MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACIÓN SUBPROGRAMA … · SUBPROGRAMA RAMON Y CAJAL CONVOCATORIA 2010 MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACIÓN Subject Area (UNESCO codes): 2212.02 Theoretical

SUBPROGRAMA RAMON Y CAJALCONVOCATORIA 2010

MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACIÓN

Subject Area (UNESCO codes): 2212.02 Theoretical Physics - Elementary Particles 2212.99 Theoretical Physics - Other (String Theory)2212.12 Theoretical Physics - Quantum Field TheoryTITLE OF MAIN RESEARCH LINE: String Theory Applications and Particle PhysicsKEY WORDS: String Theory, Particle Physics, Supersymmetry, AdS/CFT, Beyond the Standard ModelSUMMARY OF MAIN RESEARCH LINEI have pursued various lines of research in String Theory and Quantum Field Theory. My main underlying focus is on D-branes, supersymmetric gauge theories and model building (both in string theory and field theory). As a Ramon y Cajal fellow, I plan to perform research in the following areas:String phenomenology: I will continue developing formal tools for the determination of the low energy gauge theories on D-branes in various backgrounds. For example, I plan to understand the possible superpotential interactions generated by D-brane instantons on singularities in detail. I will also work on applications of these tools, such as the implementation of models (e.g. (extra)ordinary gauge mediation) that so far have resisted embedding in string theory.Supersymmetric model building and supersymmetry breaking: I will continue working vigorously on supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking and its mediation mechanisms, both in quantum field theory and string theory. This is a time at which it is important both to investigate new scenarios and to characterize existing ones and their implications in detail. I will put special emphasis in developing purely stringy mechanisms, such as the SUSY breaking mediation by D-brane instantons I introduced. I will also study other aspects of physics beyond the Standard Model, as in my recent works on the interplay between SUSY breaking and flavor physics in composite models. I will explore the use duality and holography for dealing with the strongly coupled gauge theories that sometimes arise in this context.Holography and condensed matter: following my resent work, I will study the gauge/gravity correspondence applied to strongly coupled condensed matter systems. I plan to investigate to what extent these systems can be approximated/modeled by gravity duals. I plan work out the map between general gravity models and the physical properties of condensed matter systems (strength of the interactions responsible for binding the condensate, magnitude of its fluctuations, critical exponents, transport properties, etc). I will also study more formal aspects of string theory, such as my recent work on M2-branes. Of course, I will remain open to any important new development in high energy physics.

Academic AppointmentsKavli Institute for Theoretical PhysicsUniversity of California, Santa BarbaraDirector: David Gross (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics)Postdoctoral Research Associate (2008-Present)Princeton UniversityDepartment of PhysicsPostdoctoral Research Associate (2005-2008)Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCenter for Theoretical PhysicsPh.D. in Physics (2000-2005)Instituto Balseiro, ArgentinaDegree of ¿Licenciado en Física¿ (equivalent to Master in Physics), 1999RESEARCH InterestsString theory, D-branes, supersymmetric gauge theories and model building (both in string theory and field theory). AWARDS AND HONORS2008 - University of Texas at Austin Distinguished Visitor ($5,000 honorarium)2004 - MIT Buechner Teaching Prize: Awarded annually to a graduate student at MIT for outstanding contributions to the educational program of the Department of Physics.2002 - MIT Locket Award for the Excellence in Theoretical Physics: Awarded annually to a graduate student at MIT for his contributions to research in Theoretical Physics. The citation reads: ¿For your contributions in understanding Toric Duality and multiplicity symmetry.".2000 - Graduate School Excellence Fellowship in the Department of Physicsand Astronomy of Rutgers University (declined)1999 - Obtained the degree of ¿Licenciado en Fisica" (equivalent to a Master in Physics) from Instituto Balseiro, Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, Argentina1999 - Member of the `Àrgentine Association for Excellence", integrated by students of diverse disciplines that have been awarded the National Presidency Prize1999 - Member of the `Ìnterdisciplinary Forum of Excellent Students", National Presidency of Argentina1999 - National Presidency Prizefor outstanding academic achievements: best university student in the Southern Region of Argentina. Awarded by the President of Argentina.1996 - 1999 - Fellowship of the National Commission for Atomic Energy of Argentina (CNEA) at the Instituto Balseiro in Bariloche, Argentina (awarded after a nationwide selection exam)1994 - Integrated the first Argentine team that competed in an International Physics OlympiadXXV International Physics Olympiad - Beijing - China1993 - X Argentine Mathematics OlympiadHonorable Mention1993 - Ort Interschool Mathematics OlympiadThird Prize - Level C1988, 1989, 1990 - Best student award, Escuela Tecnica Philips Argentina (high school)1991, 1992, 19931992 - IX Argentine Mathematics OlympiadFinalist1992 - Argentine Physics OlympiadFirst Prize - Gold Medal1991 - Prize of the Argentine Jewish Foundation for the Education and Health: awarded to the best students of 3rd year of Basic Cycle, from high schools in Buenos Aires, Argentina1991 - First Iberoamerican Physics Olympiad (Colombia)Bronze Medal1991 - Argentine Physics OlympiadSecond Prize - Silver Medal1990 - Ort Interschool Mathematics OlympiadFirst Prize - Level BPUBLICATIONSMy publications have had a high impact in the theoretical physics community. This is evidenced by the fact that, according to SPIRES, my papers have a total of more than 1900 citations. I have two papers with more than 250 citations, four with more than 100 citations and five with more than 50 citat

