characterizing the role of H. pylori PGN synthetases and hydrolases, my aim is to better understand PGN metabolism and to develop new therapeutic/antimicrobial strategies. The second part of my research project (Part B) is aimed at studying the role of PGN in host-microbe interactions and its detection by the recently identified intracellular receptors Nod1 and Nod2. Using several bacterial models, the objective is to understand how pathogens are able to subvert/modulate the host response by modifying their PGN. The different models include Helicobacter pylori, Neisseria meningitidis, Yersinia sp., Listeria monocytogenes among others. A second objective is to understand the dynamics of PGN sensing in the host cell during infection: which PGN structures are presented by the different pathogens, how the host detects them, responds to them and eventually detoxifies them.

1 650 000 €

Start date: 2008-08-01, End date: 2013-07-31

The aim of this proposal is to exploit the potentialities of confined pore spaces in technological processes related to applied photochemistry for gas sensing, energy conversion and environmental protection. I will focus on new light responsive nanoporous carbons which characteristics can be tailored at two levels (pore void at the nanometric scale and surface functionalization) during the synthesis to modulate their selectivity towards a given molecule (i.e. gas sensing) or efficiency in a given reaction (i.e. energy conversion, environmental protection). The dual nature of the nanoporous carbons with ad-hoc designed pore architectures acting as nanoreactors (confinement) and photoactivity defined by composition (chromophoric groups) offers new perspectives in the fields of light harvesting of applied photochemistry, and shows multitude of fundamental questions that are worth investigating to exploit this concept. Understanding of the confinement effects and the light/solid/molecule interactions is the key for integrating carbon nanostructures in a whole new array of applications. An example would be the design of multifunctional spatially organized photoactive carbons with high electron mobility, multimodal pore systems and chromophoric groups. These systems are expected to show enhanced diffusion and mass transport, with great potential in gas sensing applications where a fast, sensitivity and selective response is needed. I plan to work with functionalized light-responsive polymeric nanoporous carbons (mainly gels, graphene-oxide frameworks). A smart design of hybrid nanostructures introducing other confined photoactive elements will also be studied. The outcome of the proposal is to understand the fundamentals of photochemistry of carbon nanostructures for the implementation of best performing materials in different technological processes related to photochemical energy conversion for H2 and O2 generation, gas sensing and environmental protection.

1 994 180 €

Start date: 2016-03-01, End date: 2021-02-28

In this grant application, I propose to investigate in-depth the potential of novel inert Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes as novel anticancer drug candidates. Such compounds were investigated by Dwyer and Shulman in 1950s and 1960s both in vitro and in vivo with relatively promising results. This impressive seminal work was unfortunately not followed-up. This lack of additional studies was recently attributed, at least in part, to the observed neurotoxicity of the complexes. Nonetheless, over the last years, there has been a revival of important in vitro studies of such inert Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes for anticancer purposes. However, without further in vivo studies, it is reasonable to think that similar neurotoxicity to that observed by Dwyer and Shulman could be encountered. In order to tackle these (potential) drawbacks, I propose to use a prodrug approach. Furthermore, I also intend to investigate the potential of inert Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes as photosensitizers (PSs) in photodynamic therapy (PDT). In the search for an alternative approach to chemotherapy, PDT has proven to be a promising, effective and non-invasive treatment modality. Importantly, in order to increase even further the potential of the PSs presented in this project, I propose to also excite them via simultaneous two-photon absorption (TPA) in the so-called two-photon excitation PDT (2 PE-PDT). Importantly, the newly Ru(II)-based PSs will be coupled to cancer cell-specific peptides or antibodies. This double selectivity (targeting vector and photo-activation) should limit the frequently encountered side-effects of (metal-based) anticancer drugs. Another important aim of this second part of this project will be the use of the Ru(II)-based PSs to kill bacteria. Interestingly, PDT has been recently shown to be an interesting alternative to fight bacteria. I therefore intend to couple Ru(II)-based (2PE )PSs to bacteria-specific peptides to bring bacteria specificity.

662 015 €

Start date: 2016-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30

Morphogenesis is the remarkable process by which a developing organism acquires its shape. While molecular and genetic studies have been highly successful in explaining the cellular basis of development and the role of biochemical gradients in coordinating cell fate, understanding morphogenesis remains a central challenge for both biophysics and developmental biology. Indeed, shape is imposed by structural elements, so that an investigation of morphogenesis must address how these elements are controlled at the cell level, and how the mechanical properties of these elements lead to specific growth patterns. Using plants as model systems, we will tackle the following questions: i. Does the genetic identity of a cell correspond to a mechanical identity? ii. Do the mechanical properties of the different cell domains predict shape changes? iii. How does the intrinsic stochasticity of cell mechanics and cell growth lead to reproducible shapes? To do so, we will develop a unique combination of physical and biological approaches. For instance, we will measure simultaneously physical properties and growth in specific cell groups by building a novel tool coupling atomic force microscopy and upright confocal microscopy; we will integrate the data within physical growth models; and we will validate our approaches using genetic and pharmacological alterations of cell mechanics. In plants, shape is entirely determined by the extracellular matrix (cell walls) and osmotic pressure. From that perspective, plants cells involve fewer mechanical parameters than animal cells and are thus perfectly suited to study the physical basis of morphogenesis. Therefore we propose such a study within the shoot apical meristem of Arabidopsis thaliana, a small population of stem cells that orchestrates the aerial architecture of the plant. This work will unravel the physical basis of morphogenesis and shed light on how stochastic cell behaviour can lead to robust shapes.

1 401 023 €

Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2017-09-30

"This project concerns the field of coherent, nonlinear, ultrafast light-matter interaction on a quantum level in solids. It proposes to experimentally explore limits of: i) internal coherence of an individual emitter; ii) radiative coupling between pairs of emitters. A potential long term application of this work could be envisaged, as one can expect that individual emitters could serve as qubits for implementations of optically controlled quantum information processing in solids. As individual emitters we will employ excitons in semiconductors: either bound to impurities or confined in quantum dots. Firstly, by embedding the latter into upright photonic nanowires, that are now available in the team, we will amplify the collection of their coherent optical response by nearly four orders of magnitude as compared to the current state-of-art. This will provide an unprecedented access to their coherent as well as dephasing interaction with phonons. It will also enable retrieval of their n-wave mixing responses to scrutinize coherent couplings within an individual emitter. The second objective is the demonstration of an efficient, controllable and non-local coherent coupling mechanism between distant emitters, which is a prerequisite for the construction of quantum logic gates and networks. Here, such a radiative coupling will be demonstrated and manipulated using resonant emitters embedded into in-plane one-dimensional waveguides, which permit virtually unattenuated propagation of coherence. The internal and propagative coherence of individuals and radiatively coupled pairs will be explored using beyond-the-state-of-the-art methods of coherent nonlinear spectroscopy. Specifically, we will develop a spatially-resolved heterodyne spectral interferometry combined with ultrafast pulse-shaping. The proposed advanced methodology of this ERC project can be associated with techniques developed in other domains, like nuclear magnetic resonance and astrophysics instrumentation."

1 499 708 €

Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2017-11-30

The discovery of extra-solar planets orbiting other stars has been one of the major breakthroughs in astronomy of the past decades. Exoplanets are common objects in the universe and planetary systems seem to be more diverse than originally predicted. The use of radius-mass relationships has been generalized as a means for understanding exoplanets compositions, in combination with equations of state of main planetary components extrapolated to TeraPascal (TPa) pressures. In the most current description, Earth-like planets are assumed to be fully differentiated and made of a metallic core surrounded by a silicate mantle, and possibly volatile elements at their surfaces in supercritical, liquid or gaseous states. This model is currently used to infer mass-radius relationship for planets up to 100 Earth masses but rests on poorly known equations of states for iron alloys and silicates, as well as even less known melting properties at TPa pressures. This proposal thus aims at providing experimental references for equations of state and melting properties up to TPa pressure range, with the combined use of well-calibrated static experiments (laser-heated diamond-anvil cells) and laser-compression experiments capable of developing several Mbar pressures at high temperature, coupled with synchrotron or XFEL X-ray sources. I propose to establish benchmarking values for the equations of states, phase diagrams and melting curves relations at unprecedented P-T conditions. The proposed experiments will be focused on simple silicates, oxides and carbides (SiO2, MgSiO3, MgO, SiC), iron alloys (Fe-S, Fe-Si, Fe-O, Fe-C) and more complex metals (Fe,Si,O,S) and silicates (Mg,Fe)SiO3. In this proposal, I will address key questions concerning planets with 1-5 Earth masses as well as fundamental questions about the existence of heavy rocky cores in giant planets.

