Sound velocity and absorption measurements under high pressure using picosecond ultrasonics in diamond anvil cell. Application to the stability study of AlPdMn

We report an innovative high pressure method combining the diamond anvil cell device with the technique of picosecond ultrasonics. Such an approach allows to accurately measure sound velocity and attenuation of solids and liquids under pressure of tens of GPa, overcoming all the drawbacks of traditional techniques. The power of this new experimental technique is demonstrated in studies of lattice dynamics, stability domain and relaxation process in a metallic sample, a perfect single-grain AlPdMn quasicrystal, and rare gas, neon and argon. Application to the study of defect-induced lattice stability in AlPdMn up to 30 GPa is proposed. The present work has potential for application in areas ranging from fundamental problems in physics of solid and liquid state, which in turn could be beneficial for various other scientific fields as Earth and planetary science or material research

Performance of astrometric detection of a hotspot orbiting on the innermost stable circular orbit of the galactic centre black hole

The galactic central black hole Sgr A* exhibits outbursts of radiation in the near infrared (so-called IR flares). One model of these events consists in a hotspot orbiting on the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) of the hole. These outbursts can be used as a probe of the central gravitational potential. One main scientific goal of the second generation VLTI instrument GRAVITY is to observe these flares astrometrically. Here, the astrometric precision of GRAVITY is investigated in imaging mode, which consists in analysing the image computed from the interferometric data. The capability of the instrument to put in light the motion of a hotspot orbiting on the ISCO of our central black hole is then discussed. We find that GRAVITY's astrometric precision for a single star in imaging mode is smaller than the Schwarzschild radius of Sgr A*. The instrument can also demonstrate that a body orbiting on the last stable orbit of the black hole is indeed moving. It yields a typical size of the orbit, if the source is as bright as m_K=14. These results show that GRAVITY allows one to study the close environment of Sgr A*. Having access to the ISCO of the central massive black hole probably allows constraining general relativity in its strong regime. Moreover, if the hotspot model is appropriate, the black hole spin can be constrained.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures ; accepted by MNRA

A superfluid He3 detector for direct dark matter search

MACHe3 (MAtrix of Cells of superfluid He3) is a project of a new detector for direct Dark Matter Search. The idea is to use superfluid He3 as a sensitive medium. The existing device, the superfluid He3 cell, will be briefly introduced. Then a description of the MACHe3 project will be presented, in particular the background rejection and the neutralino event rate that may be achieved with such a device.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on the Identification of Dark Matter (York, UK, 09/18/2000-09/22/2000