Gravitational wave detectors: First astrophysical results and path to next generation

PoS(ICHEP 2010)425 - for the LIGO Scientific Collaboration and the Virgo CollaborationInternational audienceAfter several years of construction and commissioning, LIGO, GEO600 and Virgo gravitational waves detectors have reached or exceeded their foreseen sensitivities and are in operation for few years. Even if a first detection remains unlikely with these sensitivities, meaningful results from the astrophysical point of view have been obtained on gamma-ray bursts or pulsars for example. For the current joint scientific run of LSC and Virgo collaborations, the "multi-messenger" approach has reached maturity and, in particular, online searches have been implemented in order to trigger external observations by satellites or telescopes. We hope that this "multi-messenger" strategy will be fruitful when the next generation of detectors will perform their first science runs in 2015. With a sensitivity increased by a factor 10, gravitational wave events should become frequent and will allow a better understanding of the source physics

An efficient filter for detecting gravitational wave bursts in interferometric detectors

Typical sources of gravitational wave bursts are supernovae, for which no accurate models exist. This calls for search methods with high efficiency and robustness to be used in the data analysis of foreseen interferometric detectors. A set of such filters is designed to detect gravitational wave burst signals. We first present filters based on the linear fit of whitened data to short straight lines in a given time window and combine them in a non linear filter named ALF. We study the performances and efficiencies of these filters, with the help of a catalogue of simulated supernova signals. The ALF filter is the most performant and most efficient of all filters. Its performance reaches about 80% of the Optimal Filter performance designed for the same signals. Such a filter could be implemented as an online trigger (dedicated to detect bursts of unknown waveform) in interferometric detectors of gravitational waves

Regularization of statistical inverse problems and the Bakushinskii veto

In the deterministic context Bakushinskii's theorem excludes the existence of purely data driven convergent regularization for ill-posed problems. We will prove in the present work that in the statistical setting we can either construct a counter example or develop an equivalent formulation depending on the considered class of probability distributions. Hence, Bakushinskii's theorem does not generalize to the statistical context, although this has often been assumed in the past. To arrive at this conclusion, we will deduce from the classic theory new concepts for a general study of statistical inverse problems and perform a systematic clarification of the key ideas of statistical regularization.Comment: 20 page

Minimax estimation of the Wigner function in quantum homodyne tomography with ideal detectors

We estimate the quantum state of a light beam from results of quantum homodyne measurements performed on identically prepared pulses. The state is represented through the Wigner function, a ``quasi-probability density'' on $\mathbb{R}^{2}$ which may take negative values and must respect intrinsic positivity constraints imposed by quantum physics. The data consists of $n$ i.i.d. observations from a probability density equal to the Radon transform of the Wigner function. We construct an estimator for the Wigner function, and prove that it is minimax efficient for the pointwise risk over a class of infinitely differentiable functions. A similar result was previously derived by Cavalier in the context of positron emission tomography. Our work extends this result to the space of smooth Wigner functions, which is the relevant parameter space for quantum homodyne tomography.Comment: 15 page

Performance of a thermally deformable mirror for correction of low-order aberrations in laser beams

The thermally deformable mirror is a device aiming at correcting beam-wavefront distortions for applications where classical mechanical methods are precluded by noise considerations, as in advanced gravitational wave interferometric detectors. This moderately low-cost technology can be easily implemented and controlled thanks to the good reproducibility of the actuation. By using a flexible printed circuit board technology, we demonstrate experimentally that a device of 61 actuators in thermal contact with the back surface of a high-reflective mirror is able to correct the low-order aberrations of a laser beam at 1064 nm and could be used to optimize the mode matching into Fabry-Perot cavities

Nitrogen deprivation induces triacylglycerol accumulation, drug tolerance and hypervirulence in mycobacteria.