3 498 938 €

Start date: 2016-01-01, End date: 2020-12-31

Surface plasmons have generated considerable renewed interest through a combination of scientific and technological advances. In particular with the progress nanofabrication techniques, the properties of surface plasmons (SP) can now be controlled by structuring metals at the nanometer scale. The overall objective of this proposal is to manipulate and control the properties of the SPs to analyze fundamental phenomena through which new capacities can emerge. The project is divided in four parts with strong overlap: 1) SP enhanced devices: We plan to use the benefits provided by SPs to enhance devices or create new device architectures. Textured metal surfaces, and the associated SP modes, can be used as antennas to extract, capture and control light in a variety of applications that include imaging and polarization sensing, nano-optical elements and detectors. 2) SP circuitry: To achieve complete miniature SP photonic circuits, a number of components to launch SP, control their propagation and finally decouple SP back to light are necessary. Much progress has been made in this direction but many challenges remain at the level of individual components and complete circuits that will be explored. 3) Molecule SP interactions: Molecule - SP strongly coupled interactions are expected to modify extensively photophysical and photochemical processes that will be studied by time resolved techniques. This issue also has implications for generating all optical control needed in SP circuitry. 4) Casimir effect and SPs: The tailoring of the Casimir force by enhancing the contribution of SP modes has been proposed by theoretical studies. Experiments will be undertaken to test the relationship between Casimir physics and plasmonics using nanostructured metal surfaces which could have significant consequences for nano-electro-mechanical systems. For each of these subjects, the objectives are at the cutting edge of the surface plasmon science and technology.

2 200 000 €

Start date: 2009-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31

How differentiated cells can change their identity is a fascinating question. Indeed, natural interconversions between functionally distinct somatic cell types (aka transdifferentiation, Td) have been reported in species as diverse as jellyfish and mice, while experimentally induced reprogramming of differentiated cells has been demonstrated. The relative ease with which cellular identities can be reprogrammed raises a number of exciting questions: What mechanisms and steps allow a given cell, but not its apparently identical neighbours, to naturally acquire a new plasticity potential and change its identity? How does the cellular context influence the ability of a cell to be reprogrammed? What cellular mechanisms must be counteracted to allow natural reprograming to occur? What circuitry underlie the impressive efficiency observed in natural events? The proposed project tackles these questions: To systematically identify the molecular networks and cellular requirements of Td, we established a simple model of natural Td, in C. elegans, where the conversion of a rectal cell into a motoneuron is followed in vivo. This model is unique: it is 100% efficient, predictable and provides the first unambiguous demonstration, at the single cell level, of natural Td. The study of such natural event has revealed a key asset to unravel the discrete steps of the process, their control and the conserved cell plasticity factors promoting its initiation, while leading to important concepts conserved across phyla. We propose here 4 aims to push new frontiers and: i) Define what makes a cellular context permissive; ii) Elucidate the conserved nuclear complexes and network architecture promoting efficient reprogramming; iii) Identify mechanisms that protect the differentiated identity and act as a brake to Td. Understanding cell plasticity in vivo will have a tremendous impact on our perception of developmental and cancerous processes and could open new avenues for regenerative medicine.

2 000 000 €

Start date: 2015-07-01, End date: 2020-06-30

The POPSTAR project aims at building a new class of silicon optoelectronic devices based on nonlinear optical effects for the development of high speed multiple wavelength photonic circuits in the near-IR wavelength range for data communication applications including optical interconnects and high performance computing systems. Three major cornerstones will be developed: (i) a 40Gbit/s optical modulators based on Pockels effect with energy consumption and swing voltage lower than 1fJ/bit and 1V, respectively, (ii) a high responsivity, low dark-current, low bias voltage and high bandwidth (40Gbit/s) Si photodetector based on two-photon-absorption and (iii) a low threshold (<10dBm) tunable optical parametric oscillator source based on frequency comb generation. The ground-breaking concept of the project is to generate 3D strains in sub-wavelength silicon photonic nano-structures leading to significant breakthroughs in second-order nonlinearities efficiency (Pockels effect) and in the band-gap energy changes in order to increase or decrease two photon absorption process in silicon. The new approach developed here is to combine (i) strain engineering generated by functional oxide materials including YSZ, SrTiO3, SrHfO3 which exhibit more appropriate strain-induced characteristics in silicon than the use of silicon nitride and (ii) refractive index engineering using sub-wavelength silicon nanostructures. Generation of tunable strains in silicon with an active control using piezoelectric materials including PZT will be also develop to control the light dispersion. Each of the three optoelectronic silicon building blocks would be world’s first demonstration according to the target performances and the used effects. Indeed, the performance targets cannot be achieved with the current state of scientific and technological backgrounds. Finally, the project will open new horizons in the field of strained sub-wavelength silicon photonics in the near-IR wavelength range.

1 999 300 €

Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2020-09-30

How do earthquakes begin? Answering this question is essential to understand fault mechanics but also to determine our ability to forecast large earthquakes. Although it is well established that some events are preceded by foreshocks, contrasting views have been proposed on the nucleation of earthquakes. Do these foreshocks belong to a cascade of random failures leading to the mainshock? Are they triggered by an aseismic nucleation phase in which the fault slips slowly before accelerating to a dynamic, catastrophic rupture? Will we ever be able to monitor and predict the slow onset of earthquakes or are we doomed to observe random, unpredictable cascades of events? We are currently missing a robust tool for quantitative estimation of the proportion of seismic versus aseismic slip during the rupture initiation, cluttering our attempts at understanding what physical mechanisms control the relationship between foreshocks and the onset of large earthquakes. The current explosion of available near-fault ground-motion observations is an unprecedented opportunity to capture the genesis of earthquakes along active faults. I will develop an entirely new method based a novel data assimilation procedure that will produce probabilistic time-dependent slip models assimilating geodetic, seismic and tsunami datasets. While slow and rapid fault processes are usually studied independently, this unified approach will address the relative contribution of seismic and aseismic deformation. The first step is the development of a novel probabilistic data assimilation method providing reliable uncertainty estimates and combining multiple data types. The second step is a validation of the method and an application to investigate the onset of recent megathrust earthquakes in Chile and Japan. The third step is the extensive, global use of the algorithm to the continuous monitoring of time-dependent slip along active faults providing an automated detector of the nucleation of earthquakes.

1 499 545 €

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31

"The objectives of this proposal, PRISTINE (high PRecision ISotopic measurements of heavy elements in extra-Terrestrial materials: origIN and age of the solar system volatile Element depletion), are to develop new cutting edge high precision isotopic measurements to understand the origin of the Earth, Moon and solar system volatile elements and link their relative depletion in the different planets to their formation mechanism. In addition, the understanding of the origin of the volatile elements will have direct consequences for the understanding of the origin of the Earth’s water. To that end, we will approach the problem from two angles: 1) Develop and use novel stable isotope systems for volatile elements (e.g. Zn, Ga, Cu, and Rb) in terrestrial, lunar and meteoritic materials to constrain the origin of solar system’s volatile element depletion 2) Determine the age of the volatile element depletion by using a novel and original approach: calculate the original Rb/Sr ratio of the Solar Nebula by measuring the isotopic composition of the Sun with respect to Sr via the isotopic composition of solar wind implanted in lunar soil grains. The stable isotope composition (goal #1) will give us new constraints on the mechanisms (e.g. evaporation following a giant impact or incomplete condensation) that have shaped the abundances of the volatile elements in terrestrial planets, while the timing (goal #2) will be used to differentiate between nebular events (early) from planetary events (late). These new results will have major implications on our understanding of the origin of the Earth and of the Moon, and they will be used to test the giant impact hypothesis of the Moon and the origin of the Earth’s water."

1 487 500 €

Start date: 2015-04-01, End date: 2020-03-31

Ultra-intense femtosecond laser pulses promise to become a fast, universal, predictable and green tool for material processing at micro and nanometric scale. The recent tremendous increase in commercially available femtosecond laser energy at high repetition rate opens a wealth of novel perspectives for mass production. But even at high energy, laser processing remains limited to high-speed scanning point by point removal of ultra-thin nanometric layers from the material surface. This is because the uncontrolled laser-generated free-electron plasma shields against light and prevents reaching extreme internal temperatures at very precise nanometric scale. PULSAR aims at breaking this barrier and developing a radically different concept of laser material modification regime based on free-electron plasma control. PULSAR 's unconventional concept is to control plasma generation, confinement, excitation and stability. An ambitious experimental and numerical research program will push the frontiers of laser processing to unprecedented precision, speed and predictability. PULSAR key concept is highly generic and the results will initiate new research across laser and plasma material processing, plasma physics and ultrafast optics.

