Gravito-inertial waves in a differentially rotating spherical shell

The gravito-inertial waves propagating over a shellular baroclinic flow inside a rotating spherical shell are analysed using the Boussinesq approximation. The wave properties are examined by computing paths of characteristics in the non-dissipative limit, and by solving the full dissipative eigenvalue problem using a high-resolution spectral method. Gravito-inertial waves are found to obey a mixed-type second-order operator and to be often focused around short-period attractors of characteristics or trapped in a wedge formed by turning surfaces and boundaries. We also find eigenmodes that show a weak dependence with respect to viscosity and heat diffusion just like truly regular modes. Some axisymmetric modes are found unstable and likely destabilized by baroclinic instabilities. Similarly, some non-axisymmetric modes that meet a critical layer (or corotation resonance) can turn unstable at sufficiently low diffusivities. In all cases, the instability is driven by the differential rotation. For many modes of the spectrum, neat power laws are found for the dependence of the damping rates with diffusion coefficients, but the theoretical explanation for the exponent values remains elusive in general. The eigenvalue spectrum turns out to be very rich and complex, which lets us suppose an even richer and more complex spectrum for rotating stars or planets that own a differential rotation driven by baroclinicity.Comment: 33 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of Fluid Mechanic

Multi-scale modeling of follicular ovulation as a reachability problem

During each ovarian cycle, only a definite number of follicles ovulate, while the others undergo a degeneration process called atresia. We have designed a multi-scale mathematical model where ovulation and atresia result from a hormonal controlled selection process. A 2D-conservation law describes the age and maturity structuration of the follicular cell population. In this paper, we focus on the operating mode of the control, through the study of the characteristics of the conservation law. We describe in particular the set of microscopic initial conditions leading to the macroscopic phenomenon of either ovulation or atresia, in the framework of backwards reachable sets theory

La naissance de l'ARDIST

Anniversaire 10 ans de l'ARDISTInternational audienceCet article, écrit par deux des acteurs qui ont participé à la création de l'ARDIST, décrit la naissance de l'ARDIST en 1998. Avant cette date existaient deux communautés séparées de didacticiens des sciences expérimentales, celle des sciences physiques et celle des sciences biologiques et géologiques. Le contexte de la création est rappelé et sont évoqués les problèmes qui ont été soulevés et résolus pour aboutir à une fusion des deux communautés

A laser ranging method dedicated to path lengths equalization in diluted telescopes

International audienceWhen implementing a diluted telescope with large dimensions, one has to reach the equal path condition to the different segments of the primary mirror. In this work we suggest a way to implement a fast laser ranging method able to provide the error signal, using phase detection of the microwave modulation of a laser beam

An existence result for multidimensional immiscible two-phase flows with discontinuous capillary pressure field

International audienceWe consider the system of equations governing an incompressible immiscible two-phase flow within an heterogeneous porous medium made of two different rock types. Since the capillary pressure funciton depends on the rock type, the capillary pressure field might be discontinuous at the interface between the rocks. We prove the existence of a solution for such a flow by passing to the limit in regularizations of the problem

Introduction - Permanence et changements

Avec le web, les moteurs de recherche, les blogues et les wikis, la relation à l’information s’est transformée au point où les repères habituels s’émoussent et doivent être redéfinis de fond en comble. Du coup, le travail des archivistes et des bibliothécaires doit l’être tout autant. Riches d’une solide tradition et conscientes des défis posés par la modernité la plus radicale, les sciences de l’information se sont élargies. Mais il ne s’agit plus seulement de conserver et de diffuser le savoir, il s’agit d’en repenser le traitement et l’accès. Conçu par l’École de bibliothéconomie et des sciences de l’information (EBSI) de l’Université de Montréal, cet ouvrage se situe au carrefour de deux grandes traditions, américaine et française, et a pour ambition de fournir les clés du monde des sciences de l’information en se fondant sur des savoirs pratiques et concrets. Les auteurs présentent ici un savoir à la fine pointe des sciences de l’information pour répondre à la complexité des enjeux actuels et futurs. Introduction, bibliographie, index et table des matières de l’ouvrage

Oracle Inequality for Instrumental Variable Regression

We tackle the problem of estimating a regression function observed in an instrumental regression framework. This model is an inverse problem with unknown operator. We provide a spectral cut-off estimation procedure which enables to derive oracle inequalities which warrants that our estimate, built without any prior knowledge, behaves as well as, up to $\log$ term, if the best model were known

Goodness-of-fit testing strategies from indirect observations

International audienceWe consider in this paper a goodness-of-fit testing problem in a density framework. In particular, we deal with an error-in-variables model where each new incoming observation is gathered with a random independent error. It is well known that in such a situation, we are faced with an inverse (deconvolution) problem. Nevertheless, following recent results in the Gaussian white noise model, we prove that using procedures containing a deconvolution step is not always necessary