Segmented subwavelength silicon gratings manufactured by high productivity microelectronic technologies for linear to radial/azimuthal polarization conversion

International audienceA polarization rotation is realized by subwavelength binary gratings, where the round trip phases of thesmallest grating modes are fixed to the smallest possible integer numbers of 2π allowing a phase difference of πbetween TE and TM polarizations and almost 100% transmission. The principle is applied to a polarization transformationin the 1030 to 1064-nm wavelength range, using a segmented polarization rotating element convertinga linearly polarized incidence to a radial or azimuthal polarization distribution. The elevated costs of such kindsof polarization transformers based on assembled birefringent crystals are avoided by using mass-fabricationcompatible silicon-on-insulator technology on a wafer scale. It shows the general potential of microelectronictechnology, concerning the batch manufacturing of wavelength-scale diffractive, grating-based elements forprocessing free space waves

Radii, masses, and ages of 18 bright stars using interferometry and new estimations of exoplanetary parameters

Accurate stellar parameters are needed in numerous domains of astrophysics. The position of stars on the H-R diagram is an important indication of their structure and evolution, and it helps improve stellar models. Furthermore, the age and mass of stars hosting planets are required elements for studying exoplanetary systems. We aim at determining accurate parameters of a set of 18 bright exoplanet host and potential host stars from interferometric measurements, photometry, and stellar models. Using the VEGA/CHARA interferometer, we measured the angular diameters of 18 stars, ten of which host exoplanets. We combined them with their distances to estimate their radii. We used photometry to derive their bolometric flux and, then, their effective temperature and luminosity to place them on the H-R diagram. We then used the PARSEC models to derive their best fit ages and masses, with error bars derived from MC calculations. Our interferometric measurements lead to an average of 1.9% uncertainty on angular diameters and 3% on stellar radii. There is good agreement between measured and indirect estimations of angular diameters (from SED fitting or SB relations) for MS stars, but not as good for more evolved stars. For each star, we provide a likelihood map in the mass-age plane; typically, two distinct sets of solutions appear (an old and a young age). The errors on the ages and masses that we provide account for the metallicity uncertainties, which are often neglected by other works. From measurements of its radius and density, we also provide the mass of 55 Cnc independently of models. From the stellar masses, we provide new estimates of semi-major axes and minimum masses of exoplanets with reliable uncertainties. We also derive the radius, density, and mass of 55 Cnc e, a super-Earth that transits its stellar host. Our exoplanetary parameters reflect the known population of exoplanets.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, published in A&A. (This version includes proof corrections.

Smallest aspect-ratio form-birefringence half-wave plate

International audienceSubwavelength 0th order gratings permit to create a phase-shift between the polarized 0th order grating modes propagating down the slits and grooves of a binary corrugation, and to transform the polarization of an incident beam. The phase-shift per unit height of the grating is an increasing function of the refractive index difference between ridges and grooves. If the ridges are made by photolithography in a resist or by polymer embossing, the low refractive index leads to a very large corrugation aspect ratio (approx. 4 for a half-wave phase-shift) that is difficult to fabricate and/or provides insufficient mechanical stability. If the ridges are made in a high index non-organic material (e.g. a semiconductor) the needed depth is reduced (although still notably larger than 1 for a half-wave phase-shift). However, in this case due to a more significant Fabry-Perot effect between the upper and lower boundaries of the 0th order grating, high transmission is guaranteed only if its resonance condition is ensured for both polarizations simultaneously. Using an inventive design by phase management of the involved grating modes we have found that all three conditions (pi phase-shift between TE and TM and both Fabry-Perot resonances) can indeed be satisfied in a binary grating of reasonable aspect ratio when the substrate has a refractive index notably smaller than the ridges

