Project acronym ClustersXCosmo
Project Fundamental physics, Cosmology and Astrophysics: Galaxy Clusters at the Cross-roads
Researcher (PI) Alexandro SARO
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE9, ERC-2016-STG
Summary The ClustersXCosmo ERC Starting Grant proposal has the goal of investigating the role of Galaxy Clusters as a cosmological probe and of exploiting the strong synergies between observational cosmology, galaxy formation and fundamental physics related to the tracers of the extreme peaks in the matter density field. In the last decade, astronomical data-sets have started to be widely and quantitatively used by the scientific community to address important physical questions such as: the nature of the dark matter and dark energy components and their evolution; the physical properties of the baryonic matter; the variation of fundamental constants over cosmic time; the sum of neutrino masses; the interplay between the galaxy population and the intergalactic medium; the nature of gravity over megaparsec scales and over cosmic times; the temperature evolution of the Universe. Most of these results are based on well-established geometrical cosmological probes (e.g., galaxies, supernovae, cosmic microwave background). Galaxy clusters provide a complementary and necessary approach, as their distribution as a function of time and observables is sensitive to both the geometrical and the dynamical evolution of the Universe, driven by the growth of structures. Among different cluster surveys, Sunyaev Zel'Dovich effect (SZE) detected catalogs have registered the most dramatic improvement over the last ~5 years, yielding samples extending up to the earliest times these systems appeared. This proposal aims at using a combination of the best available SZE cluster surveys and to interpret them by means of state-of-the-art computational facilities in order to firmly establish the yet controversial role of Galaxy Clusters as a probe for cosmology, fundamental physics and astrophysics. The timely convergence of current and next generation multi-wavelength surveys (DES/SPT/Planck/eRosita/Euclid) will be important to establish the role of Galaxy Clusters as a cosmological tool.
Summary
The ClustersXCosmo ERC Starting Grant proposal has the goal of investigating the role of Galaxy Clusters as a cosmological probe and of exploiting the strong synergies between observational cosmology, galaxy formation and fundamental physics related to the tracers of the extreme peaks in the matter density field. In the last decade, astronomical data-sets have started to be widely and quantitatively used by the scientific community to address important physical questions such as: the nature of the dark matter and dark energy components and their evolution; the physical properties of the baryonic matter; the variation of fundamental constants over cosmic time; the sum of neutrino masses; the interplay between the galaxy population and the intergalactic medium; the nature of gravity over megaparsec scales and over cosmic times; the temperature evolution of the Universe. Most of these results are based on well-established geometrical cosmological probes (e.g., galaxies, supernovae, cosmic microwave background). Galaxy clusters provide a complementary and necessary approach, as their distribution as a function of time and observables is sensitive to both the geometrical and the dynamical evolution of the Universe, driven by the growth of structures. Among different cluster surveys, Sunyaev Zel'Dovich effect (SZE) detected catalogs have registered the most dramatic improvement over the last ~5 years, yielding samples extending up to the earliest times these systems appeared. This proposal aims at using a combination of the best available SZE cluster surveys and to interpret them by means of state-of-the-art computational facilities in order to firmly establish the yet controversial role of Galaxy Clusters as a probe for cosmology, fundamental physics and astrophysics. The timely convergence of current and next generation multi-wavelength surveys (DES/SPT/Planck/eRosita/Euclid) will be important to establish the role of Galaxy Clusters as a cosmological tool.
