Project acronym AROMA-CFD
Project Advanced Reduced Order Methods with Applications in Computational Fluid Dynamics
Researcher (PI) Gianluigi Rozza
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE SUPERIORE DI STUDI AVANZATI DI TRIESTE
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE1, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary The aim of AROMA-CFD is to create a team of scientists at SISSA for the development of Advanced Reduced Order Modelling techniques with a focus in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), in order to face and overcome many current limitations of the state of the art and improve the capabilities of reduced order methodologies for more demanding applications in industrial, medical and applied sciences contexts. AROMA-CFD deals with strong methodological developments in numerical analysis, with a special emphasis on mathematical modelling and extensive exploitation of computational science and engineering. Several tasks have been identified to tackle important problems and open questions in reduced order modelling: study of bifurcations and instabilities in flows, increasing Reynolds number and guaranteeing stability, moving towards turbulent flows, considering complex geometrical parametrizations of shapes as computational domains into extended networks. A reduced computational and geometrical framework will be developed for nonlinear inverse problems, focusing on optimal flow control, shape optimization and uncertainty quantification. Further, all the advanced developments in reduced order modelling for CFD will be delivered for applications in multiphysics, such as fluid-structure interaction problems and general coupled phenomena involving inviscid, viscous and thermal flows, solids and porous media. The advanced developed framework within AROMA-CFD will provide attractive capabilities for several industrial and medical applications (e.g. aeronautical, mechanical, naval, off-shore, wind, sport, biomedical engineering, and cardiovascular surgery as well), combining high performance computing (in dedicated supercomputing centers) and advanced reduced order modelling (in common devices) to guarantee real time computing and visualization. A new open source software library for AROMA-CFD will be created: ITHACA, In real Time Highly Advanced Computational Applications.
Summary
The aim of AROMA-CFD is to create a team of scientists at SISSA for the development of Advanced Reduced Order Modelling techniques with a focus in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), in order to face and overcome many current limitations of the state of the art and improve the capabilities of reduced order methodologies for more demanding applications in industrial, medical and applied sciences contexts. AROMA-CFD deals with strong methodological developments in numerical analysis, with a special emphasis on mathematical modelling and extensive exploitation of computational science and engineering. Several tasks have been identified to tackle important problems and open questions in reduced order modelling: study of bifurcations and instabilities in flows, increasing Reynolds number and guaranteeing stability, moving towards turbulent flows, considering complex geometrical parametrizations of shapes as computational domains into extended networks. A reduced computational and geometrical framework will be developed for nonlinear inverse problems, focusing on optimal flow control, shape optimization and uncertainty quantification. Further, all the advanced developments in reduced order modelling for CFD will be delivered for applications in multiphysics, such as fluid-structure interaction problems and general coupled phenomena involving inviscid, viscous and thermal flows, solids and porous media. The advanced developed framework within AROMA-CFD will provide attractive capabilities for several industrial and medical applications (e.g. aeronautical, mechanical, naval, off-shore, wind, sport, biomedical engineering, and cardiovascular surgery as well), combining high performance computing (in dedicated supercomputing centers) and advanced reduced order modelling (in common devices) to guarantee real time computing and visualization. A new open source software library for AROMA-CFD will be created: ITHACA, In real Time Highly Advanced Computational Applications.
Max ERC Funding
1 656 579 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-05-01, End date: 2021-04-30
Project acronym BioMNP
Project Understanding the interaction between metal nanoparticles and biological membranes
Researcher (PI) Giulia Rossi
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI GENOVA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2015-STG
Summary The BioMNP objective is the molecular-level understanding of the interactions between surface functionalized metal nanoparticles and biological membranes, by means of cutting-edge computational techniques and new molecular models.
