Degenerations of LeBrun twistor spaces

We investigate various limits of the twistor spaces associated to the self-dual metrics on n CP ^2, the connected sum of the complex projective planes, constructed by C. LeBrun. In particular, we explicitly present the following 3 kinds of degenerations whose limits of the metrics are: (a) LeBrun metrics on (n-1) CP ^2$, (b) (Another) LeBrun metrics on the total space of the line bundle O(-n) over CP ^1 (c) The hyper-Kaehler metrics on the small resolution of rational double points of type A_{n-1}, constructed by Gibbons and Hawking.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures. V2: A new section added at the end of the article. V3: Reference slightly update

Open TURNS: An industrial software for uncertainty quantification in simulation

The needs to assess robust performances for complex systems and to answer tighter regulatory processes (security, safety, environmental control, and health impacts, etc.) have led to the emergence of a new industrial simulation challenge: to take uncertainties into account when dealing with complex numerical simulation frameworks. Therefore, a generic methodology has emerged from the joint effort of several industrial companies and academic institutions. EDF R&D, Airbus Group and Phimeca Engineering started a collaboration at the beginning of 2005, joined by IMACS in 2014, for the development of an Open Source software platform dedicated to uncertainty propagation by probabilistic methods, named OpenTURNS for Open source Treatment of Uncertainty, Risk 'N Statistics. OpenTURNS addresses the specific industrial challenges attached to uncertainties, which are transparency, genericity, modularity and multi-accessibility. This paper focuses on OpenTURNS and presents its main features: openTURNS is an open source software under the LGPL license, that presents itself as a C++ library and a Python TUI, and which works under Linux and Windows environment. All the methodological tools are described in the different sections of this paper: uncertainty quantification, uncertainty propagation, sensitivity analysis and metamodeling. A section also explains the generic wrappers way to link openTURNS to any external code. The paper illustrates as much as possible the methodological tools on an educational example that simulates the height of a river and compares it to the height of a dyke that protects industrial facilities. At last, it gives an overview of the main developments planned for the next few years

Toric anti-self-dual Einstein metrics via complex geometry

Using the twistor correspondence, we give a classification of toric anti-self-dual Einstein metrics: each such metric is essentially determined by an odd holomorphic function. This explains how the Einstein metrics fit into the classification of general toric anti-self-dual metrics given in an earlier paper (math.DG/0602423). The results complement the work of Calderbank-Pedersen (math.DG/0105263), who describe where the Einstein metrics appear amongst the Joyce spaces, leading to a different classification. Taking the twistor transform of our result gives a new proof of their theorem.Comment: v2. Published version. Additional references. 14 page

Deformation of LeBrun's ALE metrics with negative mass

In this article we investigate deformations of a scalar-flat K\"ahler metric on the total space of complex line bundles over CP^1 constructed by C. LeBrun. In particular, we find that the metric is included in a one-dimensional family of such metrics on the four-manifold, where the complex structure in the deformation is not the standard one.Comment: 20 pages, no figure. V2: added two references, filled a gap in the proof of Theorem 1.2. V3: corrected a wrong statement about Kuranishi family of a Hirzebruch surface stated in the last paragraph in the proof of Theorem 1.2, and fixed a relevant error in the proof. Also added a reference [24] about Kuranishi family of Hirzebruch surface

Compton telescope with coded aperture mask: Imaging with the INTEGRAL/IBIS Compton mode

Compton telescopes provide a good sensitivity over a wide field of view in the difficult energy range running from a few hundred keV to several MeV. Their angular resolution is, however, poor and strongly energy dependent. We present a novel experimental design associating a coded mask and a Compton detection unit to overcome these pitfalls. It maintains the Compton performance while improving the angular resolution by at least an order of magnitude in the field of view subtended by the mask. This improvement is obtained only at the expense of the efficiency that is reduced by a factor of two. In addition, the background corrections benefit from the coded mask technique, i.e. a simultaneous measurement of the source and background. This design is implemented and tested using the IBIS telescope on board the INTEGRAL satellite to construct images with a 12' resolution over a 29 degrees x 29 degrees field of view in the energy range from 200 keV to a few MeV. The details of the analysis method and the resulting telescope performance, particularly in terms of sensitivity, are presented

Imaging extended sources with coded mask telescopes: Application to the INTEGRAL IBIS/ISGRI instrument

Context. In coded mask techniques, reconstructed sky images are pseudo-images: they are maps of the correlation between the image recorded on a detector and an array derived from the coded mask pattern. Aims. The INTEGRAL/IBIS telescope provides images where the flux of each detected source is given by the height of the local peak in the correlation map. As such, it cannot provide an estimate of the flux of an extended source. What is needed is intensity sky images giving the flux per solide angle as typically done at other wavelengths. Methods. In this paper, we present the response of the INTEGRAL IBIS/ISGRI coded mask instrument to extended sources. We develop a general method based on analytical calculations in order to measure the intensity and the associated error of any celestial source and validated with Monte-Carlo simulations. Results. We find that the sensitivity degrades almost linearly with the source extent. Analytical formulae are given as well as an easy-to-use recipe for the INTEGRAL user. We check this method on IBIS/ISGRI data but these results are general and applicable to any coded mask telescope.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in A&

Coma revealed as an extended hard X-rays source by INTEGRAL IBIS/ISGRI

Aims. We report the INTEGRAL/IBIS observations of the Coma Cluster in the hard X-ray/soft-ray domain. Methods. Since the Coma Cluster appears as an extended source, its global intensity and significance cannot be directly extracted with standard coded mask analysis. We used the method of imaging the extended sources with a coded mask telescope developed by Renaud et al. (2006). Results. The imaging capabilities and the sensitivity of the IBIS/ISGRI coded mask instrument allows us to identify for the first time the site of the emission above ~ 15 keV. We have studied the Coma Cluster morphology in the 18-30keV band and found that it follows the prediction based on X-ray observations.We also bring constraints on the non-thermal mechanism contribution at higher energies.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Accepted for publication in A&A Letter

The final COS-B database: In-flight calibration of instrumental parameters

A method for the determination of temporal variation of sensitivity is designed to find a set of parameters which lead to maximum consistency between the intensities derived from different observation periods. This method is briefly described and the resulting sensitivity and background variations presented

INTEGRAL/IBIS search for e-e+ annihilation radiation from the Galactic Center Region

Electron-positron annihilation radiation from the Galactic Center region has been detected since the seventies, but its astrophysical origin is still a topic of a scientific debate. We have analyzed data of the gamma-ray imager IBIS/ISGRI onboard of ESA's INTEGRAL platform in the e$^{-}$e$^{+}$ line. During the first year of the missions Galactic Center Deep Exposure no evidence for point sources at 511 keV has been found in the ISGRI data; the $2 \sigma$ upper limit for resolved single point sources is estimated to be $1.6\times 10^{-4} ph cm^{-2} s^{-1}$.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; Cospar 2004. To be published in: Advances in Space Researc