Max ERC Funding
1 230 403 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-09-01, End date: 2022-08-31
Project acronym CME
Project Concurrency Made Easy
Researcher (PI) Bertrand Philippe Meyer
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE6, ERC-2011-ADG_20110209
Summary The “Concurrency Made Easy” project is an attempt to achieve a conceptual breakthrough on the most daunting challenge in information technology today: mastering concurrency. Concurrency, once a specialized technique for experts, is forcing itself onto the entire IT community because of a disruptive phenomenon: the “end of Moore’s law as we know it”. Increases in performance can no longer happen through raw hardware speed, but only through concurrency, as in multicore architectures. Concurrency is also critical for networking, cloud computing and the progress of natural sciences. Software support for these advances lags, mired in concepts from the 1960s such as semaphores. Existing formal models are hard to apply in practice. Incremental progress is not sufficient; neither are techniques that place the burden on programmers, who cannot all be expected to become concurrency experts. The CME project attempts a major shift on the side of the supporting technology: languages, formal models, verification techniques. The core idea of the CME project is to make concurrency easy for programmers, by building on established ideas of modern programming methodology (object technology, Design by Contract) shifting the concurrency difficulties to the internals of the model and implementation.
The project includes the following elements.
1. Sound conceptual model for concurrency. The starting point is the influential previous work of the PI: concepts of object-oriented design, particularly Design by Contract, and the SCOOP concurrency model.
2. Reference implementation, integrated into an IDE.
3. Performance analysis.
4. Theory and formal basis, including full semantics.
5. Proof techniques, compatible with proof techniques for the sequential part.
6. Complementary verification techniques such as concurrent testing.
7. Library of concurrency components and examples.
8. Publication, including a major textbook on concurrency.
Summary
The “Concurrency Made Easy” project is an attempt to achieve a conceptual breakthrough on the most daunting challenge in information technology today: mastering concurrency. Concurrency, once a specialized technique for experts, is forcing itself onto the entire IT community because of a disruptive phenomenon: the “end of Moore’s law as we know it”. Increases in performance can no longer happen through raw hardware speed, but only through concurrency, as in multicore architectures. Concurrency is also critical for networking, cloud computing and the progress of natural sciences. Software support for these advances lags, mired in concepts from the 1960s such as semaphores. Existing formal models are hard to apply in practice. Incremental progress is not sufficient; neither are techniques that place the burden on programmers, who cannot all be expected to become concurrency experts. The CME project attempts a major shift on the side of the supporting technology: languages, formal models, verification techniques. The core idea of the CME project is to make concurrency easy for programmers, by building on established ideas of modern programming methodology (object technology, Design by Contract) shifting the concurrency difficulties to the internals of the model and implementation.
The project includes the following elements.
1. Sound conceptual model for concurrency. The starting point is the influential previous work of the PI: concepts of object-oriented design, particularly Design by Contract, and the SCOOP concurrency model.
2. Reference implementation, integrated into an IDE.
3. Performance analysis.
4. Theory and formal basis, including full semantics.
5. Proof techniques, compatible with proof techniques for the sequential part.
6. Complementary verification techniques such as concurrent testing.
7. Library of concurrency components and examples.
8. Publication, including a major textbook on concurrency.
Max ERC Funding
2 482 957 €
Duration
Start date: 2012-04-01, End date: 2018-09-30
Project acronym COMANCHE
Project Coherent manipulation and control of heat in solid-state nanostructures: the era of coherent caloritronics
Researcher (PI) Francesco Giazotto
Host Institution (HI) CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE3, ERC-2013-CoG
Summary "Electronic nanodevices have demonstrated to be versatile and effective tools for the investigation of exotic quantum phenomena under controlled and adjustable conditions. Yet, these have enabled to give access to the manipulation of charge flow with unprecedented precision. On the other hand, the wisdom dealing with control, measurements, storage, and conversion of heat in nanoscale devices, the so-called “caloritronics” (from the Latin word “calor”, i.e., heat), despite a number of recent advances is still at its infancy. Although coherence often plays a crucial role in determining the functionalities of nanoelectronic devices very little is known of its role in caloritronics. In such a context, coherent control of heat seems at present still very far from reach, and devising methods to phase-coherently manipulate the thermal current would represent a crucial breakthrough which could open the door to unprecedented possibilities in several fields of science.