Resumen de la Memoria:

Resumen del Curriculum Vitae:

Correo electrónico: [email protected]

Titulo:String Theory Applications and Particle Physics

Referencia: RYC-2010-06973Area: Física y Ciencias del Espacio

Nombre: FRANCO , SEBASTIAN



One of the fundamental questions in Physics (and especially in Cosmology) refers to the composition of Dark Matter (DM), which amounts 24% of the present density of the Universe, and is key to understand the formation of structures (e.g. clusters of galaxies, voids, filaments,..,etc) in an expanding Universe. In the current (and observationally most favoured) cosmogony DM is believed to be "cold" (CDM), i.e. composed of relatively massive particles that move with non-relativistic velocities. At present there are dozens of particle candidates that obey the constraints derived from astronomical sources. The Milky Way and its 25 (known) satellite galaxies provide ideal laboratories to further study the amount and distribution of DM on different spatial and mass scales (which directly depend on the nature of the DM particle(s) ) due to the possibility of measuring the distances, velocities and detailed metal compositions of individual stars. Due to technological limitations this type of data exists only for Local Group galaxies.My studies combine observational data (dynamics/composition of individual stars) and theoretical (N-body) experiments in order to derive the DM content and distribution in Local Group galaxies. I study systems whose gravitational potential appears DM dominated e.g. (i) dwarf spheroidal galaxies, which have the highest DM content (dark-to-luminous mass ratio ~ 50--1000) of any known galaxy type in the Universe and (ii) stellar tidal streams, which directly trace the orbits of satellite galaxies undergoing tidal disruption (e.g the Sagittarius stream), thus probing the mass distribution of the Milky Way on a large range of distances and orientations. The results provide a direct test of eminent predictions from the present cosmological paradigm (CDM), as well as a comprehensive picture of the formation and evolution of galaxies in the Universe. This are timely issues given the advent of GAIA (>2012), a core European mission that will map the Milky Way and provide the orbital parameters of billions (!) of stars.

After I obtained my PhD in April 2003 at Heidelberg University (Germany), I was offered a postdoctoral Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA, Germany). After 2 years the MPIA, where I was awarded the Ernst Patzer Prize for young scientists, I spent 2.5 years overseas at the University of Victoria (Canada) as a NSERC Fellow, before returning to Europe in 2008, where I am currently working as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge (UK). My research interest in general is (Computational) Galaxy Dynamics and Galaxy Formation and Evolution. In each of these distinct yet connected fields I have published a substantial number of peer-reviewed papers over the last eight years, a work that has had some impact in the community (770 citations, h-index=18 to date). I have also contributed as a peer-reviewer in six different journals and for the CFHT (Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope), (co)supervised the PhD thesis of three students, and participated in large research projects, such as SDSS, SEGUE, Pandas and RAVE.




