Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-erc-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet ERC : NuQFT (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives — Pays : France — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : CEA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 2098157.5 €

I propose to solve the Quantum Field Theory (QFT) describing the transition between plateaus of quantized Hall conductance in the Integer Quantum Hall Effect (IQHE). The existence of the plateaus and their topological origin are certainly well understood. In sharp contrast, the transition, which mixes the effects of disorder, magnetic field and possibly interactions, remains very mysterious. Numerical studies of lattice models are plagued by disorder. The QFT description involves physics at very strong coupling, and requires a non-perturbative solution before quantitative predictions can be made. Finding such a solution is very difficult because the QFT for the plateau transition is ‘non-unitary’ - it involves a non-Hermitian ‘Hamiltonian’. Non-unitary QFT is a challenging, almost unexplored topic, that must be first developed before the plateau transition can be addressed. I propose to carry out this task with a cross-disciplinary strategy that uses ideas and tools from conformal field theory, statistical mechanics, and mathematics. Key to this strategy is a new and powerful way of analyzing lattice regularizations of the QFTs by focussing on their algebraic properties directly on the lattice, with a mix of advanced representation theory and numerical techniques. The results - in particular, concerning conformal invariance and renormalization group flows in the non-unitary case - will then be used to solve the QFT models for the plateau transition in the IQHE and in other universality classes of 2D Anderson insulators. This will be a landmark step in our understanding of the localization/delocalization transition in two dimensions, and allow a long delayed comparison of theory with experiment. The results will, more generally, impact many other areas of physics where non-unitary QFT plays a central role - from disordered systems of statistical mechanics to the string theory side of the AdS/CFT duality, to the effective description of open quantum systems.

Mots-clés : quantum hall effect,localization,topological insulators,quantum field theory,conformal field theory,open quantum systems
Projet ERC : Bug-Flash (Horizon 2020, appel 2019, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : Lund University — Pays : Suède — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499487.06 €

I received I received the prestigious Inaba award by the lidar community for advancing lidar entomology. Our Scheimpflug lidar can be implemented at 1% of the conventional cost and weight. It allows atmospheric observation with unpreceded sensitivity and spatiotemporal resolution. The kHz sampling rates can exceed the round-trip time of the light and reveal the modulation spectra for classifying free flying insect species over ground. The method has infinite focal depth and efficiently profiles sparse organisms in the airspace with 100000 observations per day. This tool is of key importance for tackling challenges related to pollinator diversity, agricultural pests and pesticides and malaria disease vectors. As in radar entomology, in situ lidar monitoring apparently has inevitable limitations: 1) Detection limit deteriorate with range, and far observations are biased towards larger organisms, 2) It takes several wing-beats, and therefore time, beam-width and energy to retrieve a modulation spectrum for classifying species. I propose to remove range biasing and classify insects by a microsecond flash of light. Back-lasing in air has been a dream of physicists for half a century. I now intend to capture specular reflexes from flat wing membranes. When the surface normal coincides with the lidar transect, collimated back-propagating laser light is accomplished. This flash of light is spectrally fringed and can report on the membrane thickness for target classification purpose. This project has three ambitious milestones of increasing challenge with in situ campaigns: A) Polarimetric kHz lidar: Verification of specular flashes, investigation of range dependence, properties and likelihood. B) Remote nanoscopy: Spectral analysis of remotely retrieved flashes for membrane thickness assessment and optimization of back-scatter resonance. C) Farfetched flatness: I will enhance apparent surface roughness and collimated back-scatter from diffuse specimen by infrared methods

Mots-clés : atmospheric lidar,remote sensing,biophotonics,back lasing,thin films,nanoscopy,surface roughness,coherent infrared scattering,disease vectors,malaria,agricultural pests,pollinators,biodiversity
Projet ERC : MemoMOFEnergy (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Products and processes engineering
Entité participante : Delft University of Technology — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : TU Delft
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1500000.0 €