Here we propose an original approach to set the experimental ground for the investigation and implementation of a new branch of science, the “coherent caloritronics”, which will take advantage of quantum circuits to phase-coherently manipulate and control the heat current in solid-state nanostructures. To tackle this challenging task our approach will follow three main separate approaches, i.e., the coherent control of heat transported by electrons in Josephson nanocircuits, the coherent manipulation of heat carried by electrons and exchanged between electrons and lattice phonons in superconducting proximity systems,
and finally, the control of the heat exchanged between electrons and photons by coherently tuning the coupling with the electromagnetic environment. We will integrate superconductors with normal-metal or semiconductor electrodes thus exploring new device concepts such as heat transistors, heat diodes, heat splitters, where thermal flux control is achieved thanks to the use of the quantum phase."
Summary
"Electronic nanodevices have demonstrated to be versatile and effective tools for the investigation of exotic quantum phenomena under controlled and adjustable conditions. Yet, these have enabled to give access to the manipulation of charge flow with unprecedented precision. On the other hand, the wisdom dealing with control, measurements, storage, and conversion of heat in nanoscale devices, the so-called “caloritronics” (from the Latin word “calor”, i.e., heat), despite a number of recent advances is still at its infancy. Although coherence often plays a crucial role in determining the functionalities of nanoelectronic devices very little is known of its role in caloritronics. In such a context, coherent control of heat seems at present still very far from reach, and devising methods to phase-coherently manipulate the thermal current would represent a crucial breakthrough which could open the door to unprecedented possibilities in several fields of science.
Here we propose an original approach to set the experimental ground for the investigation and implementation of a new branch of science, the “coherent caloritronics”, which will take advantage of quantum circuits to phase-coherently manipulate and control the heat current in solid-state nanostructures. To tackle this challenging task our approach will follow three main separate approaches, i.e., the coherent control of heat transported by electrons in Josephson nanocircuits, the coherent manipulation of heat carried by electrons and exchanged between electrons and lattice phonons in superconducting proximity systems,
and finally, the control of the heat exchanged between electrons and photons by coherently tuning the coupling with the electromagnetic environment. We will integrate superconductors with normal-metal or semiconductor electrodes thus exploring new device concepts such as heat transistors, heat diodes, heat splitters, where thermal flux control is achieved thanks to the use of the quantum phase."
Max ERC Funding
1 754 897 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-05-01, End date: 2019-04-30
Project acronym COMBOS
Project Collective phenomena in quantum and classical many body systems
Researcher (PI) Alessandro Giuliani
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI ROMA TRE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2009-StG
Summary The collective behavior of quantum and classical many body systems such as ultracold atomic gases, nanowires, cuprates and micromagnets are currently subject of an intense experimental and theoretical research worldwide. Understanding the fascinating phenomena of Bose-Einstein condensation, Luttinger liquid vs non-Luttinger liquid behavior, high temperature superconductivity, and spontaneous formation of periodic patterns in magnetic systems, is an exciting challenge for theoreticians. Most of these phenomena are still far from being fully understood, even from a heuristic point of view. Unveiling the exotic properties of such systems by rigorous mathematical analysis is an important and difficult challenge for mathematical physics. In the last two decades, substantial progress has been made on various aspects of many-body theory, including Fermi liquids, Luttinger liquids, perturbed Ising models at criticality, bosonization, trapped Bose gases and spontaneous formation of periodic patterns. The techniques successfully employed in this field are diverse, and range from constructive renormalization group to functional variational estimates. In this research project we propose to investigate a number of statistical mechanics models by a combination of different mathematical methods. The objective is, on the one hand, to understand crossover phenomena, phase transitions and low-temperature states with broken symmetry, which are of interest in the theory of condensed matter and that we believe to be accessible to the currently available methods; on the other, to develop new techiques combining different and complementary methods, such as multiscale analysis and localization bounds, or reflection positivity and cluster expansion, which may be useful to further progress on important open problems, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, conformal invariance in non-integrable models, existence of magnetic or superconducting long range order.