Titulo:The Milky Way as a Dark Matter laboratory


Nombre: PEÑARRUBIA GARRIDO, JORGE MIGUEL



During my time as a researcher, I have acquired skills in several areas. I am an expert in silicon detectors, I have worked in the tracker systems of ATLAS SCT and CDF. I have performed searches for new physics (Little Higgs model) and developed b-tagging algorithms. I have analized data in CDF, in particular the cross section of the W boson and study of the associated production of a Higgs with a W boson. Currently, I am developing my work at LHC.After the start in September 2008, LHC restarted operations successfully in November 2009. LHC goal through 2010 and 2011 is to achieve an integrated luminosity of 1 fb-1 while keeping instantaneous luminosity at 2 10^32 cm-2 s-1. Since beginning 2009 I am Run Coordinator deputy for the SCT. One of my main duties is, in collaboration with the Project Leader and Run Coordinator, guarantee that the detector was ready for data taking. We are the ultimate responsible that data taken have good quality (high tracking efficiency) and get a stable running with the largest fraction of the detector. My Run Coordinator position will be over in March 2010, but I will continue as a convener of the Monitoring and Calibration group of the SCT through 2010 (I have in charge of the group since March 2008). I am in charge of leading the development and improvement of the tools for the monitoring and data quality checking. A lot of progress has been done but with the arrival of the beam the stability of the tools and will be tested thoroughly.Data collected during 2010 and 2011 will allow rediscovering the Standard Model (SM) at 7 TeV center of mass energy. My contribution will be centered on the analysis of the W+jets channel. This channel is an important background for many processes of SM physics but also on new physics. Besides, it will give deep knowledge on detector characteristics and performance (alignment, calibration, etc) needed to make precision physics studies. This analysis will be the first step on the look for new physics in more exotic channels (SUSY, Extra-Dimensions, etc) in decays involving a W and a Higgs boson. I will carry on with these analyses and apply my knowledge in the development of sensors and electronics for the upgrade of the ATLAS tracker.

I started my PhD. in July 1999 in the ATLAS - SCT group at IFIC-Valencia group, under the supervision of C. Garcia. I worked on tools and infrastructure for the test of the silicon micro-strip wafers for the Semi-Conductor Tracker at IFIC. I obtained a more extensive knowledge on micro-strip silicon modules working at the SCT beam tests. During the beam tests, I took the responsibility of coordinating the SCT beam test data Analysis Group. Also during my PhD, I worked on new physics searches in ATLAS and b-tagging performance studies. I studied the capability of ATLAS to discover new physics arising from Little Higgs models, in particular, for channels involving new gauge bosons decays. Results were published in an article (more than 80 citations). I obtained my PhD in September 2004.As a first post-doc position I joined CDF, the largest experiment with active data taking. On September 2004, I started with INFN-Pisa group. I worked on the W cross section measurement using forward electrons. This analysis provides a new measurement of the W cross section, but one of its goals was actually to provide an input to the parton distribution functions (PDF). The article has been published in Phys.Rev.Lett. and I presented the results in conferences. After this analysis, I studied the WH channel which was a natural continuation of the W measurement.At the end of the post-doc at the INFN-Pisa, Fermilab offered me a position to start leading the silicon group. In November 2006 I became Silicon Project Leader. I took the lead of the silicon group during a year. I was responsible of ensuring that the system would run in the most efficient conditions.In January 2008 I moved to Geneva. I took the position of Maitre-Assistant at the University of Geneva. I worked on the commissioning of the ATLAS SCT, but already in March 2008, I was asked to be convener of the Monitoring and Calibration group for the SCT. The group has to warranty the quality of the data taken by the SCT.At beginning of March 2009 I became SCT Run Coordinator Deputy. This implies to have an active role in taking decision on the organization online (operations) and offline (software and data quality) of the SCT together with the Project Leader and Run Coordinator. We are responsible of ensuring that the system is ready for data taking. I will finish with the SCT Coordination in March but I will continue with the coordination of the SCT Monitoring group for a few months.In parallel, I have been working on the first analysis with electrons in cosmic ray data and the comparison with the Monte-Carlo. This analysis is finished and the note is being submitted, so now I have started to work in the measurement of the cross section of the process W+jets in the electron channel. This is an important measurement that can be performed at the beginning of LHC running.