Metal nanoparticles (NP) play more and more important roles in pharmaceutical and medical technology as diagnostic or therapeutic devices. Metal NPs can nowadays be engineered in a multitude of shapes, sizes and compositions, and they can be decorated with an almost infinite variety of functionalities. Despite such technological advances, there is still poor understanding of the molecular processes that drive the interactions of metal NPs with cells. Cell membranes are the first barrier encountered by NPs entering living organisms. The understanding and control of the interaction of nanoparticles with biological membranes is therefore of paramount importance to understand the molecular basis of the NP biological effects.
BioMNP will go beyond the state of the art by rationalizing the complex interplay of NP size, composition, functionalization and aggregation state during the interaction with model biomembranes. Membranes, in turn, will be modelled at an increasing level of complexity in terms of lipid composition and phase. BioMNP will rely on cutting-edge simulation techniques and facilities, and develop new coarse-grained models grounded on finer-level atomistic simulations, to study the NP-membrane interactions on an extremely large range of length and time scales.
BioMNP will benefit from important and complementary experimental collaborations, will propose interpretations of the available experimental data and make predictions to guide the design of functional, non-toxic metal nanoparticles for biomedical applications. BioMNP aims at answering fundamental questions at the crossroads of physics, biology and chemistry. Its results will have an impact on nanomedicine, toxicology, nanotechnology and material sciences.
Summary
The BioMNP objective is the molecular-level understanding of the interactions between surface functionalized metal nanoparticles and biological membranes, by means of cutting-edge computational techniques and new molecular models.
Metal nanoparticles (NP) play more and more important roles in pharmaceutical and medical technology as diagnostic or therapeutic devices. Metal NPs can nowadays be engineered in a multitude of shapes, sizes and compositions, and they can be decorated with an almost infinite variety of functionalities. Despite such technological advances, there is still poor understanding of the molecular processes that drive the interactions of metal NPs with cells. Cell membranes are the first barrier encountered by NPs entering living organisms. The understanding and control of the interaction of nanoparticles with biological membranes is therefore of paramount importance to understand the molecular basis of the NP biological effects.
BioMNP will go beyond the state of the art by rationalizing the complex interplay of NP size, composition, functionalization and aggregation state during the interaction with model biomembranes. Membranes, in turn, will be modelled at an increasing level of complexity in terms of lipid composition and phase. BioMNP will rely on cutting-edge simulation techniques and facilities, and develop new coarse-grained models grounded on finer-level atomistic simulations, to study the NP-membrane interactions on an extremely large range of length and time scales.
BioMNP will benefit from important and complementary experimental collaborations, will propose interpretations of the available experimental data and make predictions to guide the design of functional, non-toxic metal nanoparticles for biomedical applications. BioMNP aims at answering fundamental questions at the crossroads of physics, biology and chemistry. Its results will have an impact on nanomedicine, toxicology, nanotechnology and material sciences.
Max ERC Funding
1 131 250 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-04-01, End date: 2021-03-31
Project acronym BOOST
Project Biomimetic trick to re-balance Osteblast-Osteoclast loop in osteoporoSis treatment: a Topological and materials driven approach
Researcher (PI) Chiara Silvia Vitale Brovarone
Host Institution (HI) POLITECNICO DI TORINO
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE8, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary One out of 5 people in their fifties will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis (OP)-induced fragility in their lifetime. The OP socio-economic burden is dramatic and involves tens of millions of people in the EU, with a steadily increasing number due to population ageing. Current treatments entail drug-therapy coupled with a healthy lifestyle but OP fractures need mechanical fixation to rapidly achieve union: the contribution of biomaterial scientists in this field is still far from taking its expected leading role in cutting-edge research. Bone remodelling is a well-coordinated process of bone resorption by osteoclasts followed by the production of new bone by osteoblasts. This process occurs continuously throughout life in a coupling with a positive balance during growth and negative with ageing, which can result in OP. We believe that an architecture driven stimulation of the osteoclast/osteoblast coupling, with an avant-garde focus on osteoclasts activity, is the key to success in treating unbalanced bone remodelling. We aim to manufacture a scaffold that mimics healthy bone features which will establish a new microenvironment favoring a properly stimulated and active population of osteoclasts and osteoblasts, i.e. a well-balanced bone cooperation. After 5 years we will be able to prove the efficacy of this approach. A benchmark will be set up for OP fracture treatment and for the realization of smart bone substitutes that will be able to locally “trick” aged bone cells stimulating them to act as healthy ones. BOOST results will have an unprecedented impact on the scientific research community, opening a new approach to set up smart, biomimetic strategies to treat aged, unbalanced bone tissues and to reduce OP-associated disabilities and financial burdens.
