Search
Time Irreversibility in Lagrangian Turbulence – TILT
This project is devoted to studying and modeling the fine structure of fluid turbulence, which affects a wide range of phenomena in science and engineering. A surprising and still poorly understood property of the infinite-Reynolds-number limit for turbulent flow is the existence of a finite viscou
Harnessing field-assisted transport and rheology of a bacterial magnetofluid – BACMAG
The objective of this project is to study the fundamental principles governing the emergence of a new class of fluids laden with motile MagneTotactic Bacteria (MTB). MTB are remarkable systems as their movement and organization can be remotely controlled by external fields: primarily the magnetic fi
QUantum free Electrons for NaNOopTics – QUENOT
The ambition of QUENOT is to overcome several current conceptual and experimental limits in nanooptics using the quantum properties of fast electrons. Indeed, certain key concepts and quantities in nanooptics (super-chirality, spatial coherence of excitations in optical nanostructures and quantum op
Indirect excitons for emerging quantum states – IXTASE
This research proposal aims at exploring novel semiconductor nanostructures hosting indirect excitons (IXs) and emerging collective states that IXs may form. We target IX fluids in two types of materials: GaN and Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMD). The dipole moment of IXs in these materials ca
Thermodynamics of Active Matter – THEMA
Large assemblies of living or synthetic self-propelled particles make up Active Matter. They operate far from equilibrium without necessarily leading to macroscopic currents, hence a superficial resemblance to their equilibrium counterparts. Our project focuses on the theoretical challenges posed by
Uncovering Relativistic Instabilities in Plasmas – UnRIP
Non-equilibrium plasmas generally exhibit phase space anisotropies, for instance in the case of particle beams traversing background plasmas or in interpenetrating plasma flows – common configurations in space and laboratory plasmas. This results in the spontaneous growth of micro- instabilities, th
Coupling and Competition of Multiple Orders – COCOM
Electronic correlations are at the origin of many remarkable properties in solid state physics. In some materials several orders can coexist, couple or compete, giving rise to new properties. The case of the 123 family of compounds, embodied by BaFe2Se3, is one of these. It is multiferroic close to
Testing Quantum Thermodynamics with local Probes – TQT
In one sentence, this project is about developing theories that explore how and where dissipation occurs in quantum transport through nanostructures, when such quantum transport is known to be "non-local". It is extremely timely because recent experimental breakthroughs in local probes have given un
Plastic Ultrafast LaSErs – PULSE
The PULSE project aims at exploring novel temporal regimes in organic lasers. Organic and excitonic thin-film lasers are compact and low-cost sources that are able to emit over the entire visible spectrum and that are compatible with all existing platforms, including flexible or bio-substrates. They
Acoustics for antiferromagnets – ACAF
The ACAF project is at the crossroads of two very exciting and promising fields that have emerged and gained increasing international visibility in recent years, namely antiferromagnets, for novel spintronic devices, and magneto-acoustics, for novel magnetization manipulation schemes. There is now a
Integrative model of spatial navigation in a mechanosensitive micro-organism – MECHAMO
Paramecium is a large unicellular eukaryote organism, which swims in fresh water using cilia. It feeds on bacteria that it locates through chemotaxis, while avoiding obstacles thanks to its mechanical sensitivity. It controls its motion with action potentials that are produced, as in neurons, by vol
Quasiparticle dynamics in a one-dimensional Bose gas – QuaDy
Understanding quantum many-body systems out of equilibrium is a major challenge in modern Physics. Among those systems, one-dimensional gases are particularly interesting: powerful theoretical and numerical tools allow to apprehend them; the effects of quantum fluctuations and correlations are enhan
Optimal Protocols in stochastics thermodynamics with Levitated nAnoparticle – OPLA
The OPLA project aims at highlighting protocols to accelerate equilibration of nanothermodynamic systems or to optimize the work done during a cycle. It is particularly interested in the generality of such protocols, their extension to the underdamped regime, or their robustness against experimenta
Localization of light in disordered topological metamaterials – LOLITOP
The main objective of the LOLITOP project is to study the interplay between topological physics and disorder-induced effects for light in two-dimensional (2D) metamaterials made of subwavelength resonators. On the one hand, disorder may induce a topologically nontrivial phase – the so-called topolog
Evolving electronic transport in molecules/nanoparticles networks – EVOLMONET
Networks of molecularly functionalized nanoparticles (NPs) (hereafter called NMN : nanoparticle molecule network) have emerged as an interesting approach in molecular electronics to understand fundamental electron transport mechanisms, as well as to develop potential applications in electronics, sen
modeling Transport of Antibodies and BActeria in the Gut – TABAG
In the digestive tract, there are commensal bacteria which are beneficial to the host, but also pathogenic bacteria that can invade. How does the host control its microbiota? One of the tools for the host is its immune system. The main effector of the adaptive immune response in the gut is a type of
COVariant Fluctuating hydrodynamics of Epithelial Flows – COVFEFE
Recent advances in microscopy make it possible to image the entire embryonic development of a drosophila embryo with high spatial (sub-cellular) and temporal (second) resolution. Interpreting these new data requires new multi-scale theoretical approaches to unravel the relationship between embryonic
Orbitronics in non-centrosymmetric structures – ORION
Spin-orbit coupling is a powerful mechanism that has led to novel methods to pump charge currents and electrically control the magnetization of ultrathin magnetic films. Yet, the intense efforts aiming to better understand the physics at stake completely disregard the importance of the orbital effec
