Hot molecular hydrogen in the central parsec of the Galaxy through near-infrared 3D fitting

Aims. We have investigated neutral gas in the central cavity of the circumnuclear disk (CND) at the Galactic Center, where the ionized minispiral lies, to describe the H2 distribution and properties in this ionized environment. Methods. This study was carried out through a spectro-imaging data cube of the central cavity obtained with SPIFFI on the VLT. The observed field of view is 36"x 29" , with a spectral resolution R = 1 300 in the near-infrared. These observations cover several H2 lines. To preserve the spatial resolution and avoid edge effects, we applied a new line-fitting method that consists of a regularized 3D fitting. We also applied a more classical 1D fitting to compare the relative strength of the H2 lines. Results. We present high spatial and spectral resolution maps of the intensity, velocity, and width of five H2 lines and an extinction map derived from H2. Molecular gas is detected everywhere in the field. In particular, in addition to the known CND features, we detected an emission from the northern arm cloud and from the minicavity. The excitation diagrams allow us to estimate the temperature, mass, and density of these features. Conclusions. We interpret the CND emission as coming from a hot, thermalized, thin layer at the surface of the clouds. The observed H2 corresponds only to a small fraction of the total H2 mass. The emission remains fairly strong in the whole central cavity, but it is not thermalized. A strong deviation from thermal equilibrium is detected near the minicavity. We suggest that this emission is caused by constantly forming H2 that is destroyed again before it reaches ortho/para equilibrium

Detection of the Sgr A* activity at 3.8 and 4.8 microns with NACO

L'-band (lambda=3.8 microns) and M'-band (lambda=4.8 microns) observations of the Galactic Center region, performed in 2003 at VLT (ESO) with the adaptive optics imager NACO, have lead to the detection of an infrared counterpart of the radio source Sgr A* at both wavelengths. The measured fluxes confirm that the Sgr A* infrared spectrum is dominated by the synchrotron emission of nonthermal electrons. The infrared counterpart exhibits no significant short term variability but demonstrates flux variations on daily and yearly scales. The observed emission arises away from the position of the dynamical center of the S2 orbit and would then not originate from the closest regions of the black hole.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, accepted in Astronomy & Astrophysic

La formación en alternancia en Francia: entre prácticas sociales y objeto de investigación

La formació en alternança (o dual) a França és una pràctica educativa antiga. Actualment, la trobem en diferents formacions i en diferents modalitats en l’ensenyament secundari i en l’educació superior. Tot i això, per a les ciències de l’educació és un objecte de recerca recent. Després de diferents experiències de pedagogs adscrits als moviments educatius populars o d’educació permanent, als anys vuitanta i noranta apareixen els primers treballs de sociòlegs i de didàctics sobre aquesta temàtica. Actualment, la preocupació dels investigadors en ciències de l’educació és avaluar els efectes de la formació en alternança sobre els processos de desenvolupament professional i de construcció identitària dels estudiants en formació inicial i dels treballadors en formació contínua. Per il·lustrar la nostra anàlisi, presentem diferents casos d’estudi en formació inicial a la universitat i en formació contínua superior.Co-op education (or sandwich courses) is a long-standing educational practice in France. Today it is present under various statuses and forms in secondary and higher education. In the education sciences, however, it became a subject of research much later on. After various narratives of militant teachers’ experiences of popular or life-long education educational movements, the first works by sociologists’ and educational specialists’ on this topic appeared in the 1980s and 1990s. At present, the concern of education science researchers is to estimate the effects of co-op education (or sandwich courses) on the processes of professional development and identity construction of post-graduate students or vocational trainees. To illustrate our reflection, we present different case studies in the initial phase of university education and in continuous higher education training.La formación en alternancia (o dual) en Francia es una práctica educativa antigua. En la actualidad se presenta en distintas formaciones, bajo diferentes formas en la educación secundaria y la educación superior. Para las ciencias de la educación, sin embargo, no se convierte en objeto de investigación hasta recientemente. Después de varias experiencias de pedagogos adscritos a los movimientos educativos populares en educación permanente, en los ochenta aparecen los primeros trabajos de sociólogos y didácticos sobre la temática. Hoy, la preocupación de los investigadores en ciencias de la educación es evaluar los efectos de la formación en alternancia sobre los procesos de desarrollo profesional y de construcción de la identidad profesional de los estudiantes durante su formación inicial y de los trabajadores en su formación continua. Para ilustrar nuestra reflexión, analizamos varios estudios de caso en la enseñanza universitaria inicial y en la formación continua superior