Summary
The collective behavior of quantum and classical many body systems such as ultracold atomic gases, nanowires, cuprates and micromagnets are currently subject of an intense experimental and theoretical research worldwide. Understanding the fascinating phenomena of Bose-Einstein condensation, Luttinger liquid vs non-Luttinger liquid behavior, high temperature superconductivity, and spontaneous formation of periodic patterns in magnetic systems, is an exciting challenge for theoreticians. Most of these phenomena are still far from being fully understood, even from a heuristic point of view. Unveiling the exotic properties of such systems by rigorous mathematical analysis is an important and difficult challenge for mathematical physics. In the last two decades, substantial progress has been made on various aspects of many-body theory, including Fermi liquids, Luttinger liquids, perturbed Ising models at criticality, bosonization, trapped Bose gases and spontaneous formation of periodic patterns. The techniques successfully employed in this field are diverse, and range from constructive renormalization group to functional variational estimates. In this research project we propose to investigate a number of statistical mechanics models by a combination of different mathematical methods. The objective is, on the one hand, to understand crossover phenomena, phase transitions and low-temperature states with broken symmetry, which are of interest in the theory of condensed matter and that we believe to be accessible to the currently available methods; on the other, to develop new techiques combining different and complementary methods, such as multiscale analysis and localization bounds, or reflection positivity and cluster expansion, which may be useful to further progress on important open problems, such as Bose-Einstein condensation, conformal invariance in non-integrable models, existence of magnetic or superconducting long range order.
Max ERC Funding
650 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31
Project acronym COMPASS
Project Control for Orbit Manoeuvring through Perturbations for Application to Space Systems
Researcher (PI) Camilla Colombo
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI MILANO
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE8, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Space benefits mankind through the services it provides to Earth. Future space activities progress thanks to space transfer and are safeguarded by space situation awareness. Natural orbit perturbations are responsible for the trajectory divergence from the nominal two-body problem, increasing the requirements for orbit control; whereas, in space situation awareness, they influence the orbit evolution of space debris that could cause hazard to operational spacecraft and near Earth objects that may intersect the Earth. However, this project proposes to leverage the dynamics of natural orbit perturbations to significantly reduce current extreme high mission cost and create new opportunities for space exploration and exploitation.
The COMPASS project will bridge over the disciplines of orbital dynamics, dynamical systems theory, optimisation and space mission design by developing novel techniques for orbit manoeuvring by “surfing” through orbit perturbations. The use of semi-analytical techniques and tools of dynamical systems theory will lay the foundation for a new understanding of the dynamics of orbit perturbations. We will develop an optimiser that progressively explores the phase space and, though spacecraft parameters and propulsion manoeuvres, governs the effect of perturbations to reach the desired orbit. It is the ambition of COMPASS to radically change the current space mission design philosophy: from counteracting disturbances, to exploiting natural and artificial perturbations.
COMPASS will benefit from the extensive international network of the PI, including the ESA, NASA, JAXA, CNES, and the UK space agency. Indeed, the proposed idea of optimal navigation through orbit perturbations will address various major engineering challenges in space situation awareness, for application to space debris evolution and mitigation, missions to asteroids for their detection, exploration and deflection, and in space transfers, for perturbation-enhanced trajectory design.
Summary
Space benefits mankind through the services it provides to Earth. Future space activities progress thanks to space transfer and are safeguarded by space situation awareness. Natural orbit perturbations are responsible for the trajectory divergence from the nominal two-body problem, increasing the requirements for orbit control; whereas, in space situation awareness, they influence the orbit evolution of space debris that could cause hazard to operational spacecraft and near Earth objects that may intersect the Earth. However, this project proposes to leverage the dynamics of natural orbit perturbations to significantly reduce current extreme high mission cost and create new opportunities for space exploration and exploitation.