Summary
One out of 5 people in their fifties will experience a bone fracture due to osteoporosis (OP)-induced fragility in their lifetime. The OP socio-economic burden is dramatic and involves tens of millions of people in the EU, with a steadily increasing number due to population ageing. Current treatments entail drug-therapy coupled with a healthy lifestyle but OP fractures need mechanical fixation to rapidly achieve union: the contribution of biomaterial scientists in this field is still far from taking its expected leading role in cutting-edge research. Bone remodelling is a well-coordinated process of bone resorption by osteoclasts followed by the production of new bone by osteoblasts. This process occurs continuously throughout life in a coupling with a positive balance during growth and negative with ageing, which can result in OP. We believe that an architecture driven stimulation of the osteoclast/osteoblast coupling, with an avant-garde focus on osteoclasts activity, is the key to success in treating unbalanced bone remodelling. We aim to manufacture a scaffold that mimics healthy bone features which will establish a new microenvironment favoring a properly stimulated and active population of osteoclasts and osteoblasts, i.e. a well-balanced bone cooperation. After 5 years we will be able to prove the efficacy of this approach. A benchmark will be set up for OP fracture treatment and for the realization of smart bone substitutes that will be able to locally “trick” aged bone cells stimulating them to act as healthy ones. BOOST results will have an unprecedented impact on the scientific research community, opening a new approach to set up smart, biomimetic strategies to treat aged, unbalanced bone tissues and to reduce OP-associated disabilities and financial burdens.
Max ERC Funding
1 977 500 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-05-01, End date: 2021-12-31
Project acronym BrainBIT
Project All-optical brain-to-brain behaviour and information transfer
Researcher (PI) Francesco PAVONE
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI FIRENZE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE2, ERC-2015-AdG
Summary Exchange of information between different brains usually takes place through the interaction between bodies and the external environment. The ultimate goal of this project is to establish a novel paradigm of brain-to-brain communication based on direct full-optical recording and controlled stimulation of neuronal activity in different subjects. To pursue this challenging objective, we propose to develop optical technologies well beyond the state of the art for simultaneous neuronal “reading” and “writing” across large volumes and with high spatial and temporal resolution, targeted to the transfer of advantageous behaviour in physiological and pathological conditions.
We will perform whole-brain high-resolution imaging in zebrafish larvae to disentangle the activity patterns related to different tasks. We will then use these patterns as stimulation templates in other larvae to investigate spatio-temporal subject-invariant signatures of specific behavioural states. This ‘pump and probe’ strategy will allow gaining deep insights into the complex relationship between neuronal activity and subject behaviour.
To move towards clinics-oriented studies on brain stimulation therapies, we will complement whole-brain experiments in zebrafish with large area functional imaging and optostimulation in mammals. We will investigate all-optical brain-to-brain information transfer to boost an advantageous behaviour, i.e. motor recovery, in a mouse model of stroke. Mice showing more effective responses to rehabilitation will provide neuronal activity templates to be elicited in other animals, in order to increase rehabilitation efficiency.
We strongly believe that the implementation of new technologies for all-optical transfer of behaviour between different subjects will offer unprecedented views of neuronal activity in healthy and injured brain, paving the way to more effective brain stimulation therapies.