I seek to develop new ferroelectrics based on metal-organic frameworks with dipolar rotors. Ferroelectrics are targeted to be used as physically flexible memories and mechanical energy harvesters for biocompatible sensors and implantable monitoring devices. As ferroelectrics can store and switch their polarity, they can be used as memories. Via the piezoelectric effect, they can harvest mechanical vibrations. The materials most compatible with flexible substrates, are soft matter materials. However, these so far don’t meet the requirements. Especially lacking is a combination of i) polarisation stability, ii) a sufficiently low energy barrier for polarisation switching and iii) fast switching. As energy harvesters, soft matter materials are hampered by low piezoelectric coefficients. The main objective of this proposal is rational design of ferroelectrics by obtaining a fundamental understanding of the relation between structure and properties. I will achieve this by uniquely synthesizing polar rotors into 3D crystalline scaffolds that allow to alter the rotors’ nano-environement. I will achieve this via polar ligands in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). The variability of MOFs allows to tune the nature of the hindrance towards rotation of the polar rotors. The tuneable flexibility allows to regulate the energy harvesting efficiency. Moreover, MOFs have already shown potential as biocompatible materials that can be integrated on physically flexible substrates. The research consists of i) synthesis of polar rotor MOFs with targeted variations, ii) reliable characterisation and computational modelling of the electronic properties, iii) nanoscopic insight in the switching dynamics. The approach allows to understand how ferro- and piezoelectricity are related to the materials’ structure, and hence to develop materials with exceptional performance. My recent observation of the ferroelectric behaviour of a nitrofunctionalised MOF is the basis for this proposal.

Mots-clés : metal organic framework,coordination polymers,ferroelectrics
Projet ERC : TUNNEL (Horizon 2020, appel 2014, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Hebrew University of Jerusalem — Pays : Israël — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : HUJI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1499875.0 €

I will expand the experimental reach of tunneling spectroscopy to new materials and device geometries. The technique is ideal for tackling two challenges: (i) Probing Andreev bound states and Majorana states in graphene and topological insulators (TIs) coupled to superconductors, and (ii) realizing momentum-conserving tunneling. I will utilize a breakthrough in device fabrication to stack layered van-der-Waals materials, such as graphene and hexagonal Boron Nitride (hBN), to form vertical structures. Ultrathin layers of mechanically deposited dielectrics will be used as tunnel-barriers. These can interface any smooth surface, expanding the range of possible device-based tunneling systems. A tunnel junction has decisive advantages over STM in access to lower temperatures and hence higher energy resolution. Significantly, the effort to probe the energy spectra of graphene and TIs coupled to superconductors is often resolution-limited. I will develop artificial-vortex devices and Josephson devices where induced spectra are expected to reveal the Majorana mode, a quantum state of unusual statistics sought as a platform for fault-tolerant quantum computation. Using the same technology, I will develop devices where tunneling takes place between extended states. The aim is to realize momentum resolved tunneling for μeV-resolution measurement of dispersions in graphene, other 2D systems, and smooth interfaces. Momentum control will be achieved using density-tuning of the Fermi surfaces or using parallel magnetic field. The high resolution spectra will reveal details of interaction effects, manifest as modifications to the single-electron picture. Carriers can be injected into a system with full control over their direction and energy – a powerful experimental knob, useful for injecting carriers using one electrode and extracting them in another. Such geometry is sensitive to relaxation effects, and will allow unprecedented resolution studies of out-of-equilibrium systems.

Mots-clés : graphene,topological insulators,proximity effect,tunneling
Projet ERC : StabCondEn (Horizon 2020, appel 2017, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Mathematics
Entité participante : University of Milan — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : UNIMI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 785866.0 €

I will introduce new techniques to address two big open questions in the theory of derived/triangulated categories and their many applications in algebraic geometry. The first one concerns the theory of Bridgeland stability conditions, which provides a notion of stability for complexes in the derived category. The problem of showing that the space parametrizing stability conditions is non-empty is one of the most difficult and challenging ones. Once we know that such stability conditions exist, it remains to prove that the corresponding moduli spaces of stable objects have an interesting geometry (e.g. they are projective varieties). This is a deep and intricate problem. On the more foundational side, the most successful approach to avoid the many problematic aspects of the theory of triangulated categories consisted in considering higher categorical enhancements of triangulated categories. On the one side, a big open question concerns the uniqueness and canonicity of these enhancements. On the other side, this approach does not give a solution to the problem of describing all exact functors, leaving this as a completely open question. We need a completely new and comprehensive approach to these fundamental questions. I intend to address these two sets of problems in the following innovative long-term projects: 1. Develop a theory of stability conditions for semiorthogonal decompositions and its applications to moduli problems. The main applications concern cubic fourfolds, Calabi-Yau threefolds and Calabi-Yau categories. 2. Apply these new results to the study of moduli spaces of rational normal curves on cubic fourfolds and their deep relations to hyperkaehler geometry. 3. Investigate the uniqueness of dg enhancements for the category of perfect complexes and, most prominently, of admissible subcategories of derived categories. 4. Develop a new theory for an effective description of exact functors in order to prove some related conjectures.