Characterization of the Benchmark Binary Nltt 33370

We report the confirmation of the binary nature of the nearby, very low-mass system NLTT 33370 with adaptive optics imaging and present resolved near-infrared photometry and integrated light optical and near-infrared spectroscopy to characterize the system. VLT-NaCo and LBTI-LMIRCam images show significant orbital motion between 2013 February and 2013 April. Optical spectra reveal weak, gravity sensitive alkali lines and strong lithium 6708 ˚A absorption that indicate the system is younger than field age. VLT-SINFONI near-IR spectra also show weak, gravity sensitive features and spectral morphology that is consistent with other young, very low-mass dwarfs. We combine the constraints from all age diagnostics to estimate a system age of ∼30-200 Myr. The 1.2-4.7 µm spectral energy distribution of the components point toward Teff = 3200 ± 500 K and Teff = 3100 ± 500 K for NLTT 33370 A and B, respectively. The observed spectra, derived temperatures, and estimated age combine to constrain the component spectral types to the range M6-M8. Evolutionary models predict masses of 113 ±8 MJup and 106±7 MJup from the estimated luminosities of the components. KPNO-Phoenix spectra allow us to estimate the systemic radial velocity of the binary. The Galactic kinematics of NLTT 33370AB are broadly consistent with other young stars in the Solar neighborhood. However, definitive membership in a young, kinematic group cannot be assigned at this time and further follow-up observations are necessary to fully constrain the system’s kinematics. The proximity, age, and late-spectral type of this binary make it very novel and an ideal target for rapid, complete orbit determination. The system is one of only a few model calibration benchmarks at young ages and very low-masses.Astronom

Timbre from Sound Synthesis and High-level Control Perspectives

International audienceExploring the many surprising facets of timbre through sound manipulations has been a common practice among composers and instrument makers of all times. The digital era radically changed the approach to sounds thanks to the unlimited possibilities offered by computers that made it possible to investigate sounds without physical constraints. In this chapter we describe investigations on timbre based on the analysis by synthesis approach that consists in using digital synthesis algorithms to reproduce sounds and further modify the parameters of the algorithms to investigate their perceptual relevance. In the first part of the chapter timbre is investigated in a musical context. An examination of the sound quality of different wood species for xylophone making is first presented. Then the influence of instrumental control on timbre is described in the case of clarinet and cello performances. In the second part of the chapter, we mainly focus on the identification of sound morphologies, so called invariant sound structures responsible for the evocations induced by environmental sounds by relating basic signal descriptors and timbre descriptors to evocations in the case of car door noises, motor noises, solid objects, and their interactions

The SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE). III. The demographics of young giant exoplanets below 300 au with SPHERE

The SHINE project is a 500-star survey performed with SPHERE on the VLT for the purpose of directly detecting new substellar companions and understanding their formation and early evolution. Here we present an initial statistical analysis for a subsample of 150 stars that are representative of the full SHINE sample. Our goal is to constrain the frequency of substellar companions with masses between 1 and 75 MJup and semimajor axes between 5 and 300 au. We adopt detection limits as a function of angular separation from the survey data for all stars converted into mass and projected orbital separation using the BEX-COND-hot evolutionary tracks and known distance to each system. Based on the results obtained for each star and on the 13 detections in the sample, we use a MCMC tool to compare our observations to two different types of models. The first is a parametric model based on observational constraints, and the second type are numerical models that combine advanced core accretion and gravitational instability planet population synthesis. Using the parametric model, we show that the frequencies of systems with at least one substellar companion are $23.0_{-9.7}^{+13.5}\%$, $5.8_{-2.8}^{+4.7}\%$, and $12.6_{-7.1}^{+12.9}\%$ for BA, FGK, and M stars, respectively. We also demonstrate that a planet-like formation pathway probably dominates the mass range from 1-75 MJup for companions around BA stars, while for M dwarfs, brown dwarf binaries dominate detections. In contrast, a combination of binary star-like and planet-like formation is required to best fit the observations for FGK stars. Using our population model and restricting our sample to FGK stars, we derive a frequency of $5.7_{-2.8}^{+3.8}\%$, consistent with predictions from the parametric model. More generally, the frequency values that we derive are in excellent agreement with values obtained in previous studies.Comment: 24 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables. Accepted for publication in A&