The COMPASS project will bridge over the disciplines of orbital dynamics, dynamical systems theory, optimisation and space mission design by developing novel techniques for orbit manoeuvring by “surfing” through orbit perturbations. The use of semi-analytical techniques and tools of dynamical systems theory will lay the foundation for a new understanding of the dynamics of orbit perturbations. We will develop an optimiser that progressively explores the phase space and, though spacecraft parameters and propulsion manoeuvres, governs the effect of perturbations to reach the desired orbit. It is the ambition of COMPASS to radically change the current space mission design philosophy: from counteracting disturbances, to exploiting natural and artificial perturbations.
COMPASS will benefit from the extensive international network of the PI, including the ESA, NASA, JAXA, CNES, and the UK space agency. Indeed, the proposed idea of optimal navigation through orbit perturbations will address various major engineering challenges in space situation awareness, for application to space debris evolution and mitigation, missions to asteroids for their detection, exploration and deflection, and in space transfers, for perturbation-enhanced trajectory design.
Max ERC Funding
1 499 021 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-08-01, End date: 2021-07-31
Project acronym COMPAT
Project Complex Patterns for Strongly Interacting Dynamical Systems
Researcher (PI) Susanna Terracini
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TORINO
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE1, ERC-2013-ADG
Summary This project focuses on nontrivial solutions of systems of differential equations characterized by strongly nonlinear interactions. We are interested in the effect of the nonlinearities on the emergence of non trivial self-organized structures. Such patterns correspond to selected solutions of the differential system possessing special symmetries or shadowing particular shapes. We want to understand, from the
mathematical point of view, what are the main mechanisms involved in the aggregation process in terms of the global variational structure of the problem. Following this common thread, we deal with both with the classical N-body problem of Celestial Mechanics, where interactions feature attractive singularities, and competition-diffusion systems, where pattern formation is driven by strongly repulsive forces. More
precisely, we are interested in periodic and bounded solutions, parabolic trajectories with the final intent to build complex motions and possibly obtain the symbolic dynamics for the general N–body problem. On the other hand, we deal with elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic systems of differential equations with strongly competing interaction terms, modeling both the dynamics of competing populations (Lotka-
Volterra systems) and other interesting physical phenomena, among which the phase segregation of solitary waves of Gross-Pitaevskii systems arising in the study of multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates. In particular, we will study existence, multiplicity and asymptotic expansions of solutions when the competition parameter tends to infinity. We shall be concerned with optimal partition problems
related to linear and nonlinear eigenvalues
Summary
This project focuses on nontrivial solutions of systems of differential equations characterized by strongly nonlinear interactions. We are interested in the effect of the nonlinearities on the emergence of non trivial self-organized structures. Such patterns correspond to selected solutions of the differential system possessing special symmetries or shadowing particular shapes. We want to understand, from the
mathematical point of view, what are the main mechanisms involved in the aggregation process in terms of the global variational structure of the problem. Following this common thread, we deal with both with the classical N-body problem of Celestial Mechanics, where interactions feature attractive singularities, and competition-diffusion systems, where pattern formation is driven by strongly repulsive forces. More
precisely, we are interested in periodic and bounded solutions, parabolic trajectories with the final intent to build complex motions and possibly obtain the symbolic dynamics for the general N–body problem. On the other hand, we deal with elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic systems of differential equations with strongly competing interaction terms, modeling both the dynamics of competing populations (Lotka-
Volterra systems) and other interesting physical phenomena, among which the phase segregation of solitary waves of Gross-Pitaevskii systems arising in the study of multicomponent Bose-Einstein condensates. In particular, we will study existence, multiplicity and asymptotic expansions of solutions when the competition parameter tends to infinity. We shall be concerned with optimal partition problems
related to linear and nonlinear eigenvalues
Max ERC Funding
1 346 145 €
Duration
Start date: 2014-02-01, End date: 2019-01-31
Project acronym COMPLEX REASON
Project The Parameterized Complexity of Reasoning Problems
Researcher (PI) Stefan Szeider
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE6, ERC-2009-StG
Summary Reasoning, to derive conclusions from facts, is a fundamental task in Artificial Intelligence, arising in a wide range of applications from Robotics to Expert Systems. The aim of this project is to devise new efficient algorithms for real-world reasoning problems and to get new insights into the question of what makes a reasoning problem hard, and what makes it easy. As key to novel and groundbreaking results we propose to study reasoning problems within the framework of Parameterized Complexity, a new and rapidly emerging field of Algorithms and Complexity. Parameterized Complexity takes structural aspects of problem instances into account which are most significant for empirically observed problem-hardness. Most of the considered reasoning problems are intractable in general, but the real-world context of their origin provides structural information that can be made accessible to algorithms in form of parameters. This makes Parameterized Complexity an ideal setting for the analysis and efficient solution of these problems. A systematic study of the Parameterized Complexity of reasoning problems that covers theoretical and empirical aspects is so far outstanding. This proposal sets out to do exactly this and has therefore a great potential for groundbreaking new results. The proposed research aims at a significant impact on the research culture by setting the grounds for a closer cooperation between theorists and practitioners.