1 996 581 €

Start date: 2016-07-01, End date: 2021-06-30

5 years ago, the field of optomechanics has entered the quantum regime. By doing so, this domain which investigates the reciprocal interactions between light and mechanical motion has overcome the long-standing paradox of Quantum Mechanical effects at the macroscopic scale. Such outstanding achievement relies on the so-called “cavity nano-optomechanical” technology, which combines strongly reduced dimensions with ultra-high optical confinement, enabling very large optomechanical coupling rates at the nanoscale. In a more fundamental perspective, decreasing the size of optomechanical systems has enabled minimizing the detrimental effects of decoherence, resulting in a quasi-instantaneous collapse of quantum coherence at a macroscopic scale. At present, optomechanical systems seem to have reached their limits at cryogenic temperatures and remain overly sensitive to decoherence at room temperature to display any quantum behaviour. The project Q-ROOT proposes a novel cavity optomechanical approach showing such unprecedentedly large coupling rates that it will operate in the quantum regime at room temperature for the first time. Our concept relies on tethering a low-loss nano-optical scatterer at the edge of the lightest possible mechanical device that is a carbon nanotube resonator. This system is expected to outperform the state-of-the-art (including atom–based systems) by orders of magnitude, even at room temperature. Amongst objectives, Q-ROOT notably plans to demonstrate ground-state cooling, strong ponderomotive squeezing, the standard quantum limit, quantum non-demolition of mechanical Fock states, and optomechanical photon blockade at room temperature. Besides very fundamental impact, the unique sensing abilities of the system developed in Q-ROOT will be further utilized in order to perform quantum limited sensing applications at room temperature, paving a generalized use of optomechanics for quantum sensing and information technology at room temperature.

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2018-09-01, End date: 2023-08-31

The detection of black-hole mergers in 2015 was a spectacular confirmation of General Relativity (GR). Yet, it is also in black holes that the fundamental conflict between GR and quantum mechanics (QM) is most acute. Black holes are known to have a vast entropy. Consistency with QM requires that the microstates giving rise to this entropy must be accessible at the horizon scale. However, GR coupled to field theory is incapable of supporting this horizon-scale microstructure! My work has shown that Microstate Geometries (MG’s), based in string theory and higher-dimensional field theory, have all the essential elements for supporting and encoding microstate data: MG’s are smooth, horizonless solutions in string theory that are identical to black holes on large scales but differ radically from the black holes of GR at the horizon scale. I propose to launch a new, extensive study of the MG paradigm, focussing on the, as yet, unexplored dynamics of the microstructure in MG’s: (i) How infalling matter is absorbed and diffused into excitations of MG’s; (ii) How the excitations of MG’s, and the MG’s themselves, decay into some form of Hawking radiation that carries the microstructure data to infinity, thereby preserving quantum unitarity; (iii) How the large-scale, collective dynamics of microstructure interacts with matter in the horizon region and, particularly, how microstructure dynamics influences accretion disks and black-hole mergers. Progress will be achieved by analyzing the energy transfer between infalling probes and MG’s, computing the resulting excitations of the MG and the drag on infalling objects. The results will be re-expressed in a hydrodynamic form that can be applied to simulations of astrophysical black holes. This proposal will thus solve the information paradox by providing a microscopic description of black-hole entropy at the horizon scale and this should lead to macroscopic, measurable signatures of the horizon-scale microstructure.

2 462 659 €

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31

"A quantum dot (QD) in a microcavity is an ideal single spin-single photon interface: the spin of a carrier trapped inside a QD can be used as a quantum bit and the coupling to photons can allow remote spin entanglement. A QD in a cavity can also generate single photons or entangled photon pairs, often referred to as flying quantum bit. Controlling the QD spontaneous emission is crucial to ensure optimal coupling of the photon and spin states. The present project relies on a unique and original technology we have developed which allows us to deterministically control the QD-cavity system. With this technique, we can fabricate a large number of identical coupled QD-cavity devices operating either in the weak or strong coupling regime. The potential of the technique has been proven by the fabrication of the brightest source of entangled photon pairs to date (Nature 2010). The objective of the present project is to build up a platform for basic quantum operations using QDs in cavities. The first aim is to develop highly efficient light emitting devices emitting indistinguishable single photons and entangled photon pairs. The mechanisms leading to quantum decoherence in QD based sources will be investigated. We will also explore a new generation of devices where QDs are coupled to plasmonic nano-antenna. The second objective is to implement basic quantum operations ranging from entanglement purification to quantum teleportation using QD based sources. The third objective of the project is to control the spin-photon interface. We first aim at demonstrating quantum non-demolition spin measurement through highly sensitive off-resonant Faraday rotation. We then aim at entangling two spins separated by macroscopic distances, using their controlled interaction with photons. This will be obtained either by making a single photon interact with two spin in cavities or by interfering indistinguishable photons emitted by two independent charged QDs."

1 482 000 €

Start date: 2011-11-01, End date: 2016-10-31

"In quantum nanoelectronics, one of the paradigms is to use quantum mechanics in order to build more efficient nanoprocessors. In this context, the electron spin has been identified as a good degree of freedom to store and to manipulate quantum information efficiently. The defined building block of this quantum computer strategy is called a spin qubit. Towards this goal, intense experimental efforts have been invested in AlGaAs heterostructures where quantum dots with only one electron can be realized. In such a system, all the basic operations of a quantum nanoprocessor have been demonstrated in spin qubits and they constitute a very promising platform to study spin dynamics at the single electron level. To scale up the spin qubit system, one has to be able to make two distant qubits interacting. The protocol consists in the exchange of a quantum particle between the two qubits. In this respect, one can take advantage of the fact that a single electron can be transported within nanostructures. Understanding how to preserve quantum information stored in the spin of an electron while transferring it between two quantum dot systems is of crucial importance. Recently, the PI has realized a first important step towards this goal, namely the realization of efficient single electron transfer between two distant quantum dots on a timescale faster than the spin decoherence time Here we propose to give a new dimension to the spin qubit system by investigating quantum coherence and manipulation of a single flying electron spin. Displacing coherently a single electron spin between two distant quantum dots not only represents a viable solution towards entanglement between distant qubits but also opens new ways of manipulating coherently electron spins via spin-orbit interaction. The new knowledge expected from these experiments is likely to have a broad impact extending from quantum spintronics to other areas of nanoelectronics."

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2013-01-01, End date: 2017-12-31

Ultra cold atoms offer unprecedented possibilities to shed a new light on intriguing quantum phenomenon that were discovered in Photon Quantum Optics (PQO), such as Hanbury Brown and Twiss correlations, Bell’s inequality tests of entanglement, Hong Ou Mandel effect, non classical states of light. It becomes possible to develop a Quantum Atom Optics (QAO), which is more than a simple analogue to PQO. Atoms add two new ingredients to the situations (i) controlled interactions, tunable from zero to giant values; (ii) the possibility to choose between fermions and bosons. The first part of this project aims at revisiting with this new perspective some milestones of Quantum Optics, and to address open questions like possible interaction induced decoherence effects. For this, we will develop single atom detectors and atom-atom correlation measurements techniques, both for metastable Helium and for alkali atoms, and build all optical cooling machines for these species, including a guided atom laser with control of the atomic interactions. We will also consider measurements below the standard quantum limits, to apply them to inertial and gravitational sensors based on atom interferometers. In the second part of this project, experimental tools and concepts of QAO will be used to address fundamental questions of Condensed Matter Physics (CMP). A 1D horizontally guided Atom Laser will allow us to study transport properties of an interacting Bose gas in the presence of disorder, akin to conductivity measurements in CMP. Atom-atom correlation techniques developed to test Bell inequalities will allow us to investigate non trivial symmetries in paired atomic states BCS-like. Using larger samples of ultra-cold Bose or Fermi atoms, we will investigate the effect of interactions on Anderson localization in 1D, 2D and 3D, as well as other phenomenon beyond the mean field description, e.g. correlations in strongly interacting 1D quantum gases.

2 130 000 €

Start date: 2011-08-01, End date: 2016-07-31

This proposal aims at consolidating a Quark-Gluon Plasma research team recently founded by Raphaël Granier de Cassagnac, the Principal Investigator (PI) of this proposal, at the Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (LLR). The PI has a deep experience of heavy-ions physics, working since 9 years in the PHENIX collaboration of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. His recognized activities already propelled him soon after having joined the CMS collaboration at the Large Hadron Collider, as convener of the world-wide Heavy Ions Physics Analysis Group for a term covering the 2010-2011period. CMS, the Compact Muon Collaboration, is extremely well suited for muon measurements. From di-muon mass spectra we will first measure Z-bosons for the first time in a heavy-ions environment. This provides useful information on quark distribution function in nuclei, and opens the field of Z-jet studies, allowing unbiased studies of jet fragmentation function. We will also measure quarkonia (J/È and Upsilons). Though Upsilons will be novel measurements, J/È have been extensively studied by the PI at RHIC. A larger suppression observed at forward rapidity is still a puzzle, that we will help solving. We propose to enhance a computing centre (the GRIF Tier-2) to conduct heavy-ions specific data reconstruction, analysis and simulations. We also want to open a new activity: electron reconstruction in CMS heavy-ions environment. This very challenging objective will benefit from LLR highly experienced p+p physicists in electron reconstruction. The access to the dielectron mass spectra will raise the statistics of our signal and provide a crucial cross-check of all studies. Finally, we want to keep a phenomenological component in the team, so to have all the tools to properly interpret our own results.