High field Enhancement of nucLear Polarisation In Noble Gases – HELPING
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) is a sophisticated and powerful analytical method with numerous applications in research, health care, and industry. However, its use is limited by the low intrinsic sensitivity of inductive detection (owing to a low energy difference between nuclear spin states, eve
Field reinforced Superconductivity – FRESCO
Field reinforced or induced superconductivity is one of the most intriguing phenomena found in the rich family of ferromagnetic superconductors, and very recently in the paramagnetic system UTe2. A full understanding of superconductivity in these systems is crucial, as today they are the clearest ex
Stability of foam films: marginal regeneration and drainage – DRAINFILM
Liquid foams are materials whose mechanical and insulating properties are widely used in industry. However, their stability remains largely an open question. The properties of liquid foams are closely related to those of the foam films they contain. The films can thicken, disappear or appear when th
Photodesorption induced by UV, X-rays and Electrons on Surfaces – PIXyES
The objective of the PIXyES project is to build up an innovative and performant molecular physics, chemical physics and laboratory astrophysics consortium. The goal is to bring new results on the photo-processing of physisorbed molecular solids – referred to later as molecular ices – which are expe
Ultrafast energy transfer in single nano-objects – ULTRASINGLE
The modalities of nanoscale and macroscale energy transfer differ because of the increased role of interfaces and ballistic phonon transport in the former case, whose fundamental description is required in fields such as electronics, thermoelectricity, biological imaging or sensing. The proposed pro
Atomic mixture of dysprosium and potassium in mixed dimensions – Mix2Dim
Interactions are the cornerstone of the most spectacular phenomena in many-body quantum physics. At the microscopic level, interactions may result in the formation of bound-states that affect the response of a system drastically. For dilute gases, one could naively expect that the problem reduces to
Extreme events in rotating and stratified turbulent flows – EVENTFUL
The main aim of this proposal is to implement a synergistic approach leveraging innovative High-Performance Computing techniques and observations to advance fundamental knowledge on the dynamics underlying the emergence of large scale extreme events and local instabilities in stratified and rotating
Effect of disorder on the failure of frictional interfaces – DisRuptInt
The onset of sliding of a frictional interface is due to a propagating rupture front, which breaks the contacts resisting to shear. The rupture is a brittle shear crack driven by singular fields and propagating within an effectively homogeneous medium. Indeed, a frictional interface is intrinsically
Origami and kirigami: Tailoring the behavior of flexible surfaces in flows – FLORIGAMI
Engineering strategically uses compliant components in the design of structures exposed to flows, as those can change their shape and adapt to their surrounding fluid environment. While a flexible structure is more adaptable and versatile, it is also more difficult to control. We thus have to unders
Casimir forces in two dimensional materials – CAT
CAT is an international collaborative project aiming at investigating Casimir forces in two-dimensional materials, by combining the theoretical (France) and experimental (Hong Kong) expertise of the two teams involved. Casimir-Lifshitz forces refer to the interactions between electrically neutral bo
Deciphering coherence in attosecond photoionization – DECAP
The DECAP project will study electronic coherence in photoionization, the physical process where matter absorbs a photon and frees a photoelectron on an ultrashort attosecond timescale. The coherence of the photoelectron is a unique witness of hidden interactions during photoionization. The DECAP pr
Fiber Transport and Clogging in Structured Media – TransClog
The TransClog projet aims at investigating the migration and clogging of flexible fibers in structured media. The motion of pulp fibers in the papermaking process, the migration of parasites in mucus, and the dispersal of bacterial biofilm filaments in biological environments, happen in complex me
ANisotropy, ADhesion and plant SPIral growth. – ANADSPI
In the 70's, the unicellular internode of acorticated characeae helped proving plant growth is pressure-driven and that growth and mechanical anisotropies are equal. The internode of the related corticated characeae is constituted by one giant cylindrical cell surounded by a layer of smaller elongat
Optimized on-demand ultrafast and broadband light sources using machine learning – OPTIMAL
OPTIMAL aims to develop advanced ultrafast and broadband light sources by bringing the power of machine learning into the mainstream of laser design and ultrafast nonlinear optics. Specific objectives include: (i) designing new approaches to generate broadband light with tailored spectral and tem
Thermodynamic investigations of mesoscopic 2D systems – THERMES-2D
Studies of electronic transport in GaAs/AlGaAs two-dimensional electron gases (2 DEGs.) have resulted in great advances in our understanding of mesoscopic and correlated physics. In particular, the exploration of the quantum Hall regime (QHR) has shown itself very advantageous, with its abundant phy
Taming Nonlinearities in Turbulence – TNT
The transition toward a zero carbon society requires the reduction of our energy footprint. Friction losses due to turbulence are responsible for most of the energy spent to drive liquids through pipes. Thus, finding innovative ways to efficiently pump fluids is of crucial importance. We now know t
Förster energy transfer and collective photophysics in self-assembled colloidal quantum wells – FOENICS
A fundamental understanding of the coupling between nanoparticles is crucial for opto-electronic devices involving densely-packed semiconductor nanoparticles. We have developed the self-assembly of CdSe nanoplatelets chains which constitute an excellent model system. Our first fluorescence microscop