Titulo:W physics (SM and beyond SM) and Silicon Detectors


Nombre: GARCIA NAVARRO, JOSE ENRIQUE



Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) and spectroscopy (DOS) investigates tissue physiology millimeters to centimeters below the tissue surface [1]. Light is scattered very strongly in tissue, however, and traditional optical spectroscopies cannot be used for this purpose. Fortunately, a spectral window exists in the near-infrared (NIR, 650-950 nm), wherein photon transport in tissues is dominated by scattering rather than absorption. Recently, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has emerged as a technique for noninvasive measurement of microvascular oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations and their changes [2].From these measurements, blood oxygen saturation (StO2), total hemoglobin concentration (THC), blood volume (CBV) are derived and reported. Furthermore, a key scientific contribution of my previous laboratory in USA was the introduction of 'diffuse correlation spectroscopy' (DCS) which utilizes laser speckle fluctuations to measure blood flow in deep tissues. I have pioneered the introduction of hybrid DCS and NIRS into clinical studies on humans. Since then, I have moved to Spain in February 2009 and established the Medical Optics group at ICFO (ICFO-MEDOPT). My research, broadly, focuses on research linesthat involve applications in (1) oncology for diagnostic imaging and therapy monitoring of cancers such as breast cancers, and (2) for bed-side monitors for neuro-intensive care units. We develop novel new physical models, reconstruction algorithms and instrumentation and work closely with clinicians to deploy them in the clinics. These state-of-the-art technologies are the products of challenging research of improved physical understanding of the propagation of photons in tissues, latest in laser and detector technologies and continuous strong collaborations with clinical researchers to identify key potential contributions to important clinical problems. We will continue to push the limits in technology with a clear goal in mind to translate them from the bench-top to the bed-side.[1] A. Yodh & B. Chance. Physics Today 48(3), 34-40 (1995).[2] A. G. Yodh & D. A. Boas. Biomedical Photonics, chapter Functional Imaging with Diffusing Light, 21/1¿45. CRC Press (2003).

OVERVIEW OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE: I have had a multi-disciplinary career at University of Pennsylvania, USA (UPENN) in one of the top groups in biomedical optics, Dr Arjun Yodh's laboratory. I worked on theoretical, experimental, pre-clinical and clinical aspects of diffuse optics for ~13 years as an integral part of UPENN biomedical optics research. My last post was a junior research faculty with joint appointments in Department of Physics and Astronomy and Department of Radiology. My study (Durduran, Opt Expr 2009) demonstratingthe potential of NIRS-DCS hybrid instrumentation in acute stroke monitoring received world-wide attention and was distributed by various newswires. My work on pediatrics was reported in the Spanish Media (El Pais, 19/05/09). Another study (PMB, 2002) received citation awards. At UPENN, I led various projects in pediatric populations (funded by Thrasher Foundation) and others studying the adult brain (funded by NIH). RETURN TO EUROPE: Since February 2009, I am a 'junior group leader' at ICFO, Spain, leading 'Medical Optics' (ICFO-MEDOPT) group with five postdoctoral fellows, one Ph.D. student, one engineer and two interns. We have designed and constructed several diffuse optical monitoring devices which are now being deployed in our collaborating institutions at Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, IDIBAPS, IDIBELL and Sant Joan de Déu. We are funded by the European Commission, Instituto de Salud Carlos III and a private foundation (Fundació Cellex, Barcelona). I am the 'Southern Europe, Node-Leader' for 'Biophotonics for Life Worldwide Consortium' (BP4L).PUBLICATION RECORD: As of February, 2010, I have (co-)authored forty-one peer-reviewed articles in top optics journals and others. I have (co-)authored more than 200 conference abstracts/presentations and have given 18 invited talks worldwide. According to ISI Web of Science (23/02/10) my h-index is 18 and received 1015 citations.OVERVIEW: Our group is still young and is growing rapidly. If this proposal is successful, it would provide me the necessary funding and prestige to ensure the continuation of its growth. I believe that diffuse optical technologies offer great deal of promise in diseases such as breast cancer and stroke. My training in a highly competitive, world-class institution (UPENN, USA) provides a strong basis to succeed in this area which would help bring Spain to the forefront of clinical biomedical optics.