Summary
Reasoning, to derive conclusions from facts, is a fundamental task in Artificial Intelligence, arising in a wide range of applications from Robotics to Expert Systems. The aim of this project is to devise new efficient algorithms for real-world reasoning problems and to get new insights into the question of what makes a reasoning problem hard, and what makes it easy. As key to novel and groundbreaking results we propose to study reasoning problems within the framework of Parameterized Complexity, a new and rapidly emerging field of Algorithms and Complexity. Parameterized Complexity takes structural aspects of problem instances into account which are most significant for empirically observed problem-hardness. Most of the considered reasoning problems are intractable in general, but the real-world context of their origin provides structural information that can be made accessible to algorithms in form of parameters. This makes Parameterized Complexity an ideal setting for the analysis and efficient solution of these problems. A systematic study of the Parameterized Complexity of reasoning problems that covers theoretical and empirical aspects is so far outstanding. This proposal sets out to do exactly this and has therefore a great potential for groundbreaking new results. The proposed research aims at a significant impact on the research culture by setting the grounds for a closer cooperation between theorists and practitioners.
Max ERC Funding
1 421 130 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31
Project acronym Con Espressione
Project Getting at the Heart of Things: Towards Expressivity-aware Computer Systems in Music
Researcher (PI) Gerhard Widmer
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITAT LINZ
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE6, ERC-2014-ADG
Summary What makes music so important, what can make a performance so special and stirring? It is the things the music expresses, the emotions it induces, the associations it evokes, the drama and characters it portrays. The sources of this expressivity are manifold: the music itself, its structure, orchestration, personal associations, social settings, but also – and very importantly – the act of performance, the interpretation and expressive intentions made explicit by the musicians through nuances in timing, dynamics etc.
Thanks to research in fields like Music Information Research (MIR), computers can do many useful things with music, from beat and rhythm detection to song identification and tracking. However, they are still far from grasping the essence of music: they cannot tell whether a performance expresses playfulness or ennui, solemnity or gaiety, determination or uncertainty; they cannot produce music with a desired expressive quality; they cannot interact with human musicians in a truly musical way, recognising and responding to the expressive intentions implied in their playing.
The project is about developing machines that are aware of certain dimensions of expressivity, specifically in the domain of (classical) music, where expressivity is both essential and – at least as far as it relates to the act of performance – can be traced back to well-defined and measurable parametric dimensions (such as timing, dynamics, articulation). We will develop systems that can recognise, characterise, search music by expressive aspects, generate, modify, and react to expressive qualities in music. To do so, we will (1) bring together the fields of AI, Machine Learning, MIR and Music Performance Research; (2) integrate theories from Musicology to build more well-founded models of music understanding; (3) support model learning and validation with massive musical corpora of a size and quality unprecedented in computational music research.
