The test bench for the power amplifiers of the SPIRAL-2 SC LINAC

International audienceThe high current driver accelerator of the SPIRAL 2 project uses independently phased SC resonators working at 88 MHz. Solid state power amplifiers equipped with circulators are foreseen to drive the cavities with widely ranging conditions of beam loading. These power devices are developed by industrial companies and a test bench has been studied and manufactured to test the prototypes, to commission all the units before their installation on the accelerator and to be used to test repaired modules. Even if designed to be used at 88 MHz, the test bench can be used at higher frequencies too. The poster describes the test bench as well as the results on the first amplifiers bought for the cryomodule power tests

A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007

We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access area to figures, tables at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000

Gap fraction measurement from hemispherical infrared photography and its use to evaluate PAR interception efficiency

National audienc

On-chip liquid cooling with integrated pump technology

International audienc

Towards an operational production of 300m resolution biophysical products in the Copernicus Global Land Service,

International audienc

From collections of independent, mindless robots to flexible, mobile, and directional superstructures

A swarm of simple active particles confined in a flexible scaffold is a promising system to make mobile and deformable superstructures. These soft structures can perform tasks that are difficult to carry out for monolithic robots because they can infiltrate narrow spaces, smaller than their size, and move around obstacles. To achieve such tasks, the origin of the forces the superstructures develop, how they can be guided, and the effects of external environment, especially geometry and the presence of obstacles, need to be understood. Here, we report measurements of the forces developed by such superstructures, enclosing a number of mindless active rod-like robots, as well as the forces exerted by these structures to achieve a simple function, crossing a constriction. We relate these forces to the self-organization of the individual entities. Furthermore, and based on a physical understanding of what controls the mobility of these superstructures and the role of geometry in such a process, we devise a simple strategy where the environment can be designed to bias the mobility of the superstructure, giving rise to directional motion. Simple tasks—such as pulling a load, moving through an obstacle course, or cleaning up an arena—are demonstrated. Rudimentary control of the superstructures using light is also proposed. The results are of relevance to the making of robust flexible superstructures with nontrivial space exploration properties out of a swarm of simpler and cheaper robots

Operating the Copernicus Global Land Service

International audienc

The GMES Land Monitoring Service, achievement and continuity.

International audienc