Summary
Exchange of information between different brains usually takes place through the interaction between bodies and the external environment. The ultimate goal of this project is to establish a novel paradigm of brain-to-brain communication based on direct full-optical recording and controlled stimulation of neuronal activity in different subjects. To pursue this challenging objective, we propose to develop optical technologies well beyond the state of the art for simultaneous neuronal “reading” and “writing” across large volumes and with high spatial and temporal resolution, targeted to the transfer of advantageous behaviour in physiological and pathological conditions.
We will perform whole-brain high-resolution imaging in zebrafish larvae to disentangle the activity patterns related to different tasks. We will then use these patterns as stimulation templates in other larvae to investigate spatio-temporal subject-invariant signatures of specific behavioural states. This ‘pump and probe’ strategy will allow gaining deep insights into the complex relationship between neuronal activity and subject behaviour.
To move towards clinics-oriented studies on brain stimulation therapies, we will complement whole-brain experiments in zebrafish with large area functional imaging and optostimulation in mammals. We will investigate all-optical brain-to-brain information transfer to boost an advantageous behaviour, i.e. motor recovery, in a mouse model of stroke. Mice showing more effective responses to rehabilitation will provide neuronal activity templates to be elicited in other animals, in order to increase rehabilitation efficiency.
We strongly believe that the implementation of new technologies for all-optical transfer of behaviour between different subjects will offer unprecedented views of neuronal activity in healthy and injured brain, paving the way to more effective brain stimulation therapies.
Max ERC Funding
2 370 250 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-12-01, End date: 2021-11-30
Project acronym CAVE
Project Challenges and Advancements in Virtual Elements
Researcher (PI) Lourenco Beirao da veiga
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO-BICOCCA
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE1, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary The Virtual Element Method (VEM) is a novel technology for the discretization of partial differential equations (PDEs), that shares the same variational background as the Finite Element Method. First but not only, the VEM responds to the strongly increasing interest in using general polyhedral and polygonal meshes in the approximation of PDEs without the limit of using tetrahedral or hexahedral grids. By avoiding the explicit integration of the shape functions that span the discrete space and introducing an innovative construction of the stiffness matrixes, the VEM acquires very interesting properties and advantages with respect to more standard Galerkin methods, yet still keeping the same coding complexity. For instance, the VEM easily allows for polygonal/polyhedral meshes (even non-conforming) with non-convex elements and possibly with curved faces; it allows for discrete spaces of arbitrary C^k regularity on unstructured meshes.
The main scope of the project is to address the recent theoretical challenges posed by VEM and to assess whether this promising technology can achieve a breakthrough in applications. First, the theoretical and computational foundations of VEM will be made stronger. A deeper theoretical insight, supported by a wider numerical experience on benchmark problems, will be developed to gain a better understanding of the method's potentials and set the foundations for more applicative purposes. Second, we will focus our attention on two tough and up-to-date problems of practical interest: large deformation elasticity (where VEM can yield a dramatically more efficient handling of material inclusions, meshing of the domain and grid adaptivity, plus a much stronger robustness with respect to large grid distortions) and the cardiac bidomain model (where VEM can lead to a more accurate domain approximation through MRI data, a flexible refinement/de-refinement procedure along the propagation front, to an exact satisfaction of conservation laws).
Summary
The Virtual Element Method (VEM) is a novel technology for the discretization of partial differential equations (PDEs), that shares the same variational background as the Finite Element Method. First but not only, the VEM responds to the strongly increasing interest in using general polyhedral and polygonal meshes in the approximation of PDEs without the limit of using tetrahedral or hexahedral grids. By avoiding the explicit integration of the shape functions that span the discrete space and introducing an innovative construction of the stiffness matrixes, the VEM acquires very interesting properties and advantages with respect to more standard Galerkin methods, yet still keeping the same coding complexity. For instance, the VEM easily allows for polygonal/polyhedral meshes (even non-conforming) with non-convex elements and possibly with curved faces; it allows for discrete spaces of arbitrary C^k regularity on unstructured meshes.