1 133 600 €

Start date: 2010-11-01, End date: 2015-10-31

This project is dedicated to the study of two distinct classes of dynamical systems which display a quasiperiodic component. The first class consists of quasiperiodic cocycles, and we will largely focus on connections with the spectral theory of quasiperiodic Schrodinger operators. Up to very recently, our understanding had been mostly restricted to situations where the potential would have some clear characteristics of large or small potentials. In particular, no genuinely global theory had been devised that could go so far as give insight on the phase-transition between large-like and small-like potentials. With the introduction by the PI of techniques to analyze the parameter dependence of one-frequency potentials which involve much less control of the dynamics of associated cocycles, and the discovery of new regularity features of this dependence, it is now possible to elaborate a precise conjectural global picture, whose proof is one of the major goals of the project. The second class consists of translation flows on higher genus surfaces. The Teichmuller flow acts as renormalization in this class, and its chaotic features have permitted a detailed description of the dynamics of typical translation flows. This project will concentrate on the the development of techniques suitable to the analysis of non-typical families of translation flows, which arise naturally in the context of certain applications, as for rational billiards. We aim to obtain results regarding the spectral gap for restrictions of the SL(2,R action, the existence of polynomial deviations outside exceptional cases, and the weak mixing property for certain billiards.

1 020 840 €

Start date: 2010-12-01, End date: 2015-11-30

The quantum nature of an electronic fluid is ubiquitous in many solid-state systems subjected to correlations or confinement. This is particularly true for two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) in which fascinating quantum states of matter, such as the integer and fractional quantum Hall (QH) states, arise under strong magnetic fields. The understanding of QH systems relies on the existence of one-dimensional (1D) conducting channels that propagate unidirectionally along the edges of the system, following the confining potential. Due to the buried nature of 2DEG commonly built in semiconducting heterostructures, the considerable real space structure of this 1D electronic fluid and its energy spectrum remain largely unexplored. This project consists in exploring at the local scale the intimate link between the spatial structure of QH edge states, coherent transport and the coupling with superconductivity at interfaces. We will use graphene as a surface-accessible 2DEG to perform a pioneering local investigation of normal and superconducting transport through QH edge states. A new and unique hybrid Atomic Force Microscope and Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) operating in the extreme conditions required for this physics, i.e. below 0.1 kelvin and up to 14 teslas, will be developed and will allow unprecedented access to the edge of a graphene flake where QH edge states propagate. Overall, the original combination of magnetotransport measurements with scanning tunnelling spectroscopy will solve fundamental questions on the considerable real-space structure of integer and fractional QH edge states impinged by either normal or superconducting electrodes. Our world-unique approach, which will provide the first STM imaging and spectroscopy of QH edge channels, promises to open a new field of investigation of the local scale physics of the QH effect.

1 761 412 €

Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2020-09-30

The goal of this project is to study random walks on groups, with the focus on boundary theory. We plan to establish new criteria for estimates of the entropy and Poisson-Furstenberg boundary triviality and apply this method to study the following question: which groups admit simple random walks with trivial boundary? In particular, we want to produce a classification for classes of solvable groups, more generally elementary amenable groups, and groups acting on rooted trees. We plan to make a contibution in the solution of the conjecture of Vershik and Kaimanovich, posed in the early eighties, that states that any group of exponential growth admits a symmetric measure with non-trivial boundary. We plan to study applications of random walks to growth of groups. In my previous work I have produced a method to use boundaries in order to obtain new low estimates for groups of Grigorchuk of intermediate growth. We plan to construct new classes of groups of intermediate growth, and to refine the existing method to obtain sharp bounds of the growth function. We also want to address Grigorchuk's conjecture about the gap in the range of possible growth functions of groups. Further applications include large scale geometrical properties of amenable groups, including amenable groups acting on rooted trees, as well as groups of orientation preserving diffeomorphisms of the interval, in particular, Richard Thompson group F

856 320 €

Start date: 2010-09-01, End date: 2015-08-31

In porous media, mixing interfaces such as contaminant plume fringes or boundaries between water bodies create highly reactive localized hotspots of chemical and microbiological activity, whether in engineered or natural systems. These reactive fronts are characterized by high concentration gradients, complex flow dynamics, variable water saturation, fluctuating redox conditions and multifunctional biological communities. The spatial and temporal variability of velocity gradients is expected to elongate mixing interfaces and steepen concentration gradients, thus strongly affecting biochemical reactivity. However, a major issue with porous media flows is that these essential micro-scale interactions are inaccessible to direct observation. Furthermore, the lack of a validated upscaling framework from fluid- to system-scale represents a major barrier to the application of reactive transport models to natural or industrial problems. The ambition of the ReactiveFronts project is to address this knowledge gap by setting up a high level interdisciplinary team that will provide a new theoretical understanding and novel experimental imaging capacities for micro-scale interactions between flow, mixing and reactions and their impact on reactive front kinetics at the system scale. ReactiveFronts will develop an original approach to this long-standing problem; combining theoretical, laboratory and field experimental methods.The focus on reactive interface dynamics, which represents a paradigm shift for reactive transport modelling in porous media, will require the development of original theoretical approaches (WP1) and novel microfluidic experiments (WP2). This will form a strong basis for the study of complex features at increasing spatial scales, including the coupling between fluid dynamics and biological activity (WP4), the impact of 3D flow topologies and chaotic mixing on effective reaction kinetics (WP3), and the field scale assessment of these interactions (WP5).

1 998 747 €

Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2020-09-30

We propose a simple idea: to reproduce earthquakes in the laboratory. Because earthquakes are spectacular examples of uncontrollable catastrophes, the opportunity to study them under controlled conditions in the laboratory is unique and is, in fact, the only way to understand the details of the earthquake source physics. The aim of the project is interdisciplinary, at the frontiers between Rock Fracture Mechanics, Seismology, and Mineralogy. Its ultimate goal is to improve, on the basis of integrated experimental data, our understanding of the earthquake source physics. We have already shown that both deep and shallow laboratory earthquakes are not mere `analogs’ of earthquakes, but are real events – though very small [Passelègue et al. 2013, Schubnel et al. 2013]. During laboratory earthquakes, by measuring all of the physical quantities related to the rupturing process, we will unravel what controls the rupture speed, rupture arrest, the earthquake rupture energy budget, as well as the common role played by mineralogy in both shallow and deep earthquakes. We will also perform some experiments on rock samples drilled from actual active fault zones. Our work will provide insights for earthquake hazard mitigation, constrain ubiquitously observed seismological statistical laws (Omori, Gutenberg-Richter) and produce unprecedented data sets on rock fracture dynamics at in-situ conditions to test seismic slip inversion and dynamic rupture modelling techniques. The new infrastructure we plan to install will reproduce the temperatures and pressures at depths where earthquakes occur in the crust as well as in the upper mantle of the Earth, with never achieved spatio-temporal imaging resolution to this day. This will be a valuable research asset for the European community, as it will eventually open the door to a better understanding of all the processes happening under stress within the first hundreds of kilometres of the Earth.

2 748 188 €

Start date: 2016-10-01, End date: 2021-09-30

The Standard Model (SM) of Particle Physics is the most accurate available description of nature at microscopic scales, yet it is in fundamental contradiction with cosmological observations and models which describe the macroscopic universe. For this reason, it is postulated that the SM is incomplete, and that additional particles and/or forces are needed in order to describe both microscopic and macroscopic reality in a coherent and self-consistent manner. If such additional New Physics does exist, precision measurements of the ways in which SM particles transform into each other should simultaneously disagree with certain SM predictions, and agree with the given New Physics model. Within this project, I will build a team of researchers dedicated to measuring one of the SM's most precise predictions, lepton universality (LU), with unprecedented experimental precision using the LHCb detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. In the current run, the LHC will deliver proton-proton collisions to LHCb until the end of 2018, allowing my team to make the world's most precise measurements of LU in the decays of beauty hadrons. Subsequently, the LHC will shut down for two years, and during this time the LHCb detector will be upgraded to allow it to collect five times more data per calendar year. This upgrade will allow my team to make the world's most precise measurements of LU in strange decays with data taken in 2021, significantly extending LHCb's physics programme. To make these measurements possible and take full advantage of the LHCb upgrade, my team will also optimize the reconstruction of the upgraded LHCb detector, making it possible to fully reconstruct and analyze the data produced in the detector in real-time. This approach, completely novel in High Energy Physics, will not only improve the sensitivity to LU in strange decays by up to an order of magnitude, but greatly expand the general physics programme of the upgraded LHCb detector.