Summary
What makes music so important, what can make a performance so special and stirring? It is the things the music expresses, the emotions it induces, the associations it evokes, the drama and characters it portrays. The sources of this expressivity are manifold: the music itself, its structure, orchestration, personal associations, social settings, but also – and very importantly – the act of performance, the interpretation and expressive intentions made explicit by the musicians through nuances in timing, dynamics etc.
Thanks to research in fields like Music Information Research (MIR), computers can do many useful things with music, from beat and rhythm detection to song identification and tracking. However, they are still far from grasping the essence of music: they cannot tell whether a performance expresses playfulness or ennui, solemnity or gaiety, determination or uncertainty; they cannot produce music with a desired expressive quality; they cannot interact with human musicians in a truly musical way, recognising and responding to the expressive intentions implied in their playing.
The project is about developing machines that are aware of certain dimensions of expressivity, specifically in the domain of (classical) music, where expressivity is both essential and – at least as far as it relates to the act of performance – can be traced back to well-defined and measurable parametric dimensions (such as timing, dynamics, articulation). We will develop systems that can recognise, characterise, search music by expressive aspects, generate, modify, and react to expressive qualities in music. To do so, we will (1) bring together the fields of AI, Machine Learning, MIR and Music Performance Research; (2) integrate theories from Musicology to build more well-founded models of music understanding; (3) support model learning and validation with massive musical corpora of a size and quality unprecedented in computational music research.
Max ERC Funding
2 318 750 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-01-01, End date: 2021-12-31
Project acronym CONLAWS
Project Hyperbolic Systems of Conservation Laws: singular limits, properties of solutions and control problems
Researcher (PI) Stefano Bianchini
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE SUPERIORE DI STUDI AVANZATI DI TRIESTE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE1, ERC-2009-StG
Summary The research program concerns various theoretic aspects of hyperbolic conservation laws. In first place we plan to study the existence and uniqueness of solutions to systems of equations of mathematical physics with physic viscosity. This is one of the main open problems within the theory of conservation laws in one space dimension, which cannot be tackled relying on the techniques developed in the case where the viscosity matrix is the identity. Furthermore, this represents a first step toward the analysis of more complex relaxation and kinetic models with a finite number of velocities as for Broadwell equation, or with a continuous distribution of velocities as for Boltzmann equation. A second research topic concerns the study of conservation laws with large data. Even in this case the basic model is provided by fluidodynamic equations. We wish to extend the results of existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence of solutions to the case of large (in BV or in L^infty) data, at least for the simplest systems of mathematical physics such as the isentropic gas dynamics. A third research topic that we wish to pursue concerns the analysis of fine properties of solutions to conservation laws. Many of such properties depend on the existence of one or more entropies of the system. In particular, we have in mind to study the regularity and the concentration of the dissipativity measure for an entropic solution of a system of conservation laws. Finally, we wish to continue the study of hyperbolic equations from the control theory point of view along two directions: (i) the analysis of controllability and asymptotic stabilizability properties; (ii) the study of optimal control problems related to hyperbolic systems.
Summary
The research program concerns various theoretic aspects of hyperbolic conservation laws. In first place we plan to study the existence and uniqueness of solutions to systems of equations of mathematical physics with physic viscosity. This is one of the main open problems within the theory of conservation laws in one space dimension, which cannot be tackled relying on the techniques developed in the case where the viscosity matrix is the identity. Furthermore, this represents a first step toward the analysis of more complex relaxation and kinetic models with a finite number of velocities as for Broadwell equation, or with a continuous distribution of velocities as for Boltzmann equation. A second research topic concerns the study of conservation laws with large data. Even in this case the basic model is provided by fluidodynamic equations. We wish to extend the results of existence, uniqueness and continuous dependence of solutions to the case of large (in BV or in L^infty) data, at least for the simplest systems of mathematical physics such as the isentropic gas dynamics. A third research topic that we wish to pursue concerns the analysis of fine properties of solutions to conservation laws. Many of such properties depend on the existence of one or more entropies of the system. In particular, we have in mind to study the regularity and the concentration of the dissipativity measure for an entropic solution of a system of conservation laws. Finally, we wish to continue the study of hyperbolic equations from the control theory point of view along two directions: (i) the analysis of controllability and asymptotic stabilizability properties; (ii) the study of optimal control problems related to hyperbolic systems.