The main scope of the project is to address the recent theoretical challenges posed by VEM and to assess whether this promising technology can achieve a breakthrough in applications. First, the theoretical and computational foundations of VEM will be made stronger. A deeper theoretical insight, supported by a wider numerical experience on benchmark problems, will be developed to gain a better understanding of the method's potentials and set the foundations for more applicative purposes. Second, we will focus our attention on two tough and up-to-date problems of practical interest: large deformation elasticity (where VEM can yield a dramatically more efficient handling of material inclusions, meshing of the domain and grid adaptivity, plus a much stronger robustness with respect to large grid distortions) and the cardiac bidomain model (where VEM can lead to a more accurate domain approximation through MRI data, a flexible refinement/de-refinement procedure along the propagation front, to an exact satisfaction of conservation laws).
Max ERC Funding
980 634 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-07-01, End date: 2021-06-30
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 DisCont
Project Discontinuities in Household and Family Formation
Researcher (PI) Francesco Candeloro Billari
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA COMMERCIALE LUIGI BOCCONI
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), SH3, ERC-2015-AdG
Summary Household, family and fertility changes are key drivers of population dynamics. Discovering and explaining the velocity of these changes is essential to understand the current situation and to provide scientific evidence on our demographic future. DisCont will provide seminal contributions by studying the impact of macro-level discontinuities on household and family formation (including fertility) in post-industrial contemporary societies. In the past decade, two macro-level discontinuities have radically transformed lives: the Great Recession and the digitalization of life and of the life course. Although their short-term and long-term impacts are likely to be fundamental, they have not yet been systematically analysed. Through a coordinated series of theoretically-founded empirical studies based on linked macro- and micro-level data, and using a comparative perspective, DisCont will argue that macro-level discontinuities are crucial in explaining broad changes in household and family formation, and that their effects can be persistent either for the population as a whole, or for specific cohorts. DisCont will contribute to five areas: 1) it will make theoretical advances by showing the importance of macro-level discontinuities in the explanation of changes in household and family formation in particular, and in population dynamics in general; 2) it will substantially advance our knowledge of household and family formation in post-industrial contemporary societies; 3) it will contribute in a systematic and path-breaking way to research on the broader societal impact of digitalization and of the Great Recession; 4) it will bring a paradigm shift in Age-Period-Cohort modelling; 5) it will make ground-breaking contributions on the demographic use of “big data” and on the use of agent-based models for the population-level implications of household and family change.
Summary
Household, family and fertility changes are key drivers of population dynamics. Discovering and explaining the velocity of these changes is essential to understand the current situation and to provide scientific evidence on our demographic future. DisCont will provide seminal contributions by studying the impact of macro-level discontinuities on household and family formation (including fertility) in post-industrial contemporary societies. In the past decade, two macro-level discontinuities have radically transformed lives: the Great Recession and the digitalization of life and of the life course. Although their short-term and long-term impacts are likely to be fundamental, they have not yet been systematically analysed. Through a coordinated series of theoretically-founded empirical studies based on linked macro- and micro-level data, and using a comparative perspective, DisCont will argue that macro-level discontinuities are crucial in explaining broad changes in household and family formation, and that their effects can be persistent either for the population as a whole, or for specific cohorts. DisCont will contribute to five areas: 1) it will make theoretical advances by showing the importance of macro-level discontinuities in the explanation of changes in household and family formation in particular, and in population dynamics in general; 2) it will substantially advance our knowledge of household and family formation in post-industrial contemporary societies; 3) it will contribute in a systematic and path-breaking way to research on the broader societal impact of digitalization and of the Great Recession; 4) it will bring a paradigm shift in Age-Period-Cohort modelling; 5) it will make ground-breaking contributions on the demographic use of “big data” and on the use of agent-based models for the population-level implications of household and family change.