1 986 000 €

Start date: 2017-06-01, End date: 2022-05-31

"It is a matter of strategic independence for Europe to urgently find processes taking into account environmental and economic issues, when mining and recycling rare earths. Currently THERE ARE NO SUCH INDUSTRIAL PROCESS AVAILABLE and 0% WASTE RECYCLING of RARE EARTH ELEMENTS (REE). Plus, 97% of the mining operations are performed in China, hence representing a major Sword of Damoclès for the rest of the world’s economy. We propose to develop a new, cost effective and environmentally friendly REE recycling process. We will achieve this: (i) by enabling, for the first time ever, the fast measurement of free energy of mass transfer between complex fluids; hence it will now be possible to explore an extensive number of process formulations and phase diagrams (such a study usually takes years but will then be performed in a matter of days); (ii) develop predictive models of ion separation including the effect of long-range interactions between metal cations and micelles; (iii) by using the experimental results and prediction tools developed, to design an advanced & environmentally friendly process formulations and pilot plant; (iv) by enhancing the extraction kinetics and selectivity, by implementing a new, innovative and selective triggering cation exchange process step (ca. the exchange kinetics of a cation will be greatly enhance when compared to another one). This will represent a major breakthrough in the field of transfer methods between complex fluids. An expected direct consequence of REE-CYCLE will be that acids’ volumes and other harmful process wastes, will be reduced by one to two orders of magnitude. Furthermore, this new understanding of mechanisms involved in selective ion transfer should open new recycling possibilities and pave the way to economical recovery of metals from a very rapidly growing “mine”, i.e. the diverse metal containing “wastes” generated by used Li-ion batteries, super-capacitors, supported catalysts and fuel cells."

2 255 515 €

Start date: 2013-07-01, End date: 2018-06-30

Many animals have the ability to regenerate parts of their body following injury or amputation. While there is great biological and medical interest in this process, many fundamental questions remain unanswered, because complex organ regeneration is poorly represented in classic model organisms; flies, nematodes and mammals have limited regenerative abilities, in contrast to flatworms, crustaceans and fish. reLIVE explores fundamental questions on regeneration in an emerging crustacean model, Parhyale hawaiensis, which combines extensive regenerative abilities, advanced genetic tools and live imaging. The project will address the following fundamental, centuries-old questions on regeneration: 1) Which are the progenitors that underpin complex organ regeneration? Do epidermis, tendons, neurons, glia and muscle arise de novo from undifferentiated adult stem cells, or do they emerge from differentiated cell types? Are the progenitors unipotent/committed or multipotent? Which are their molecular responses and behaviors during the course of regeneration? 2) Do diverse animal groups regenerate in the same way? Do the regenerative progenitors of crustaceans have common molecular and functional properties with those of vertebrates and flatworms? Do they have a shared evolutionary history? 3) How does regeneration differ from development? Are these processes operating on comparable temporal and spatial scales? How similar are the transcriptional responses and cell behaviors that underpin embryonic and regenerative morphogenesis of the limb? To answer these questions, reLIVE will take advantage of the unique opportunities offered by Parhyale limb regeneration and, for the first time, combine four cutting-edge approaches: a) CRISPR-mediated marking of specific cell types, b) continuous live imaging and cell tracking in regenerating limbs over week-long periods, c) a novel method of cell lineage reconstruction, and d) transcriptional profiling on individual cells.

2 571 694 €

Start date: 2017-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31

In the context of global change and ocean response to climatic and anthropogenic forcing, it is critical to improve our understanding of biologically mediated carbon fluxes and to reduce the uncertainties in their estimates. At the root of much of the present uncertainty in carbon budget is the scarcity of data. Based on state-of-the-art remotely-operated techniques of observation (profiling floats and satellite) and bio-optical modelling, REMOCEAN aims at addressing the causes of variability in the so-called biological oceanic pump in key oceanic areas: (1) the North Atlantic (especially Labrador Sea, Irminger Sea, Iceland basin), which despite representing only 1.4% of the ocean s area, accounts for about 20% of the global ocean carbon sink; (2) the sub-tropical gyres of the Atlantic and Pacific for which, although they represent ~ 60% of the ocean surface, the contribution to oceanic carbon cycle is still a matter of debate. The scientific objectives of REMOCEAN will be implemented along four main activities. &quot; Development of profiling floats to measure oceanic variables essential for the characterization of phytoplankton dynamics and related carbon fluxes. &quot; Deployment of these floats in the four sub-tropical gyres of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and in the North Atlantic to conduct a totally automated investigation of biogeochemical cycles in these areas over a continuum of temporal scale and over a period of 3-4 years. &quot; Development of parameterisations linking surface biogeochemical properties to their vertical distribution in the ocean interior, and ultimately development of 3D fields of these properties by combining float and satellite data. &quot; Estimation of carbon fluxes by combining these fields with bio-optical modelling including retrospective analyses thanks to satellite data archives. A large part (~2 M¬) of the requested budget will be dedicated to the development, the acquisition and the functioning of the floats.

3 322 000 €

Start date: 2010-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31

Macrophages are professional phagocytic cells that orchestrate homeostatic and innate immune functions, via the scavenging of cells, debris, and pathogens, and the production of cytokines, both concurring to tissue homeostasis and repair. This project aims to investigate in vivo the development and functions of macrophages, which have considerable phenotypic and functional diversity depending on their tissue of residence and pathophysiological conditions. Because this diversity is not well understood, the functions of macrophages in vivo have not been well characterized. Most hematopoietic cells renew from hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), however recent evidence has shown that tissue ‘resident’ macrophages are generated from yolk sac progenitors, expand and differentiate within developing seeded tissues, and self-maintain in adults independently of HSC. In contrast to HSC-derived macrophages, resident macrophages proliferate locally in steady state and might self-renew. Thus, two lineages of macrophages coexist in most adult tissues. To critically assess the contribution of resident macrophages to tissue repair/regeneration, this proposal aims to determine their developmental pathway and the underlying molecular mechanisms that control their renewal and functions in vivo. This project will investigate the control of differentiation and proliferation in the resident macrophage lineage by combining state-of-the-art genetic fate-mapping approaches with innovative live-imaging in mice. We will develop novel methodologies to visualize the interactions between cell cycle and differentiation, to identify the molecular control of macrophage proliferation and to decipher their specific role during regeneration. This work will significantly increase our knowledge of the differentiation, proliferation and function of resident macrophages in development and tissue repair and will open new venues of research into the role of self-renewing macrophages in regeneration and aging.

1 675 746 €

Start date: 2016-12-01, End date: 2021-11-30

A better comprehension of the rheology of the lithosphere is required to relate long and short term deformation regimes and describe the succession of events leading to earthquakes. But our vision of the rheology is blurred because gaps exist between visions of geologists, experimentalists and modellers. Geologists describe the evolution of a structure at regional-scale within geological durations. Specialists of experimental rheology control most parameters, but laboratory time constants are short and they often work on simple synthetic rocks. Specialists of modelling can choose any time- and space-scales and introduce in the model any parameter, but the resolution of their models is low compared to natural observations, and mixing short-term and long-term processes is uneasy. It seems now clear that there is not one rheological model applicable to all contexts and that rheological parameters should be adapted to each situation. We will work on exhumed crustal-scale shear zones and describe them in their complexity, focussing on strain localisation and high strain structures that can lead to fast slip events. A number of objects will be studied, starting from geological description (3D geometry, P-T-fluids estimates and dating), experimental studies of rheological properties of natural sampled rocks and numerical modelling. We will set an Argon-dating lab to work on dense sampling for dating along strain gradients in order to overcome local artefacts and quantify rates of strain localisation. We will deform in the lab natural rocks taken from the studied objects to retrieve adapted rheological parameters. We will model processes at various scales, from the lab to the lithosphere in order to ensure a clean transfer of rheological parameters from one scale to another.

2 645 000 €

Start date: 2012-08-01, End date: 2017-07-31

"How robust phenotypes evolve despite developmental noise remains unclear. Individuals from natural populations usually display more stable phenotypes than laboratory mutants and hybrids. This suggests that there are genetic mechanisms that stabilize phenotypes and that these differ between isolated populations. We want to address here an unexplored yet fundamental question in biology: how does a stable phenotype appear during evolution? We will focus on the evolution of a new genital sensory organ pattern in Drosophila santomea. We aim to better characterize the molecular mechanisms that stabilize this recently evolved phenotype. Our goal is three-fold: (1) characterize and compare the development of these structures in D. santomea and its closely-related species, (2) identify the underlying genes and mutations that act collectively to produce a robust phenotype in pure species, and (3) unveil the selective forces at play on this evolved phenotype. Our combination of various powerful approaches in a tractable model system should provide important insights and concrete molecular data on phenotypic robustness and evolution. My PhD on Drosophila sensory organ development and my post-doc on the delicate genetics of Drosophila evolution have placed me in a unique position to successfully tackle this far-reaching research program."