Titulo:Novel Diffuse Optical Technologies for Clinical Diagnosis and Therapy Monitoring


Nombre: DURDURAN , TURGUT



El tema central de mi actividad investigadora es la mecánica estadística de sistemas complejos y el estudio de redes complejas. Los objetivos principales de mi proyecto son, por una parte, comprender las propiedades colectivas emergentes en sistemas complejos adaptativos y sus fenómenos críticos asociados y, por la otra, la aplicación de herramientas teóricas para el análisis de las propiedades dinámicas de sistemas sociales y biológicos. En el primer caso se pretende extender el conocimiento sobre fenómenos críticos en redes con topología fija añadiendo la dependencia temporal de las interacciones acopladas a dinámicas de difusión de información, procesos de sincronización y dinámica de juegos evolutiva. Para ello, modelaremos la plasticidad de las interacciones usando reglas evolutivas a nivel local. Asimismo, partiendo de la formulación "annealed" para familias de redes complejas, se pretende construir un formalismo unificado para el estudio de la dinámica en redes con topología fija y adaptativa. En relación a los sistemas biológicos, abordaremos algunos problemas donde las herramientas mecánico-estadísticas juegan un papel relevante. En primer lugar, estudiaremos la dinámica de redes de uniones córtico-corticales en el cerebro de mamíferos con especial interés en la descripción de la dinámica a nivel mesoscópico y su papel en la integración de los procesos entre diferentes módulos funcionales de la corteza cerebral. En este contexto, prestaremos especial atención a las meso-estruturas jerárquicas, módulos de hubs corticales, y su implicación en los procesos de sincronización. En segundo lugar, se analizará la dinámica de péptidos y su relación con el paisaje de Energía Libre. Para ello usaremos la herramienta de Redes Conformacionales Markovianas y el análisis de Componentes Principales con el fin de obtener una descripción cualitativa de péptidos con un número elevado de monómeros. Analizaremos los posibles confórmeros y su dinámica de transiciones de manera que sea posible inferir datos termodinámicos a partir de trayectorias procedentes de dinámica molecular. Finalmente, abordaremos el estudio de sistemas complejos sociales desde el punto de vista de la teoría de juegos evolutiva. En este sentido, continuaremos los estudios sobre los mecanismos que favorecen la emergencia de cooperación entre individuos y su relación con el patrón de interacciones. Asimismo, modelaremos dinámicas sociales donde la teoría de juegos juega un papel relevante acoplándose con otros tipos de dinámica social. En este sentido modelizaremos la dinámica de vacunación en periodos epidémicos como un ejemplo donde los individuos evalúan sus estrategias evolutivas en función del estado del sistema. Finalmente, ampliaremos el estudio de juegos entre dos jugadores a situaciones donde el juego se desarrolla en grupos de N jugadores. Para ello, haremos uso de la teoría de hipergrafos de manera que podamos interpolar con las situaciones correspondientes a N=2 estudiadas anteriormente.

Obtuve el doctorado por la Universidad de Zaragoza en 2006 con la calificación de "Sobresaliente Cum Laudae" y "Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado". Asimismo soy "Premio Investigador Novel 2006" de la Real Sociedad Española de Física como mejor investigador en Física Teórica menor de 35 años. En mi primera etapa postdoctoral fui ¿Assegnista di Ricerca¿ en el Laboratorio di Sistemi Complessi de la Scuola Superiore di Catania (Universita di Catania) donde trabajé en el grupo del profesor Vito Latora. A continuación fui investigador Juan de la Cierva en la Universitat Rovira i Virgili (Tarragona) en el grupo del profesor Alex Arenas. Actualmente soy profesor ayudante doctor en la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos en el Departamento de Matemática Aplicada. Durante mi etapa doctoral y postdoctoral he trabajado prioritariamente sobre la dinámica y fenómenos críticos de sistemas complejos y las aplicaciones interdisciplinares de la mecánica estadística a problemas biológicos, tecnológicos y sociales. Mis contribuciones más importantes se refieren a: (i) el transporte de información y el problema de la congestión en redes de comunicación (un total de 131 citas desde 2004), (ii) la descripción microscópica de la transición de sincronización en redes complejas de osciladores de Kuramoto (un total de 76 citas desde 2007) y (iii) la dinámica de juegos evolutiva y la emergencia de cooperación en sistemas sociales (un total de 148 citas desde 2007). Durante estos años he realizado tareas de formación en investigación dirigiendo 3 Tesis de Licenciatura (Tesi di Laurea) durante mi periodo postdoctoral en la Scuola Superiore di Catania y he sido invitado a impartir cursos de doctorado en las Universidades de Catania y Roma III. Asimismo, en la actualidad soy codirector de 2 Tesis Doctorales. Respecto a mi labor en la divulgación científica he sido invitado a impartir seminarios en 8 universidades internacionales destacando el Kings College y la Queen Mary University de Londres, el Weizzman Institute of Science y la Universidad de Tel Aviv en Israel, y la Universidad de Cambridge. Asimismo, he sido "invited speaker" en 6 conferencias internacionales y he sido organizador de 4 conferencias internacionales. Finalmente, respecto a mis datos bibliométricos, tengo un total de 38 publicaciones: 34 artículos con revisión por pares en revistas incluidas en el Journal Citation Reports (JCR), 3 capítulos de libro y un 1 libro completo. A estas publicaciones hay que añadir 3 artículos actualmente en proceso de revisión sumando en total 41 trabajos de investigación originales. Entre mis publicaciones más relevantes destacan 3 Physical Review Letters, 1 Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA), 1 PloS Computational Biology, 11 Physical Review E (2 como Rapid Communication), 2 Europhysics Letters y 2 New Journal of Physics. Los artículos publicados han obtenido 480 citas (según ISI web of Science) con más de 200 citas durante 2009 y tengo un índice H de 13.