Mots-clés : derived categories,stability conditions,moduli spaces,dg categories
Projet ERC : IFAMID (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Advanced grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Institutions, Governance and Legal Systems
Entité participante : Bocconi University — Pays : Italie — Rôle : PI
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1850820.0 €

IFAMID presents a new framework for the analysis of family demography. Drawing on recent theoretical developments, and exploiting cognitive and methodological insights from a wide range of disciplines, most importantly from sociology and political science, it is argued that trends in family formation (and its dynamics) not only derive from broad global forces, but also from institutional "quality" and cultural traits, and, critically important, from the interaction between the two. Whereas the framework is general, the empirical side of the project focuses on explaining 1) fertility trends and differentials in OECD countries, 2) the transition to adulthood, and 3) the global perspective of fertility change. An important aspect of this approach is that policies contained within existing welfare constellations, often taken as explanatory factors for family outcomes, are necessarily endogenous, and its evolution depends on the underlying quality of relevant institutions and cultural traits, which may react very differently with respect to the onset of global trends, and therefore give different patterns of family formation. With this project, a series of hypotheses will be developed and empirically tested. The World Values Surveys will serve as an important data source, but the unit of analysis will be in large part at the regional level since it is impossible to account fully for the complex interaction of culture and institutions from a cross-country perspective only. This implies collecting a chronology of regional variables on cultural traits, institutions and demographic outcomes. Working closely with Gosta Esping-Andesen and with a team of historical demographers led by Guido Alfani (Bocconi), and drawing heavily on the statistical modeling skills of the PI, the aim is to devise a set of state-of-the-art techniques including instrumental variables, spatial econometrics and epidemiological approaches that deal with the endogeneity of culture and institutions.

Mots-clés : transition to adulthood,family demography,social demography,instrumental variables,spatial econometrics,regional studies,global approach,path dependency,social institutions,epidemiology
Projet ERC : NanoFab2D (Horizon 2020, appel 2015, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Condensed matter physics
Entité participante : Hungarian Academy of Sciences — Pays : Hongrie — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : MTA
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1496500.0 €

IIn today’s electronics, the information storage and processing are performed by independent technologies. The information-processing is based on semiconductor (silicon) devices, while non-volatile data storage relies on ferromagnetic metals. Integrating these tasks on a single chip and within the same material technology would enable disruptively new device concepts opening the way towards ultra-high speed electronic circuits. Due to the unique versatility of its electronic and magnetic properties, graphene has a strong potential as a platform for the implementation of such devices. By engineering their structure at the atomic level, graphene nanostructures of metallic, semiconducting, as well as magnetic properties can be realized. Here we propose that the unmatched precision and full edge orientation control of our STM-based nanofabrication technique enables the reliable implementation of such graphene nanostructures, as well as their complex, functional networks. In particular, we propose to experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of (1) semiconductor graphene nanostructures based on the quantum confinement effect, (2) spin-based devices from graphene nanostructures with magnetic edges, as well as (3) novel operation principles based on the interplay of the electronic and spin-degrees of freedom. We propose to demonstrate the electrical control of magnetism in graphene nanostructures, as well as a novel switching mechanism for graphene field effect transistors induced by the transition between two magnetic edge configurations. Exploiting such novel operation mechanisms in graphene nanostructure engineered at the atomic scale is expected to lay the foundations of disruptively new device concepts combining electronic and spin-based mechanisms that can overcome some of the fundamental limitations of today’s electronics.

Mots-clés : graphene,2d materials,nanofabrication,scanning tunneling microscopy
Projet ERC : INITIUM (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Physical Sciences and Engineering
Panel : Fundamental constituents of matter
Entité participante : National Institute for Nuclear Physics — Pays : Italie — Rôle : Partner
Acronyme de l'entité : INFN
Type d'entité : Recherche
Financement ERC de l'entité : 886014.0 €

INITIUM: an Innovative Negative Ion TIme projection chamber for Underground dark Matter searches. INITIUM goal is to boost the advancement of gaseous Time Projection Chamber detectors in the Dark Matter (DM) searches field, one of the most compelling issues of todays fundamental physics. I believe this approach to be superior because of its active neutron/electron discrimination, directional and fiducialization capability down to low energies and versatility in terms of target material. Thanks to recent advances in Micro Pattern Gas Detectors amplification and improved readout techniques, TPCs are nowadays mature detectors to aim at developing a ton-scale experiment. INITIUM focuses on the development and operation of the first 1 m3 Negative Ion TPC with Gas Electron Multipliers amplification and optical readout with CMOS-based cameras and PMTs for directional DM searches at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). INITIUM will put new significant constraints in a DM WIMP-nucleon scattering parameter space still unexplored to these days, with a remarkable sensitivity down to 10-42-10-43 cm2 for Spin Independent coupling in the 1-10 GeV WIMP mass region. As a by-product, INITIUM will also precisely and simultaneously measure environmental fast and thermal neutron flux at LNGS, supplying crucial information for any present and future experiment in this location. Consequently, I will demonstrate the proof-of-principle and scalability of INITIUM approach towards the development of a ton-scale detector in the context of CYGNUS, an international collaboration (of which I am one of the Spokespersons and PIs) recently gathered together with the aim to establish a Galactic Directional Recoil Observatory, that can test the DM hypothesis beyond the Neutrino Floor and measure the coherent scatter of galactic neutrinos, generating a significant long-term impact on detection techniques for rare events searches.