1 386 660 €

Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31

The large-N limit in field theory restricts the perturbative expansion to specific classes of Feynman diagrams. For vectors the restricted class of diagrams is simple, and one can analytically solve the models. For matrices, the large-N limit is simple in zero dimensions but is exceedingly complicated in higher dimensions. I proved that going one step up in the rank and considering tensor fields things simplify again, but not to the level of the vectors. I established the 1/N expansion of random tensors and discovered a new (and the last possible) universality class of large-N field theories: the melonic theories. As pointed out by Witten, these theories yield nontrivial, strongly coupled conformal field theories in the infrared. The aim of this project is to perform an exhaustive study of the melonic universality class of tensor field theories and their infrared conformal field theories. I aim to extend maximally the melonic universality class, study the renormalization group flow in melonic theories and apply them to the AdS/CFT correspondence and quantum critical metals.

1 672 084 €

Start date: 2019-09-01, End date: 2024-08-31

Technology achievements were typically built upon fundamental theoretical findings, but nowadays technology seems to be evolving faster than our ability to develop new concepts and theories. Intelligent traffic systems benefit from many technical innovations, for example. Mobile phones, radars, cameras and magnetometers can be used to measure traffic evolution and provide large sets of valuable data. Vehicles can communicate with the network infrastructure, as well as each other. However, these huge technological advances have not been used to the full so far. Traffic lights are far from functioning optimally and traffic management systems do not always prevent the occurrence of congestions. So what is missing? Such systems affect our daily life; why aren’t them on pace with technology advances? Possible because they have become far more complex than the analytical tools available for managing them. Systems have many components, communicate with each other, have self-decision-making mechanisms, share an enormous amount of information, and form networks. Research in control systems has challenged some of these features, but not in a very concerted way. There is a lack of “glue” relating the solutions to each other. In the Scale-FreeBack project, it is proposed to approach this problem with a new holistic vision. Scale-FreeBack will first investigate appropriate scale-free dynamic modeling approaches breaking down system’s complexity, and then develop control and observation algorithms which are specifically tailored for such models. Scale-FreeBack will also investigate new resilient issues in control which are urgently required because of the increasing connectivity between systems and the external world. Road traffic networks will be used in proof-of-concept studies based on field tests performed at our Grenoble Traffic Lab (GTL) and in a large-scale microscopic simulator.

2 873 601 €

Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31

The need for information identification and capture is a matter of prime importance in modern societies. Every sectors of society rely on the identification of data exchanged, the updating of the data recorded on a tag and the measurement of physical parameters. The ability to make objects interact with one another or with humans is an important factor in many applications, all the more so if this interaction can occur without human presence. The way to reduce power consumption, improve the communication quality-of-service and enhance connectivity has become key issues for lots of industries. Researchers need to consider the multiple factors simultaneously to design state-of-the-art RF devices for the next generation of identification services. One important direction is to develop low-power, low cost tags for wireless identification and sensing. Lots of improvements have been done today on communication systems based on electronic devices where an integrated circuit is at the heart of the whole system. The democratisation of these chipped based systems like the RFID one will give rise to environmental issues in the future. However, these improvements pave the way for the development of new concepts based on approaches where the presence of the chip is not mandatory. These approaches are based on radar or reflectometry principles; these are non-invasive techniques but they require specific theoretical and practical developments. The difficulty is to be able to retrieve a small signal coming from a totally passive label placed in an unknown and movable environment. The objective of this project is to introduce the paradigm of RF communication system based on chipless labels, i.e. tags without any chip, bringing an ID, able to communicate with radio waves and having extremely low costs. This project aims at showing that it is possible to associate the paper based chipless label ID with other features like the ability to write and rewrite the ID, or a sensor function.

1 997 656 €

Start date: 2018-09-01, End date: 2023-08-31

Earth, as a whole, can be considered as a living organism emitting gases and particles in its atmosphere, in order to regulate its own temperature (Lovelock, 1988). In particular oceans, which cover 70% of the Earth, may respond to climate change by emitting different species under different environmental conditions. At the global scale, a large fraction of the aerosol number concentration is formed by nucleation of low-volatility gas-phase compounds, a process that is expected to ultimately determine the concentrations of Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN). Nucleation occurrence over open oceans is still debated, due to scarce observational data sets and instrumental limitations, although our recent findings suggest biologically driven nucleation from seawater emissions. Marine aerosol can also be emitted to the atmosphere as primary particles via bubble bursting, among which living microorganisms are suspected to act as excellent ice nuclei (IN) and impact clouds precipitation capacities. The main goal of this proposal is to investigate how marine emissions from living microorganisms can influence CCN, IN and ultimately cloud properties. We will investigate the whole process chain of gas-phase emissions, nucleation and growth through the atmospheric column, and impact on the CCN population. We will also quantify marine primary bioaerosol emissions and evaluate how they impact IN and cloud precipitation capabilities. Experiments will be performed in the Southern Hemisphere, especially sensitive to the natural aerosol concentration variability. We will use an original approach of field mesocosms enclosing the air-sea interface, to link marine emissions to the biogeochemical properties of natural seawater, combined with ambient aerosol measurements simultaneously at low and high altitude sites. At last, a modelling study will help merging process studies and ambient measurements, and assess the role of biologically driven marine emissions on cloud properties.

1 999 329 €

Start date: 2018-07-01, End date: 2023-06-30

Electronic correlation causes a wide range of interesting phenomena, such as superconductivity or the fractional quantum hall effect. It strongly impacts our surroundings – think about defect creation through a self-trapped exciton, or, in the animal world, the adhesion of a gecko on a surface (through the van der Waals attraction). Although the underlying Coulomb interaction is « simple » and well understood, a unifying framework is still missing that would allow us to describe, analyze, understand and predict all those phenomena on the same footing. In this project we will introduce and establish a completely new method for the calculation of properties of correlated electron systems including ground state total energies, excitation spectra, electron-phonon coupling and non-equilibrium dynamics. The method is based on a non-perturbative solution of a multidimensional functional differential equation. This equation is the SEED from which distinct sub-lines of research will be grown. Based on my widely recognized experience in the field of many-body physics and starting from recent results of an exploratory study, the project will encircle the problem working on different levels of approximation, each of them introducing new physics. Thus every step along the project will allow us to tackle challenging questions, such as: “Does strong coupling in a material lead to new or exotic elementary excitations?” or “What can we say about multi - exciton generation, and how could it be tuned?”. These questions and our theoretical answers will be embedded in a tangible context through the study of emerging topics including Mott insulators and materials for photovoltaic applications. Each of these theoretical steps and planned applications carries the potential for breakthrough; together, they promise a seismic shift in our understanding of correlated processes and in our capability to predict new materials properties.

1 700 000 €

Start date: 2013-02-01, End date: 2018-01-31

The initial conditions of the Earth and other terrestrial planets were set 4.5 Gy ago during their accretion from the solar nebula and their concomitant differentiation into an iron-rich core and a silicate mantle. Accretion in the solar system went through several different dynamical phases involving increasingly energetic and catastrophic impacts and collisions. The last phase of accretion, in which most of the Earth mass was accreted, involved extremely energetic collisions between already differentiated planetary embryos (1000 km size), which resulted in widespread melting and the formation of magma oceans in which metal and silicates segregated to form the core and mantle. Geochemical data provide critical information on the timing of accretion and the prevailing physical conditions, but it is far from a trivial task to interpret the geochemical data in terms of physical conditions and processes. I propose here a fluid dynamics oriented study of metal-silicate interactions and differentiation following planetary impacts, based in part on fluid dynamics laboratory experiments. The aim is to answer critical questions pertaining to the dynamics of metal-silicate segregation and interactions during each core-formation events, before developing parameterized models of metal-silicate mass and heat exchange, which will then be incorporated in geochemical models of the terrestrial planets formation and differentiation. The expected outcomes are a better understanding of the physics of metal-silicate segregation and core-mantle differentiation, as well as improved geochemical constraints on the timing and physical conditions of the terrestrial planets formation.

1 258 750 €

Start date: 2017-04-01, End date: 2022-03-31

Morphogenesis seeks to understand how information and mechanics emerge from molecular interactions and how they are regulated in space and time. Two parallel legacies are now intertwined: the conceptual framework of developmental patterning that explains how cells acquire positional information during development and control cell behaviors, and the description of biological processes in physical terms. The current framework explains how genetic and biochemical information controls cellular mechanics, in particular contractility mediated by actomyosin networks, and thus cell and tissue shape changes. However, newly reported contractile dynamics, namely pulses, flows and waves, cannot be explained in this framework: they are self-organized in that they depend on local mechano-chemical interactions and feedback that cannot be accounted for by upstream genetic control. This project will explore the interplay between genetic control and self-organization in Drosophila embryos. We will study the emergence of multicellular flow and the mechanism of newly characterized tissue-level trigger wave dynamics associated with endoderm invagination, a poorly studied process. We will ask: 1) how do patterns of apical and basal contractility drive cell dynamics; 2) what is the contribution of geometrical feedback, e.g. tissue curvature, in amplifying the effect of contractile asymmetries; and 3) what is the nature of mechanical feedback and cell spatial coupling underlying trigger wave dynamics in the tissue? We will use an interdisciplinary approach, combining live imaging, capturing the 3D shape of cells/tissues, genetic/optogenetic/mechanical perturbations and theoretical/computational methods to model mechanics and geometry. We expect to unravel how organized multicellular dynamics emerge from genetic, mechanical and geometric “information”, and feedback during morphogenesis. This work will shed new light on a variety of morphogenetic processes occurring during development.