Genome-wide Analyses Identify KIF5A as a Novel ALS Gene

To identify novel genes associated with ALS, we undertook two lines of investigation. We carried out a genome-wide association study comparing 20,806 ALS cases and 59,804 controls. Independently, we performed a rare variant burden analysis comparing 1,138 index familial ALS cases and 19,494 controls. Through both approaches, we identified kinesin family member 5A (KIF5A) as a novel gene associated with ALS. Interestingly, mutations predominantly in the N-terminal motor domain of KIF5A are causative for two neurodegenerative diseases: hereditary spastic paraplegia (SPG10) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2 (CMT2). In contrast, ALS-associated mutations are primarily located at the C-terminal cargo-binding tail domain and patients harboring loss-of-function mutations displayed an extended survival relative to typical ALS cases. Taken together, these results broaden the phenotype spectrum resulting from mutations in KIF5A and strengthen the role of cytoskeletal defects in the pathogenesis of ALS.Peer reviewe

The SPHERE Infrared Survey for Exoplanets (SHINE): II. Observations, Data Reduction and Analysis, Detection Performances, and Initial Results

Context. In recent decades, direct imaging has confirmed the existence of substellar companions (exoplanets or brown dwarfs) on wide orbits (>10 au) around their host stars. In striving to understand their formation and evolution mechanisms, in 2015 we initiated the SPHERE infrared survey for exoplanets (SHINE), a systematic direct imaging survey of young, nearby stars that is targeted at exploring their demographics. Aims. We aim to detect and characterize the population of giant planets and brown dwarfs beyond the snow line around young, nearby stars. Combined with the survey completeness, our observations offer the opportunity to constrain the statistical properties (occurrence, mass and orbital distributions, dependency on the stellar mass) of these young giant planets. Methods. In this study, we present the observing and data analysis strategy, the ranking process of the detected candidates, and the survey performances for a subsample of 150 stars that are representative of the full SHINE sample. Observations were conducted in a homogeneous way between February 2015 and February 2017 with the dedicated ground-based VLT/SPHERE instrument equipped with the IFS integral field spectrograph and the IRDIS dual-band imager, covering a spectral range between 0.9 and 2.3 μm. We used coronographic, angular, and spectral differential imaging techniques to achieve the best detection performances for this study, down to the planetary mass regime. Results. We processed, in a uniform manner, more than 300 SHINE observations and datasets to assess the survey typical sensitivity as a function of the host star and of the observing conditions. The median detection performance reached 5σ-contrasts of 13 mag at 200 mas and 14.2 mag at 800 mas with the IFS (YJ and YJH bands), and of 11.8 mag at 200 mas, 13.1 mag at 800 mas, and 15.8 mag at 3 as with IRDIS in H band, delivering one of the deepest sensitivity surveys thus far for young, nearby stars. A total of sixteen substellar companions were imaged in this first part of SHINE: seven brown dwarf companions and ten planetary-mass companions.These include two new discoveries, HIP 65426 b and HIP 64892 B, but not the planets around PDS70 that had not been originally selected for the SHINE core sample. A total of 1483 candidates were detected, mainly in the large field of view that characterizes IRDIS. The color-magnitude diagrams, low-resolution spectrum (when available with IFS), and follow-up observations enabled us to identify the nature (background contaminant or comoving companion) of about 86% of our subsample. The remaining cases are often connected to crowded-field follow-up observations that were missing. Finally, even though SHINE was not initially designed for disk searches, we imaged twelve circumstellar disks, including three new detections around the HIP 73145, HIP 86598, and HD 106906 systems. Conclusions. Nowadays, direct imaging provides a unique opportunity to probe the outer part of exoplanetary systems beyond 10 au to explore planetary architectures, as highlighted by the discoveries of: one new exoplanet, one