Titulo:Tackling complexity in adaptive, biological and social systems


Nombre: GOMEZ GARDEÑES, JESUS



The main research line is based on theoretical studies and simulations of electronic transport on molecules up to 10 nanometers long and other nanometric systems. The objectives include advancing towards the design of electronic elements on the nanoscale. In order to attain such objectives it is necessary to understand how the transport properties are affected by the different components on which molecular electronics systems are based. I will therefore focus on the study of different elements that affect the conductance, among which can be highlighted the central part of the molecule, the side atoms, the coupling atoms and the electrodes. I will also carry out systematic studies of molecular wires that show negative differential resistance (NDR) and rectification, which are very important for instance in the design of analog-to-digital converters and logic gates, respectively, and I will try to optimize in various types of molecules the parameters on which such properties depend. Similarly, I will study the effect of point charges on the conductance of molecular wires, something that will have for instance application in the development of high precision sensors. In parallel with these calculations I will also focus on the development and implementation of new theoretical techniques aimed at increasing the number of phenomena described by first principles quantum transport calculations. Among these techniques has a relevant place multiscale modelling and simulation, which will allow me to simulate much bigger systems and increase dramatically the range of study. I will also work on the implementation of multi-terminal transport, which is essential to describe nanoscale circuits. Other techniques will be based on the inclusion of gate voltages in the extended molecule and corrections to the energies of the molecular orbitals with self-energies which take into account the screening produced by the electrodes, which will allow me to simulate transistors and calculate more precisely the transport properties, respectively. Finally, I will also exploit newly implemented techniques such as the spin-orbit interaction and the thermoelectric effect, with which I will be able to carry out studies on magnetic anisotropy and thermal effects.

I obtained my B.Sc. in Physics with Honours in July 2000 from the University of Oviedo. That year I started my Ph. D. in Physics in the group of Jaime Ferrer at the same university. In February 2001 I was awarded a FPU fellowship from the Spanish Government. I finished my Ph. D. in 2005 with the highest qualification and a European Doctorate mention. One year before, in 2004, I started working at Lancaster University as an Early Stage Researcher funded by the European Union (Marie Curie grant). After three years I became Research Assistant. In 2009 I joined the Physics Department of University of Oviedo as a Juan de la Cierva (JdC) Researcher. I was ranked first in the Physics and Space Sciences area of the JdC fellowship. I have published 35 articles in international journals with 504 cites (H-index = 9), which include 1 Nature Materials, 3 Physical Review Letters, 1 Journal of the American Chemical Society and 15 Physical Review B. Two of these papers (Nature Materials 4, 335 and Physical Review B 73, 085414) are highly cited and one of them (PRB) has also been considered ¿Hot Paper¿. I have taken part in 8 research projects, contributed to 23 congresses, including 5 invited talks, and given more than 15 seminars in various international research centres. I have participated in the direction of two Ph. D. theses and organized various research activities, including the school ¿Theoretical Modelling of Transport in Nanostructures¿ (CECAM) in 2009. I started my research activity in the topics of magnetism and materials science from first principles. As part of this research I implemented in the ab-initio code SIESTA the possibility of simulating spin spirals and spin waves. Close to the end of my Ph. D. I moved to the topic of quantum transport. I contributed to the creation and development of the quantum transport code SMEAGOL, which is used today by more than 90 groups in the world. I studied with SMEAGOL and SIESTA a large number of systems, which include structures on the nanoscale (metallic and insulating molecules between magnetic and non-magnetic leads, carbon nanotubes with encapsulated molecules, nanowires, atomic chains and atomic constrictions) and bulk solids (metals and oxide semiconductors). I have also implemented in SMEAGOL a series of new techniques and properties, which include non-collinear magnetism, k-points, the thermoelectric effect and the spin-orbit interaction.




