Firm-level productivity dispersion and convergence

International audienceOn a French firm dataset, productivity at the technological frontier has not decelerated and convergence of firms’ productivity has not slowed down. Yet, the dispersion of productivity has increased, which suggests growing difficulties in reallocating production factors between firms

Stagnation of productivity in France: A legacy of the crisis or a structural slowdown?

The productivity slowdown has been analysed either as an effect of the crisis, resulting from the financial and demand shocks, or as a more structural decline. In France, using macroeconomic and microeconomic data, we identify downward breaks in the trends of labour productivity and total factor productivity in the 2000s, several years before the crisis. These breaks result in historically weak rhythms of the trends. Using data on firms located in France, we highlight that, at the technological frontier, productivity has accelerated, especially over the recent period, which contradicts the hypothesis of a decline in innovation. The most productive firms in a given year do not, however, improve their relative advantage. The convergence of firms’ productivity does not seem to have slowed down in the 2000s, which does not confirm the hypothesis of a decrease in the dissemination of innovation. On the other hand, the dispersion of productivity between firms has increased, which suggests increasing difficulties in the reallocation of production factors, labour and capital, between firms.Cette Gilbert, Corde Simon, Lecat Rémy. Stagnation of productivity in France: A legacy of the crisis or a structural slowdown?. In: Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, n°494-496, 2017. The Crisis, Ten Years After. pp. 11-36

Commissioning of Aktina SRS cones and dosimetric validation of the RayStation photon Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm

Clinical implementation of SRS cones demands particular experimental care and dosimetric considerations in order to deliver precise and safe radiotherapy to patients. The purpose of this work was to present the commissioning data of recent Aktina cones combined with a 6MV flattened beam produced by an Elekta VersaHD linear accelerator. Additionally, the modelling process, and an assessment of dosimetric accuracy of the RayStation Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm for cone based SRS was performed. There are currently no studies presenting beam data for this equipment and none that outlines the modelling parameters and validation of dose calculation using RayStation’s photon Monte Carlo dose engine with cones. Beam data was measured using an SFD and a microDiamond and benchmarked against EBT3 film for cones of diameter 5–39 mm. Modelling was completed and validated within homogeneous and heterogeneous phantoms. End-to-end image-guided validation was performed using a StereoPHAN™ housing, an SRS MapCHECK and EBT3 film, and calculation time was investigated as a function of statistical uncertainty and field diameter. The TPS calculations agreed with measured data within their estimated uncertainties and clinical treatment plans could be calculated in under a minute. The data presented serves as a reference for others commissioning Aktina stereotactic cones and the modelling parameters serve similarly, while providing a starting point for those commissioning the same TPS algorithm for use with cones. It has been shown in this work that RayStation’s Monte Carlo photon dose algorithm performs satisfactorily in the presence of SRS cones

Seeded free-electron laser driven by a compact laser plasma accelerator

International audienceAbstract Free-electron lasers generate high-brilliance coherent radiation at wavelengths spanning from the infrared to the X-ray domains. The recent development of short-wavelength seeded free-electron lasers now allows for unprecedented levels of control on longitudinal coherence, opening new scientific avenues such as ultra-fast dynamics on complex systems and X-ray nonlinear optics. Although those devices rely on state-of-the-art large-scale accelerators, advancements on laser-plasma accelerators, which harness gigavolt-per-centimetre accelerating fields, showcase a promising technology as compact drivers for free-electron lasers. Using such footprint-reduced accelerators, exponential amplification of a shot-noise type of radiation in a self-amplified spontaneous emission configuration was recently achieved. However, employing this compact approach for the delivery of temporally coherent pulses in a controlled manner has remained a major challenge. Here we present the experimental demonstration of a laser-plasma accelerator-driven free-electron laser in a seeded configuration, where control over the radiation wavelength is accomplished. Furthermore, the appearance of interference fringes, resulting from the interaction between the phase-locked emitted radiation and the seed, confirms longitudinal coherence. Building on our scientific achievements, we anticipate a navigable pathway to extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths, paving the way towards smaller-scale free-electron lasers, unique tools for a multitude of applications in industry, laboratories and universities

Seeded free-electron laser driven by a compact laser plasma accelerator

Free-electron lasers generate high-brilliance coherent radiation at wavelengths spanning from the infrared to the X-ray domains. The recent development of short-wavelength seeded free-electron lasers now allows for unprecedented levels of control on longitudinal coherence[1], opening new scientific avenues as ultra-fast dynamics on complex systems and X-ray nonlinear optics. While those devices rely on state-of-the-art large-scale accelerators, advancements on laser-plasma accelerators, which harness giga-volt-per-centimeter accelerating fields, showcase a promising technology as compact drivers for free-electron lasers. Using such miniaturized accelerators, exponential amplification of a shot-noise type of radiation in a self-amplified spontaneous emission configuration was recently achieved [2]. However, employing this compact approach for the delivery of temporally coherent pulses in a controlled manner remained a major challenge. Here, we present the experimental demonstration of a laser-plasma accelerator driven free-electron laser in a seeded configuration, where control over the radiation wavelength is accomplished. Furthermore, the appearance of interference fringes, resulting from the interaction between the phase-locked emitted radiation and the seed, confirms longitudinal coherence. Building on our scientific achievements, we anticipate a straightforward scaling to extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths, paving the way towards university-scale free-electron lasers, unique tools for a multitude of applications. [1] Meyer, M. FELs of europe: Whitebook on science with free electron lasers 8–19 (2016). [2] Wang, W. et al. Free-electron lasing at 27 nanometres based on a laser wakefield accelerator

Towards an Advanced Linear International Collider

This document provides detailed information on the status of Advanced and Novel Accelerators techniques and describes the steps that need to be envisaged for their implementation in future accelerators, in particular for high energy physics applications. It complements the overview prepared for the update of the European Strategy for particle physics, and provides a detailed description of the field. The scientific priorities of the community are described for each technique of acceleration able to achieve accelerating gradient in the GeV~range or above. ALEGRO working group leaders have coordinated the preparation of their working group contribution and contributed to editing the documents. The preparation of this document was coordinated by the Advanced LinEar collider study GROup, ALEGRO. The content was defined through discussions at the ALEGRO workshop in Oxford UK, March 2018, and an advanced draft was discussed during a one day meeting prior to the AAC workshop in Breckenridge, CO, USA, August 2018. This document was submitted as an addendum to the ALEGRO submission to the European Strategy for Particle Physics