new brown dwarf companion, and three new debris disks during this early phase of SHINE. It also offers the opportunity to explore and revisit the physical and orbital properties of these young, giant planets and brown dwarf companions (relative position, photometry, and low-resolution spectrum in near-infrared, predicted masses, and contrast in order to search for additional companions). Finally, these results highlight the importance of finalizing the SHINE systematic observation of about 500 young, nearby stars for a full exploration of their outer part to explore the demographics of young giant planets beyond 10 au and to identify the most interesting systems for the next generation of high-contrast imagers on very large and extremely large telescopes. © M. Langlois et al. 2021.SPHERE is an instrument designed and built by a consortium consisting of IPAG (Grenoble, France), MPIA (Heidelberg, Germany), LAM (Marseille, France), LESIA (Paris, France), Laboratoire Lagrange (Nice, France), INAF – Osservatorio di Padova (Italy), Observatoire de Genève (Switzerland), ETH Zürich (Switzerland), NOVA (Netherlands), ONERA (France) and ASTRON (Netherlands) in collaboration with ESO. SPHERE was funded by ESO, with additional contributions from CNRS (France), MPIA (Germany), INAF (Italy), FINES (Switzerland) and NOVA (Netherlands). SPHERE also received funding from the European CommissionSixth and Seventh Framework Programmes as part of the Optical Infrared Coordination Network for Astronomy (OPTICON) under grant number RII3-Ct-2004-001566 for FP6 (2004-2008), grant number 226604 for FP7 (2009-2012) and grant number 312430 for FP7 (2013-2016). This paper is based on observations collected at the European Southern Observatory under ESO programmes 198.C-0209, 097.C-0865, 095.C-0298, 095.C-0309,096.C-0241. This work has made use of the SPHERE Data Centre, jointly operated by OSUG/IPAG (Grenoble), PYTHEAS/LAM/CeSAM (Marseille), OCA/Lagrange (Nice), Observatoire de Paris/LESIA (Paris), and Observatoire de Lyon (OSUL/CRAL). This work is supported by the French National Research Agency in the framework of the Investissements d’Avenir program (ANR-15-IDEX-02), through the funding of the “Origin of Life” project of the Univ. Grenoble-Alpes. This work is jointly supported by the French National Programms (PNP and PNPS) and by the Action Spécifique Haute Résolution Angulaire (ASHRA) of CNRS/INSU co-funded by CNES. We also thank the anonymous referee for her/his careful reading of the manuscript as well as her/his insightful comments and suggestions. AV acknowledges funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 757561). A.-M.L. acknowledges funding from French National Research Agency (GIPSE project). C.P. acknowledges financial support from Fondecyt (grant 3190691) and financial support from the ICM (Iniciativa Científica Milenio) via the Núcleo Milenio de Formación Planetaria grant, from the Universidad de Valparaíso. T.H. acknowledges support from the European Research Council under the Horizon 2020 Framework Program via the ERC Advanced Grant Origins 832428

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men

Linear to radial/azimuthal polarization converter in transmission using form birefringence in a segmented silicon grating manufactured by high productivity microelectronic technologies

International audienceA polarization rotation is realized by subwavelength binary gratings, where the TE and TM round trip phases of the smallest grating modes are fixed to the smallest possible integer numbers of 2pi that allow a straight-through phase difference of pi This results in a subwavelength grating allowing to realize a half-wave element of almost 100% transmission. The principle is applied to a polarization transformation in the 1030-1064 nm wavelength range, using a segmented polarization rotating element converting a linearly polarized incidence to a radial or azimuthal polarization distribution. The elevated costs of such kind of polarization transformers based on assembled birefringent crystals are avoided by using mass-fabrication compatible silicon on insulator technology on a wafer scale. It shows the general potential of microelectronic technology, concerning the batch manufacturing of wavelength-scale diffractive, grating based elements for processing free space waves