2 862 571 €

Start date: 2018-11-01, End date: 2023-10-31

Piezoelectrics are the active elements of many everyday applications, from ink-jet printers to ultrasound generators, representing a billion euro industry. They are the key elements of motion sensors and resonators present in any wireless network sensor (WNS) node. However, an increased production of piezoelectrics in a sustainable way is to-date a milestone. SENSiSOFT proposes to come up with materials that can provide a solution to this problem: piezoelectric materials that are abundant, cheap and harmless. The aim of this project is to produce new piezoelectric devices of nanometer size with an unusual limit for wireless mechanical sensors, using direct and combined chemical integration of quartz, perovskite and hollandites materials as nanostructured epitaxial thin films on silicon. This is a major challenge that demands bridging the gap between soft-chemistry and microfabrication techniques. Three strategies are proposed for this goal: i) Implement a soft chemistry unified, monolithic process that will allow integrating epitaxial quartz, hollandite and perovskite oxide thin layers on silicon substrate with high piezoelectric response. ii) Nanostructuration of piezoelectric epitaxial oxide thin films into controllable morphologies or nanostructures, in particular porous structure and 1D nanowires or nanorods, allowing excellent properties of oxides to be exploited to the fullest, mainly by avoiding clamping and improving its sensitivity. iii) Fabrication of nanostructured SAW resonator-based and a LAMB-WAVE multisensor for monitoring mechanical parameters (mass, forces, pressure…). We will use MEMs technology in order to be able to define resonating structures (plates, membranes, bridges…) by silicon micromachining. So, SENSiSOFT presents three innovative strategies to develop sensor devices capable to answer the metrology demand, with a detection threshold 10 to 100 times more sensitive resulting from a 1D and 2D configuration of novel piezoelectric oxides.

1 499 360 €

Start date: 2019-01-01, End date: 2023-12-31

Filtering and water purification rely traditionnally on the concept of passive sieving across properly decorated nanopores. Such basic separation principle contrasts with the highly advanced membrane processes existing in Nature, which harness the full subtleties of active transport across channels. This involves advanced functions like ionic pumps, ultra-high selective channels, or voltage-gated nanopores, which all play a key role in many vital needs and neuronal functions. The Shadoks project aims at developing the concept of artificial ionic machines, based on active nanofluidic transport. This is an experimental project targeting a fundamental proof of concept. It moreover involves a strong theoretical counterpart, essential to experimental advances and prototyping. I will investigate a wealth of strongly non-equilibrium transport phenomena occurring at the nanoscales, taking advantage of our unique know-how in building nanofluidic heterostructures, in particular made of carbon and boron-nitride. I target ionic Coulomb blockade, on/off voltage-gated nanopore, ionic pumps, dynamical osmosis. These processes allow to tune ionic fluxes against the gradients and induce out-of-equilibrium charge separation, hereby conceiving active sieving as a novel route for separation and desalination. Those new building blocks will subsequently be assembled to create advanced bio-inspired membrane functionalities. We will use ionic pumps to store and deliver charge carriers on demand, akin to the triggered electric shock of the electric eel. Furthermore we use the active nanofluidics building blocks to mimic a basic machinery of neuronal processes. I target in particular to build an artificial dendritic spine, as an ionic information transmitter. As an ultimate goal, this is a route towards elementary neuronal computational processes based on the artificial ionic machines.

2 431 000 €

Start date: 2018-07-01, End date: 2023-06-30

Silver was the primary metal of economic exchange and military finances in ancient Mediterranean and Near-Eastern societies. Silver isotopes will help quantify monetization of these societies by identifying Ag mineral sources, monetary sinks, and its major transfer routes. High-precision stable Ag isotope analysis initiated in Lyon has shed new light on the provenance of silver coinage. This is because Ag isotopes are distinctive of coinage’s intrinsic value in contrast to traditionally-used Pb and Cu isotopes, which may characterize impurities or additives. The common belief that PbS (galena) ores accounted most of the silver mined in the antique world will be tested. We will extract Ag from ores around the Mediterranean and test PbS prevalence over As and Sb sulfosalts and low-temperature ores with Ag, Cu, and Pb isotopes and trace elements. Our work will address major questions: (i) understand the sources of unminted silver as a precursor to coinage; (ii) use Ag isotope fingerprinting of the earliest coinages of Athens to identify the contributions of Greek mines to the development of the world’s first democracy; (iii) map the Greek and Persian mines which sourced the treasure captured by Alexander the Great, and investigate the spread of its silver; (iv) study the causes of the monetary reform of the Roman Republic in 211 BC; and (v) model the silver cycle from mines to coinage and artefacts in its economic context. In the short term this project represents radical scientific innovation, which will pave the way for a global and quantitative understanding of the history of monetary development in the ancient Mediterranean. In the long term, it will contribute to the emergence of a community of analysts, numismatists and economic historians with shared expertise about the monetization of ancient societies and their management of precious metal resources.

2 496 243 €

Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30

Interior point algorithms and a dramatic growth in computing power have revolutionized optimization in the last two decades. Highly nonlinear problems which were previously thought intractable are now routinely solved at reasonable scales. Semidefinite programs (i.e. linear programs on the cone of positive semidefinite matrices) are a perfect example of this trend: reasonably large, highly nonlinear but convex eigenvalue optimization problems are now solved efficiently by reliable numerical packages. This in turn means that a wide array of new applications for semidefinite programming have been discovered, mimicking the early development of linear programming. To cite only a few examples, semidefinite programs have been used to solve collaborative filtering problems (e.g. make personalized movie recommendations), approximate the solution of combinatorial programs, optimize the mixing rate of Markov chains over networks, infer dependence patterns from multivariate time series or produce optimal kernels in classification problems. These new applications also come with radically different algorithmic requirements. While interior point methods solve relatively small problems with a high precision, most recent applications of semidefinite programming in statistical learning for example form very large-scale problems with comparatively low precision targets, programs for which current algorithms cannot form even a single iteration. This proposal seeks to break this limit on problem size by deriving reliable first-order algorithms for solving large-scale semidefinite programs with a significantly lower cost per iteration, using for example subsampling techniques to considerably reduce the cost of forming gradients. Beyond these algorithmic challenges, the proposed research will focus heavily on applications of convex programming to statistical learning and signal processing theory where optimization and duality results quantify the statistical performance of coding or variable selection algorithms for example. Finally, another central goal of this work will be to produce efficient, customized algorithms for some key problems arising in machine learning and statistics.

1 148 460 €

Start date: 2011-05-01, End date: 2016-04-30

Amyloid diseases are of increasing concern in our aging society. These diseases all involve the aggregation of misfolded proteins, called amyloid, which are specific for each disease (PrP for Prion, Abeta for Alzheimer's). When misfolded these proteins propagate the abnormal configuration and aggregate to others, forming very long polymers also called fibrils. Elucidating the intrinsic mechanisms of these chain reactions is a major challenge of molecular biology: do polymers break or coalesce? Do specific sizes polymerize faster? What is the size of the so-called nucleus, i.e., the minimum stable size for polymers? On which part of the reactions should a treatment focus to arrest the disease ? Up to now, only very partial and partially justified answers have been provided. This is mainly due to the extremely high complexity of the considered processes, which may possibly involve an infinite number of species and reactions (and thus, an infinite system of equations). The great challenge of this project is to design new mathematical methods in order to model fibril reactions, analyse experimental data, help the biologists to discover the key mechanisms of polymerization in these diseases, predict the effects of new therapies. Our approach is based on a new mathematical model which consists in the nonlinear coupling of a size-structured Partial Differential Equation (PDE) of fragmentation-coalescence type, with a small number of Ordinary Differential Equations. On the one hand, we shall solve new and broad mathematical issues, in the fields of PDE analysis, numerical analysis and statistics. These problems are mathematically challenging and have a wide field of applications. On the other hand we want to test their efficacy on real data, thanks to an already well-established collaboration with a team of biophysicists. With such a continuing comparison with experiments, we aim at constantly aligning our mathematical problems to biological concerns.