Mycobacteria share with other actinomycetes the ability to produce large quantities of triacylglycerol (TAG), which accumulate as intracytoplasmic lipid inclusions (ILI) also known as lipid droplets (LD). Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb), the etiologic agent of tuberculosis, acquires fatty acids from the human host which are utilized to synthesize TAG, subsequently stored in the form of ILI to meet the carbon and nutrient requirements of the bacterium during long periods of persistence. However, environmental factors governing mycobacterial ILI formation and degradation remain poorly understood. Herein, we demonstrated that in the absence of host cells, carbon excess and nitrogen starvation promote TAG accumulation in the form of ILI in M. smegmatis and M. abscessus, used as surrogate species of M. tb. Based on these findings, we developed a simple and reversible in vitro model to regulate ILI biosynthesis and hydrolysis in mycobacteria. We also showed that TAG formation is tgs1 dependent and that lipolytic enzymes mediate TAG breakdown. Moreover, we confirmed that the nitrogen-deprived and ILI-rich phenotype was associated with an increased tolerance towards several drugs used for treating mycobacterial infections. Importantly, we showed that the presence of ILI substantially enhanced the bacterial burden and granuloma abundance in zebrafish embryos infected with lipid-rich M. abscessus as compared to embryos infected with lipid-poor M. abscessus, suggesting that ILI are actively contributing to mycobacterial virulence and pathogenesis

Multigene Phylogeny of Choanozoa and the Origin of Animals

Animals are evolutionarily related to fungi and to the predominantly unicellular protozoan phylum Choanozoa, together known as opisthokonts. To establish the sequence of events when animals evolved from unicellular ancestors, and understand those key evolutionary transitions, we need to establish which choanozoans are most closely related to animals and also the evolutionary position of each choanozoan group within the opisthokont phylogenetic tree. Here we focus on Ministeria vibrans, a minute bacteria-eating cell with slender radiating tentacles. Single-gene trees suggested that it is either the closest unicellular relative of animals or else sister to choanoflagellates, traditionally considered likely animal ancestors. Sequencing thousands of Ministeria protein genes now reveals about 14 with domains of key significance for animal cell biology, including several previously unknown from deeply diverging Choanozoa, e.g. domains involved in hedgehog, Notch and tyrosine kinase signaling or cell adhesion (cadherin). Phylogenetic trees using 78 proteins show that Ministeria is not sister to animals or choanoflagellates (themselves sisters to animals), but to Capsaspora, another protozoan with thread-like (filose) tentacles. The Ministeria/Capsaspora clade (new class Filasterea) is sister to animals and choanoflagellates, these three groups forming a novel clade (filozoa) whose ancestor presumably evolved filose tentacles well before they aggregated as a periciliary collar in the choanoflagellate/sponge common ancestor. Our trees show ichthyosporean choanozoans as sisters to filozoa; a fusion between ubiquitin and ribosomal small subunit S30 protein genes unifies all holozoa (filozoa plus Ichthyosporea), being absent in earlier branching eukaryotes. Thus, several successive evolutionary innovations occurred among their unicellular closest relatives prior to the origin of the multicellular body-plan of animals

Vitamin D: marker, measurand & measurement

The measurement of vitamin D metabolites aids in assessing vitamin D status and in diagnosing disorders of calcium homeostasis. Most laboratories measure total 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), while others have taken the extra effort to measure 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 separately and additional metabolites such as 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D and 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. The aim of this review is to provide an updated overview of the main markers of vitamin D metabolism, define the intended measurands, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the two most widely used assays, automated assays and liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Whether using the easy and fast automated assays or the more complex LC-MS/MS, one should know the pitfalls of the used technique in order to interpret the measurements. In conclusion, automated assays are unable to accurately measure 25(OH)D in all patient groups, including persons using D2. In these cases, an LC-MS/MS method, when appropriately developed and standardized, produces a more reliable measurement

Egc: A Time-Frequency Augmented Template-Based Method For Gravitational Wave Burst Search In Ground-Based Interferometers

The detection of burst-type events in the output of ground gravitational wave detectors is particularly challenging. The potential variety of astrophysical waveforms, as proposed by simulations and analytic studies in general relativity and the discrimination of actual signals from instrumental noise both are critical issues. Robust methods that achieve reasonable detection performances over a wide range of signals are required. We present here a hybrid burst-detection pipeline related to time–frequency transforms while based on matched filtering to provide robustness against noise characteristics. Studies on simulated noise show that the algorithm has a detection efficiency similar to other methods over very different waveforms and particularly good timing even for low amplitude signals: no bias for most tested waveforms and an average accuracy of 1.1 ms (down to 0.1 ms in the best case). Time–frequency-type parameters, useful for event classification, are also derived for noise spectral densities unfavourable to standard time–frequency algorithms