L- and M-band imaging observations of the Galactic Center region

We present near-infrared H-, K-, L- and M-band photometry of the Galactic Center from images obtained at the ESO VLT in May and August 2002, using the NAOS/CONICA (H and K) and the ISAAC (L and M) instruments. The large field of view (70" x 70") of the ISAAC instrument and the large number of sources identified (L-M data for 541 sources) allows us to investigate colors, infrared excesses and extended dust emission. Our new L-band magnitude calibration reveals an offset to the traditionally used calibrations, which we attribute to the use of the variable star IRS7 as a flux calibrator. Together with new results on the extinction towards the Galactic Center (Scoville et al. 2003; Raab 2000), our magnitude calibration results in stellar color properties expected from standard stars and removes any necessity to modify the K-band extinction. The large number of sources for which we have obtained L-M colors allows us to measure the M-band extinction to A_M=(0.056+-0.006)A_V (approximately =A_L), a considerably higher value than what has so far been assumed. L-M color data has not been investigated previously, due to lack of useful M-band data. We find that this color is a useful diagnostic tool for the preliminary identification of stellar types, since hot and cool stars show a fairly clear L-M color separation. This is especially important if visual colors are not available, as in the Galactic Center. For one of the most prominent dust embedded sources, IRS3, we find extended L- and M-band continuum emission with a characteristic bow-shock shape. An explanation for this appearance is that IRS3 consists of a massive, hot, young mass-losing star surrounded by an optically thick, extended dust shell, which is pushed northwest by wind from the direction of the IRS16 cluster and SgrA*.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

PSF reconstruction for NAOS-CONICA

Adaptive optics (AO) allows one to derive the point spread function (PSF) simultaneously to the science image, which is a major advantage in post-processing tasks such as astrometry/photometry or deconvolution. Based on the algorithm of \citet{veran97}, PSF reconstruction has been developed for four different AO systems so far: PUEO, ALFA, Lick-AO and Altair. A similar effort is undertaken for NAOS/VLT in a collaboration between the group PHASE (Onera and Observatoire de Paris/LESIA) and ESO. In this paper, we first introduce two new algorithms that prevent the use of the so-called "$U\_{ij}$ functions" to: (1) avoid the storage of a large amount of data (for both new algorithms), (2) shorten the PSF reconstruction computation time (for one of the two) and (3) provide an estimation of the PSF variability (for the other one). We then identify and explain issues in the exploitation of real-time Shack-Hartmann (SH) data for PSF reconstruction, emphasising the large impact of thresholding in the accuracy of the phase residual estimation. Finally, we present the data provided by the NAOS real-time computer (RTC) to reconstruct PSF ({\em (1)} the data presently available, {\em (2)} two NAOS software modifications that would provide new data to increase the accuracy of the PSF reconstruction and {\em (3)} the tests of these modifications) and the PSF reconstruction algorithms we are developing for NAOS on that basis.Comment: 12 pages & 13 figures. To be published in the proceedings of the SPIE conference Advances in Adaptive Optics - Astronomical Telescopes & Instrumentation, 24-31 May 2006, Orland

Approximation Methods to Solve Stochastic Problems in Computational Electromagnetics

To account for uncertainties on model parameters, the stochastic approach can be used. The model parameters as well as the outputs are then random fields or variables. Several methods are available in the literature to solve stochastic models like sampling methods, perturbation methods or approximation methods. In this paper, we propose an overview on the solution of stochastic problems in computational electromagnetics using approximation methods. Some applications will be presented in order to illustrate the possibilities offered by the approximation methods but also their current limitations due to the curse of dimensionality. Finally, recent numerical techniques proposed in the literature to face the curse of dimensionality are presented for non-intrusive and intrusive approaches.This work has been supported by the pole MEDEE funded by the Nord Pas de Calais Region and the European Union and also by the Arts et M´etiers Fundation