Mots-clés : directional dark matter searches,time projection chamber,negative ion drift,gas electron multipliers  gems,cmos based camera
Projet ERC : INNOVATION (Horizon 2020, appel 2016, Starting grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : Cultures and cultural production
Entité participante : University of London — Pays : Royaume-Uni — Rôle : PI
Acronyme de l'entité : U. London
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1450568.29 €

INNOVATION anticipates a breakthrough in scholarly understanding of the medieval origins of modern Western philosophy. This breakthrough will be achieved by exposing the pioneering nature of early thirteenth-century Franciscan thought and its pivotal significance for the subsequent formation of the Western philosophical identity. The work of early Franciscans has largely been neglected in scholarly circles, on the assumption that they merely codified the work of past authorities, where later Franciscans developed innovative ideas that laid the foundation for the development of modern philosophy. INNOVATION will contest this assumption by producing the first comprehensive study of the sources, method, content, and later medieval reception of early Franciscan thought. In conducting this study, I will implement a groundbreaking method of reading scholastic texts, which is attentive to the way that practice informed theory in the high Middle Ages. This ‘practice-led’ hermeneutic will provide a resource for re-envisaging the entire state of the art in the study of scholasticism. As regards early Franciscans, it will allow me to identify novelty, often due to the use of Islamic sources, where past scholars have perceived unoriginality. On this basis, I will highlight previously unnoticed connections between the early and late Franciscan schools. By these means, I will illustrate how Western thought has been nourished by the ethos of a particular religious order and by Islamic thought, pointing up a shared Muslim-Western philosophical identity that is often overlooked but urgently needed to overcome severe fractures in today’s society. At the same time, I will emphasize that Franciscan ideas only became modern once removed from their practice-led context. In juxtaposing the cultural paradigms of philosophy and religious practice, consequently, I will advance knowledge by producing the first nuanced scholarly account of the Franciscan origins of modern Western thought.

Mots-clés : franciscan studies,origins of modernity
Projet ERC : INSCONS (Horizon 2020, appel 2018, Consolidator grants)
Domaine scientifique : Social Sciences and Humanities
Panel : The Social World and Its Diversity
Entité participante : Leiden University — Pays : Pays-Bas — Rôle : Partner
Type d'entité : Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire
Financement ERC de l'entité : 1239568.75 €

INSCONS is a groundbreaking, large-scale examination of the organisational dynamics of international scientific consortia (ISCs) and the interactions of these consortia with broader scientific communities, national bureaucracies, and industry. ISCs are very complex organisations with work being carried out at geographically dispersed sites, and involving international stakeholder groups from across the realms of science, policy, and industry. As these ISCs are becoming more important in efforts to address global challenges in areas such as health, the environment, and clean energy, our understanding of the distinctive organizational dynamics governing these consortia has lagged behind. Accordingly, there is a pressing need for novel organisational theory and frameworks that will advance our understanding of ISCs. INSCONS is an ambitious effort to address this need, using a comparative, interdisciplinary approach. Three case studies of large, international ISCs in nuclear fusion research, biomedicine, and the geosciences are at the core of INSCONS. The INSCONS project will examine four aspects of these ISCs. It will 1) Map the internal organisational dynamics of ISCs using interviews, bibliometric network analyses, and ethnographic field studies on everyday work in ISCs. 2) It will study ISCs’ interactions with the broader scientific community by conducting a survey among researchers in the scholarly fields ISCs operate in, and by analysing these fields’ co-authorship networks. 3) It will examine the (inter)national political processes and bureaucratic wrangling shaping ISCs. 4) It will examine relationships of dependency and influence between ISCs and industry through case studies as well as analyses of patenting and publication activities. Taken together, the project outputs of INSCONS will bring into clear focus the sociology and politics, as well as the operational complexities that govern this important, new organisational form in contemporary science.