1 203 569 €

Start date: 2012-12-01, End date: 2018-07-31

The origins and release mechanisms of stellar winds are long-lasting open challenges in astrophysics. Stellar winds play a fundamental role in the long-term evolution of stars and the habitability of their orbiting planets. In the solar case, the wind is observed in at least two states, fast and slow winds, that differ in their bulk properties and composition, pointing to different coronal origins. A theoretical explanation for the slow wind must explain both its variable bulk properties and its peculiar composition. This includes the measured high charge states of minor ions, the abundance variation of Helium during the solar cycle and the high abundance of elements with low first ionisation potential (so called FIP effect) reaching four times the photospheric abundance. SLOW_SOURCE is a comprehensive research project that will use current and upcoming observations as well as completely novel models of the solar atmosphere to determine the origin of the slow wind. We will develop plasma transport models coupling major and all known important minor constituents along realistic coronal magnetic field lines. This model will be the first of its kind producing modelled observations (spectroscopy, imagery) and expected in situ signatures directly from the modelled minor constituents. Combined with data from space and ground-based observatories, our new multi-species, multi-temperature 3-dimensional modelling of coronal plasma will provide new ways to infer the properties of stellar winds and tools to study the fundamental transport and heating processes of stellar plasmas. Determining the enigmatic release mechanism(s) of the slow solar wind constitutes a key objective of the upcoming Parker Solar Probe mission that will obtain radically new observations right from the start of the project. The project (2019-2024) will also be an excellent preparation for the Solar Orbiter mission that should obtain its first data during the second half of the project (2022-2024).

1 995 902 €

Start date: 2019-04-01, End date: 2024-03-31

Compared to existing Random Access Memories, the Magnetic RAM (MRAM) has the advantage of being non-volatile. Though the basic requirements for reading and writing a single memory element are fulfilled, the present approach based on Spin Transfer Torque (STT) suffers from an innate lack of flexibility. The solution that I propose is based on the discovery of a novel phenomenon, where instead of transferring spin angular momentum from a neighbouring layer, magnetization reversal is achieved by angular momentum transfer directly from the crystal lattice. There is a long list of advantages that this novel approach has compared to STT, but the goal of this project is to focus only on their most generic difference: flexibility. The singularity of spin-orbit torque is that the in-plane current injection geometry decouples the “read” and “write” mechanisms. The disconnection is essential, as unlike STT where the pillar shape of the magnetic trilayer sets the current path, in the case of SOT the composing elements may be shaped separately. The liberty of shaping the current distribution allows to spatially modulate the torque exerted on the local magnetization. The central goal of my project is to explore the new magnetization dynamics, specific to the Spin-Orbit Torque (SOT) geometry, and design novel magnetization switching schemes. I will begin by tackling the fundamental questions about the origin of SOT and try to control it by mastering its dependence on the layer structure. Materials with on-demand SOT will serve as playground for the testing of a broad range of magnetization reversal techniques. The most successful among them will become the building-blocks of complex magnetic objects whose switching behaviour is tightly related to their shape. To study their magnetization dynamics I plan to build a time-resolved near-field magneto-optical microscope, a unique tool for the ultimate spatial and temporal resolution.

1 476 000 €

Start date: 2015-10-01, End date: 2020-09-30

Scattering of light in complex environments has long been considered a nuisance and an inescapable limitation to imaging and sensing alike, ranging from astronomical observation, biomedical imaging, spectroscopy, etc. In the last decade, wavefront shaping techniques have revolutionized this view, by allowing light focusing and imaging even deep in the multiple scattering regime. This principle is embodied in the possibility—that I pioneered—to access the transmission matrix of a complex medium. In SMARTIES, I will go one major conceptual step further, by exploiting directly the inherent property of a complex medium to mix perfectly and deterministically the information carried by the light. This mixing is actually a processing step. Along this general idea, SMARTIES will explore two synergistic directions: —Classical and quantum optical computing: Thanks to the highly multimode nature and the strong mixing properties of complex material, I will aim at demonstrating high performance classical computing tasks in the context of randomized algorithms. As a platform for quantum information processing, this will be relevant for high dimension quantum computing algorithms, and quantum machine learning. —Generalized imaging and sensing: Rather than tediously focusing and imaging through a scattering material, computational approaches can significantly improve and simplify the imaging process. I also aim to show that the relevant information can be directly and optimally extracted from the scattered light without imaging, using machine-learning algorithms. From a methodological standpoint, SMARTIES will require bridging knowledge from mesoscopic physics, light-matter interaction, linear and non-linear optics, with algorithms and signal processing concepts. It will deliver a whole new class of optical methods and devices, based on disorder. Its applications range from big data analysis, quantum technologies, to sensors and deep imaging for biology and neuroscience.

1 999 891 €

Start date: 2017-04-01, End date: 2022-03-31

The small bodies population (comets, asteroids, KBOs) is today central to Solar System studies. These objects are used to reconstruct the dynamical scenarios of Solar System formation and evolution, and are expected to have played a key role in the habitability of terrestrial planets. Because they are rich in volatile and organics, comets and dark asteroid types (C-, D-) are under intense scrutiny by the Planetary Science community. The objective of this project is to determine the composition of these primitive small bodies and whether or not we have samples available from their surfaces in the form of meteorites and extra-terrestrial dusts (IDPs, micrometeorites). Several decades of research have focused on comparing meteorites laboratory spectra to small bodies observations to decipher composition. The originality of my approach will be to focus on determining the optical properties of extra-terrestrial dusts and confront with already available observations of the small bodies populations. Since available dusts are tiny particles, they are not optically thick, and it is not possible to determine directly the optical signature of a surface covered by such material. My approach will be first to characterize the constituents of IDPs, micrometeorites and meteorites matrices, with groundbreaking infrared spectroscopy techniques. Using AFM-IR, I will be able to characterize at the 50 nm scale the nature of the individual constituents of each particle in situ (organic and mineral), without destroying the textural relation between components. From there, I will have an understanding of the grain structure and composition, which I will use to prepare an optically thick analogue made of sub-µm particles and characterize its optical properties. Last, I will confront these results to small bodies observations, in order to search for possible parent bodies, providing somehow a sample return mission without the cost of a space mission.

2 421 180 €

Start date: 2018-04-01, End date: 2023-03-31

The ergodic theory of smooth dynamical systems enjoying some form of hyperbolicity has undergone important progress since the beginning of the twenty first century, in part due to the development of a new technical tool: anisotropic Banach or Hilbert spaces, on which transfer operators have good spectral properties. Very recently, such tools have yielded exponential mixing for dispersing (Sinai) billiard flows (i.e. the 2D periodic Lorentz gas), which are the archetypal smooth systems with singularities. We will study other challenging natural systems, mostly with singularities, by using functional analytical tools, in particular transfer operators acting on anisotropic spaces (including the new ""ultimate'"" space introduced recently, which combines desirable features of several existing spaces), and revisiting the Milnor-Thurston kneading theory to obtain nuclear decompositions in low regularity. Goals of the project include: -Thermodynamic formalism for the Sinai billiard maps and flows (2D periodic Lorentz gas), in particular existence and statistical properties of the measure of maximal entropy. -Intrinsic resonances of Sinai billiard maps and flows (2D periodic Lorentz gas) via the dynamical zeta function. -Fine statistical properties of (infinite measure) semi-dispersing billiards with non compact cusps. -Growth of dynamical determinants and zeta functions of differentiable (non analytic) geodesic flows, with applications to the global Gutzwiller formula. -Fractional response and fractional susceptibility function for transversal families of smooth nonuniformly hyperbolic maps (including the logistic family).

1 830 070 €

Start date: 2018-09-01, End date: 2023-08-31

Compressed sensing is triggering a major evolution in signal acquisition: it indicates that most data, signals and images, that are usually compressible and have redundancy, can be reconstructed from much fewer measurements than what was usually considered necessary, resulting in a drastic gain of time, cost, and measurement precision. In order to make this groundbreaking improvement possible, compressed sensing deals with how measurements should be performed, and how, in a second step, to use computational power in order to reconstruct the original signal. Compressed sensing can be used for many applications (speeding up magnetic resonance imaging without the loss of resolution, performing X-ray scans with less radiation exposure, sensing and compressing data simultaneously, measurements in acoustic holography, in system biology, faster confocal microscopy, etc ...). Currently used measurement protocols and reconstruction techniques, however, are still limited to acquisition rates considerably higher than what is theoretically necessary. The aim of this project is to develop a new interdisciplinary approach to compressed sensing, based on a statistical physics inspired methodology, whose preliminary application by the PI already yield spectacular results. I propose to use both a new algorithm for the reconstruction algorithm, with a mean-field inspired “Belief Propagation” method, and a new class of compressed sensing measurement schemes, motivated by a statistical physics study of the problem and by the theory of crystal nucleation in first order transitions. For reasons detailed below, this statistical physics approach is extremely promising theoretical framework to tackle compressed sensing and I believe it can eventually lead to optimal performance. I expect that the progress we will make in this direction will be instrumental also for other inference and inverse problems at the crossroad between physics and computer science.

1 077 960 €

Start date: 2012-10-01, End date: 2018-09-30