Max ERC Funding
2 400 555 €
Duration
Start date: 2017-02-01, End date: 2022-01-31
Project acronym DMAP
Project Data Mining Algorithms in Practice
Researcher (PI) Flavio Chierichetti
Host Institution (HI) UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE6, ERC-2015-STG
Summary Data Mining algorithms are a cornerstone of today's Internet-related services and products. We aim to tackle some of the most important problems in Data Mining --- our goal is to develop a systematic theoretical understanding of certain simple algorithms that, in spite of being at the core of today's web industry, are not yet well understood in terms of their properties and performances, and to develop new simple algorithms for fundamental problems in this domain that have so far escaped a satisfactory solution.
Summary
Data Mining algorithms are a cornerstone of today's Internet-related services and products. We aim to tackle some of the most important problems in Data Mining --- our goal is to develop a systematic theoretical understanding of certain simple algorithms that, in spite of being at the core of today's web industry, are not yet well understood in terms of their properties and performances, and to develop new simple algorithms for fundamental problems in this domain that have so far escaped a satisfactory solution.
Max ERC Funding
1 137 500 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-02-01, End date: 2021-01-31
Project acronym ENUBET
Project Enhanced NeUtrino BEams from kaon Tagging
Researcher (PI) Andrea Longhin
Host Institution (HI) ISTITUTO NAZIONALE DI FISICA NUCLEARE
Call Details Consolidator Grant (CoG), PE2, ERC-2015-CoG
Summary ENUBET has been designed to open a new window of opportunities in accelerator neutrino physics.
The proposed project enables for the first time the measurement of the positrons produced in the decay tunnel of conventional neutrino beams: these particles signal uniquely the generation of an electron neutrino at source.
Neutrino facilities enhanced by the ENUBET technique will have an unprecedented control of the neutrino flux. This will allow to reduce by one order of magnitude the uncertainties on neutrino cross sections: a leap that has been sought after since decades and that is needed to address the challenges of discovering matter-antimatter asymmetries in the leptonic sector.
The apparatus is a highly specialized electromagnetic calorimeter with fast response, sustaining particle rates as high as 0.5 MHz/cm^2, having excellent electron/pion separation capabilities with a reduced number of read-out channels. ENUBET will boost technologies that have been envisaged for high energy colliders to address this new challenge. On the other hand it will operate in a substantially different configuration. The experiment will be performed at the CERN Neutrino Platform, a recently approved facility where innovative neutrino detectors will be developed exploiting dedicated hadron beam-lines from the SPS accelerator. In the first phase of the project, ENUBET will address the challenges of particle identification from extended sources, developing innovative optical readout systems and cost-effective solutions for radiation imaging. This approach is based on cutting-edge technologies for single photon sensitive devices. During the second phase, the detector will be assembled and characterized at CERN with particle beams. Finally, it will be operated in time coincidence with Liquid Argon neutrino detectors, achieving a major step towards the realization of the concept of tagging individual neutrinos both at production and interaction level, on an event-by-event basis.
Summary
ENUBET has been designed to open a new window of opportunities in accelerator neutrino physics.
The proposed project enables for the first time the measurement of the positrons produced in the decay tunnel of conventional neutrino beams: these particles signal uniquely the generation of an electron neutrino at source.
Neutrino facilities enhanced by the ENUBET technique will have an unprecedented control of the neutrino flux. This will allow to reduce by one order of magnitude the uncertainties on neutrino cross sections: a leap that has been sought after since decades and that is needed to address the challenges of discovering matter-antimatter asymmetries in the leptonic sector.
The apparatus is a highly specialized electromagnetic calorimeter with fast response, sustaining particle rates as high as 0.5 MHz/cm^2, having excellent electron/pion separation capabilities with a reduced number of read-out channels. ENUBET will boost technologies that have been envisaged for high energy colliders to address this new challenge. On the other hand it will operate in a substantially different configuration. The experiment will be performed at the CERN Neutrino Platform, a recently approved facility where innovative neutrino detectors will be developed exploiting dedicated hadron beam-lines from the SPS accelerator. In the first phase of the project, ENUBET will address the challenges of particle identification from extended sources, developing innovative optical readout systems and cost-effective solutions for radiation imaging. This approach is based on cutting-edge technologies for single photon sensitive devices. During the second phase, the detector will be assembled and characterized at CERN with particle beams. Finally, it will be operated in time coincidence with Liquid Argon neutrino detectors, achieving a major step towards the realization of the concept of tagging individual neutrinos both at production and interaction level, on an event-by-event basis.
