The impact of tidal errors on the determination of the Lense-Thirring effect from satellite laser ranging

The general relativistic Lense-Thirring effect can be detected by means of a suitable combination of orbital residuals of the laser-ranged LAGEOS and LAGEOS II satellites. While this observable is not affected by the orbital perturbation induced by the zonal Earth solid and ocean tides, it is sensitive to those generated by the tesseral and sectorial tides. The assessment of their influence on the measurement of the parameter mu, with which the gravitomagnetic effect is accounted for, is the goal of this paper. After simulating the combined residual curve by calculating accurately the mismodeling of the more effective tidal perturbations, it has been found that, while the solid tides affect the recovery of mu at a level always well below 1%, for the ocean tides and the other long-period signals Delta mu depends strongly on the observational period and the noise level: Delta mu(tides) amounts to almost 2% after 7 years. The aliasing effect of K1 l=3 p=1 tide and SRP(4241) solar radiation pressure harmonic, with periods longer than 4 years, on the perigee of LAGEOS II yield to a maximum systematic uncertainty on \m_{LT} of less than 4% over different observational periods. The zonal 18.6-year tide does not affect the combined residuals.Comment: 24 pages, 4 tables, 6 figures, submitted to Int. Journal of Mod. Phys. D. Changes in auctorship, references and conten

Etude du répertoire de réponses : une approche dialogique de l'opinion

Opinion surveys usually settle for measuring opinion, an answer considered to be the participant’s attitude toward the subject. Yet when further questioned, we are able to give several opinions, several answers, that we have internalized from our interactions with others, into a repertoire of responses (Moscovici, 1970). In doing so, we assume the attitude of others (Mead, 1934) thus mediating our relationship to the object (Moscovici, 1984): each position is the result of an internal dialogue, maintained by the subject with others and their responses (Markova, 2005). Our goal in this thesis is to invent a method to understand this repertoire of responses. Thus, in our first two studies, we tested a paradigm that allows us to observe, the multiplicity of responses that are available in our repertoire, as well as their shared and coherent nature. A thirdstudy based on this method, enabled us to observe that the degree of development of the repertoire of responses is related to the involvement of the individual in regard to the object. We were also able to observe the development of a repertoire of responses in a field study lasting over two years, in a small group who discovered a new technology. Generally, this thesis contributes to writing the grammar of the repertoire of responses by presenting a paradigm that emphasizes the varied nature of opinion

Constraints on cosmic-ray efficiency in the supernova remnant RCW 86 using multi-wavelength observations

Several young supernova remnants (SNRs) have recently been detected in the high-energy and very-high-energy gamma-ray domains. As exemplified by RX J1713.7-3946, the nature of this emission has been hotly debated, and direct evidence for the efficient acceleration of cosmic-ray protons at the SNR shocks still remains elusive. We analyzed more than 40 months of data acquired by the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope in the HE domain, and gathered all of the relevant multi-wavelength (from radio to VHE gamma-rays) information about the broadband nonthermal emission from RCW 86. For this purpose, we re-analyzed the archival X-ray data from the ASCA/Gas Imaging Spectrometer (GIS), the XMM-Newton/EPIC-MOS, and the RXTE/Proportional Counter Array (PCA). Beyond the expected Galactic diffuse background, no significant gamma-ray emission in the direction of RCW 86 is detected in any of the 0.1-1, 1-10 and 10-100 GeV Fermi-LAT maps. In the hadronic scenario, the derived HE upper limits together with the HESS measurements in the VHE domain can only be accommodated by a spectral index Gamma <= 1.8, i.e. a value in-between the standard (test-particle) index and the asymptotic limit of theoretical particle spectra in the case of strongly modified shocks. The interpretation of the gamma-ray emission by inverse Compton scattering of high energy electrons reproduces the multi-wavelength data using a reasonable value for the average magnetic field of 15-25 muG. For these two scenarios, we assessed the level of acceleration efficiency. We discuss these results in the light of existing estimates of the magnetic field strength, the effective density and the acceleration efficiency in RCW 86.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A; 10 pages and 4 figure

Detecting stable massive neutral particles through particle lensing

Stable massive neutral particles emitted by astrophysical sources undergo deflection under the gravitational potential of our own galaxy. The deflection angle depends on the particle velocity and therefore non-relativistic particles will be deflected more than relativistic ones. If these particles can be detected through neutrino telescopes, cosmic ray detectors or directional dark matter detectors, their arrival directions would appear aligned on the sky along the source-lens direction. On top of this deflection, the arrival direction of non-relativistic particles is displaced with respect to the relativistic counterpart also due to the relative motion of the source with respect to the observer; this induces an alignment of detections along the sky projection of the source trajectory. The final alignment will be given by a combination of the directions induced by lensing and source proper motion. We derive the deflection-velocity relation for the Milky Way halo and suggest that searching for alignments on detection maps of particle telescopes could be a way to find new particles or new astrophysical phenomena.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures. Accepted by PR

Estimating mean dynamic topography in the tropical Pacific Ocean from gravity and altimetry satellites

International audienceA new geoid model, combining the CHAMP satellite gravity data and an accurate altimetric mean sea surface, was used to investigate the 1993–1999 mean dynamic topography in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The mean dynamic topography, represented by a spherical harmonic expansion to degree 60 appear to be consistent with our knowledge of the tropical circulation, notably the South Equatorial Counter Current which is clearly visible in the western Pacific. This satellite solution, validated with in‐situ data, is independent from any climatology and has a resolution similar to other classical mean dynamic topographies. Altimetry combined with geodesy can thus provide an absolute sea level which will be useful for data assimilation and tropical oceanography