LESCURE Emmanuel de & FRÉTIGNÉ Cédric. Les métiers de la formation. Approches sociologiques

Les métiers de la formation, approches sociologiques. Voilà le titre, apparemment consensuel, d’un ouvrage qui mérite l’attention tant il est riche d’apports, tant les questions et les incertitudes qu’il nous livre abondent. Cet ensemble de « métiers » encore « faiblement institutionnalisé » (de Lescure), constitué récemment à partir des métiers relationnels – ou dirigés vers autrui – présente au moins trois traits : il s’est d’abord développé exponentiellement à l’intérieur du groupe profess..

Flares and variability from Sagittarius A*: five nights of simultaneous multi-wavelength observations

Aims. We report on simultaneous observations and modeling of mid-infrared (MIR), near-infrared (NIR), and submillimeter (submm) emission of the source Sgr A* associated with the supermassive black hole at the center of our Galaxy. Our goal was to monitor the activity of Sgr A* at different wavelengths in order to constrain the emitting processes and gain insight into the nature of the close environment of Sgr A*. Methods. We used the MIR instrument VISIR in the BURST imaging mode, the adaptive optics assisted NIR camera NACO, and the sub-mm antenna APEX to monitor Sgr A* over several nights in July 2007. Results. The observations reveal remarkable variability in the NIR and sub-mm during the five nights of observation. No source was detected in the MIR, but we derived the lowest upper limit for a flare at 8.59 microns (22.4 mJy with A_8.59mu = 1.6+/- 0.5). This observational constraint makes us discard the observed NIR emission as coming from a thermal component emitting at sub-mm frequencies. Moreover, comparison of the sub-mm and NIR variability shows that the highest NIR fluxes (flares) are coincident with the lowest sub-mm levels of our five-night campaign involving three flares. We explain this behavior by a loss of electrons to the system and/or by a decrease in the magnetic field, as might conceivably occur in scenarios involving fast outflows and/or magnetic reconnection.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, published in A&

An aperture masking mode for the MICADO instrument

MICADO is a near-IR camera for the Europea ELT, featuring an extended field (75" diameter) for imaging, and also spectrographic and high contrast imaging capabilities. It has been chosen by ESO as one of the two first-light instruments. Although it is ultimately aimed at being fed by the MCAO module called MAORY, MICADO will come with an internal SCAO system that will be complementary to it and will deliver a high performance on axis correction, suitable for coronagraphic and pupil masking applications. The basis of the pupil masking approach is to ensure the stability of the optical transfer function, even in the case of residual errors after AO correction (due to non common path errors and quasi-static aberrations). Preliminary designs of pupil masks are presented. Trade-offs and technical choices, especially regarding redundancy and pupil tracking, are explained.Comment: SPIE 2014 Proceeding -- Montrea

Exploitation of independent stator and rotor geometrical periodicities in electrical machines using the Schur complement

International audienceIn this paper we present a-priori model reduction technique that enables to take full advantage of the periodicity existing in the stator and rotor geometrical structures of electrical machines in order to reduce the computational time. Firstly, a change of basis is performed by applying two distinct discrete Fourier transformations on the stator and rotor periodic structures independently. Secondly, the Schur complement is introduced in the new spectral basis, to allow a parallel solving of the resulting block-diagonal matrix systems. Moreover, the using of a matrix-free Krylov method based on the conjugate gradient solver has verified an efficient solving of the equation system associated to the stator-rotor interface. Furthermore, in the peculiar case of balanced supply conditions, a model order reduction can be carried out by considering only the dominant discrete Fourier transform components. This model reduction approach is applied on a buried permanent magnet machine and has successfully shown its efficiency under balanced and unbalanced conditions