Max ERC Funding
2 000 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-06-01, End date: 2021-05-31
Project acronym FIRSTORM
Project Modeling first-order Mott transitions
Researcher (PI) Michele FABRIZIO
Host Institution (HI) SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE SUPERIORE DI STUDI AVANZATI DI TRIESTE
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE3, ERC-2015-AdG
Summary Mott insulators are “unsuccessful metals”, where conduction is impeded by strong Coulomb repulsion. Their use in microelectronics started to be seriously considered in the 1990s, when first reports of field-effect switches appeared. These attempts were motivated by the expectation that the dielectric breakdown in Mott insulators could suddenly release all formerly localized carriers, a significant potential for nanometer scaling. Over the very last years striking experimental data on narrow-gap Mott insulators have finally materialized that expectation disclosing an unprecedented scenario where the metal phase actually stabilized was only metastable at equilibrium, which foreshadows exciting potential applications. These new data call for an urgent theoretical understanding so far missing. In fact, the conventional portrait of Mott insulators has overlooked that Mott transitions are mostly 1st order, implying an extended insulator-metal coexistence. As a result, bias or light may nucleate long-lived metastable metal droplets within the stable insulator, as indeed seen in experiments. The unexpected 1st order nature of dielectric breakdown in Mott insulators and its poorly explored but important conceptual and practical consequences are the scope of my theoretical project. I will model known Mott insulators identifying the variety of mechanisms (Coulomb, lattice distortions) that support and boost the 1st order character of the Mott transition. I will model and study insulator-metal coexistence and associated novel phenomena such as those related to nucleation and wetting at the interface, including possible unexplored role of quantum fluctuations. I will then simulate in model calculations the spatially inhomogeneous dynamics and non-equilibrium pathways across the 1st order Mott transition, relating the results to ongoing experiments in top groups. The outcome of this project is expected to yield immediate conceptual as well as later technological consequences.
Summary
Mott insulators are “unsuccessful metals”, where conduction is impeded by strong Coulomb repulsion. Their use in microelectronics started to be seriously considered in the 1990s, when first reports of field-effect switches appeared. These attempts were motivated by the expectation that the dielectric breakdown in Mott insulators could suddenly release all formerly localized carriers, a significant potential for nanometer scaling. Over the very last years striking experimental data on narrow-gap Mott insulators have finally materialized that expectation disclosing an unprecedented scenario where the metal phase actually stabilized was only metastable at equilibrium, which foreshadows exciting potential applications. These new data call for an urgent theoretical understanding so far missing. In fact, the conventional portrait of Mott insulators has overlooked that Mott transitions are mostly 1st order, implying an extended insulator-metal coexistence. As a result, bias or light may nucleate long-lived metastable metal droplets within the stable insulator, as indeed seen in experiments. The unexpected 1st order nature of dielectric breakdown in Mott insulators and its poorly explored but important conceptual and practical consequences are the scope of my theoretical project. I will model known Mott insulators identifying the variety of mechanisms (Coulomb, lattice distortions) that support and boost the 1st order character of the Mott transition. I will model and study insulator-metal coexistence and associated novel phenomena such as those related to nucleation and wetting at the interface, including possible unexplored role of quantum fluctuations. I will then simulate in model calculations the spatially inhomogeneous dynamics and non-equilibrium pathways across the 1st order Mott transition, relating the results to ongoing experiments in top groups. The outcome of this project is expected to yield immediate conceptual as well as later technological consequences.
Max ERC Funding
1 422 684 €
Duration
Start date: 2016-09-01, End date: 2021-08-31