Max ERC Funding
422 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2013-10-31
Project acronym COPMAT
Project Full-scale COmputational design of Porous mesoscale MATerials
Researcher (PI) Sauro SUCCI
Host Institution (HI) FONDAZIONE ISTITUTO ITALIANO DI TECNOLOGIA
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE8, ERC-2016-ADG
Summary The last decades have witnessed major progress in our understanding of the basic physics of soft matter materials. At the same time, microfluidics has also undergone spectacular theoretical and experimental progress. The confluence of such major advances spawns unprecedented opportunities for the design and manufacturing of new soft mesoscale materials, with promising applications in tissue engineering, photonics, catalysis and many others. COPMAT is targeted at making the most this opportunity through the pursuit of a single general goal: the full-scale simulation at nanometric resolution of micro-reactors for the design and synthesis of new tunable porous materials. In particular, we shall focus on the microfluidic design of: multi-jel materials, trabecular porous media and soft mesoscale molecules. We shall also explore new designs concepts based on unexplored microscale phenomena, such as the interaction between plasticity and nano-rugosity. The complex interplay between the highly non-linear rheology of soft materials and the major experimental control parameters leads to an engineering design of formidable complexity, characterized by a strong sensitivity of the macroscale material properties on the details of nanoscale interfacial interactions. COPMAT will tackle this formidable multiscale challenge through the deployment of an entirely new family of multiscale techniques, centered upon highly innovative extensions of the Lattice Boltzmann method and its combinations with Immersed Boundary Method, Dissipative Particle Dynamics and Dissipative Voronoi Dynamics. The success of COPMAT will be gauged by its capability of inspiring and realizing the design of microfluidic devices for the synthesis of novel families of porous materials for bio-engineering applications. The new paradigm established by COPMAT for the computational design of soft materials is expected to extend well beyond the time-horizon of the project.
Summary
The last decades have witnessed major progress in our understanding of the basic physics of soft matter materials. At the same time, microfluidics has also undergone spectacular theoretical and experimental progress. The confluence of such major advances spawns unprecedented opportunities for the design and manufacturing of new soft mesoscale materials, with promising applications in tissue engineering, photonics, catalysis and many others. COPMAT is targeted at making the most this opportunity through the pursuit of a single general goal: the full-scale simulation at nanometric resolution of micro-reactors for the design and synthesis of new tunable porous materials. In particular, we shall focus on the microfluidic design of: multi-jel materials, trabecular porous media and soft mesoscale molecules. We shall also explore new designs concepts based on unexplored microscale phenomena, such as the interaction between plasticity and nano-rugosity. The complex interplay between the highly non-linear rheology of soft materials and the major experimental control parameters leads to an engineering design of formidable complexity, characterized by a strong sensitivity of the macroscale material properties on the details of nanoscale interfacial interactions. COPMAT will tackle this formidable multiscale challenge through the deployment of an entirely new family of multiscale techniques, centered upon highly innovative extensions of the Lattice Boltzmann method and its combinations with Immersed Boundary Method, Dissipative Particle Dynamics and Dissipative Voronoi Dynamics. The success of COPMAT will be gauged by its capability of inspiring and realizing the design of microfluidic devices for the synthesis of novel families of porous materials for bio-engineering applications. The new paradigm established by COPMAT for the computational design of soft materials is expected to extend well beyond the time-horizon of the project.
Max ERC Funding
1 880 060 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-10-01, End date: 2022-09-30