Titulo:Quantum transport in nanoscale systems from first principles


Nombre: GARCIA SUAREZ, VICTOR MANUEL



The field of high-energy particle physics will soon experience a tremendous experimental progress thanks to the LHC experiment at CERN, Geneva. The LHC will finally elucidate the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking which is responsible for giving masses to fundamental particles of the Standard Model. In this exciting era, the main task for theoretical particle physics will be to understand the LHC data and fit it into a consistent theoretical framework. Distinguishing between various interpretations of the data will require an interdisciplinary approach that combines the results from high-energy colliders with the input from low-energy precision measurements, dark matter detection experiments, high-energy astrophysics, cosmology, etc. Meanwhile, much remains to be done to prepare for the wealth of experimental data, and there is a lot of room for improving our strategies to search for new physics. In particular, novel experimental observables can be devised and investigated in order to extract the signals from the overwhelming background. A recent example of such an observable is so-called jet substructure, that has already been shown to greatly increase sensitivity to new physics. Furthermore, many new physics scenarios predict experimental signatures which are not covered by existing search strategies. These gaps in our sensitivity have to be fixed in order to make sure that new physics will not be missed. The common denominator for new physics searches at the LHC is often Higgs physics, that is searching for and measuring the microscopical properties of the Higgs boson. The reason is that the dynamics of the Higgs sector is typically influenced by all heavy particles, including the new particles we hope to find at the LHC. Thus, measuring the Higgs interactions will provide important pieces of information about the fundamental interactions. Signatures of the Standard Model Higgs have been extensively investigated in the past. However, many models predict non-standard signatures of the Higgs boson that, moreover, may be difficult for hadron colliders such as the LHC and would be missed by the conventional Higgs searches. In this research program I describe several concrete proposal to increase sensitivity to various Higgs scenarios beyond the Standard Model.

After receiving PhD from Warsaw University in 2003, I took up the position of an assistant professor at Institute of Theoretical Physics, Warsaw University, which I held until 2008. During this time (while on leave of absence) I served short-term contracts at research centers abroad: a 1-year Humboldt Fellowship at DESY, Hamburg, Germany and a 3-years fellowship at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland. Currently, I am serving the 2nd year of a 3-years postdoc contract at Rutgers University, Piscataway NJ, USA. In the course of my career I have published more than 30 papers in leading peer-reviewed journals of my field. I have given numerous invited seminars in research centers and universities all over the world, and several plenary talks at prestigious conferences in my field. While at Warsaw University, I have supervised 1 bachelor thesis. Many of my papers are co-authored by young PhD students for whom I've effectively acted as a guide and a tutor.My main research domain can be defined as theoretical particle physics beyond the standard model. In the course of my scientific career so far I have been exploring different aspects of that field. The list of topics I have tackled includes Higgs physics, flavor physics, supersymmetry, supergravity, string theory, extra dimensions, little Higgs, compositeness, unparticles and hidden valleys. I am also interested in dark matter model building and detection, which connects my field to cosmology and astrophysics. I have studied quite formal aspects of the above mentioned theories as well their phenomenological consequences. In the recent years the weight has shifted toward collider phenomenology which brings together the fields of theoretical and experimental particle physics. Most of my current and planned research is directly related to interpreting results from collider experiments such as LEP, Tevatron, and the LHC. I am particularly interested in signatures of the Higgs boson at colliders, with the emphasis on non-standard scenarios that are difficult or impossible to notice with conventional Higgs search strategies.




Titulo:Search for new physics at the Large Hadron Collider


Nombre: FALKOWSKI , ADAM



The main research line proposes a completely novel method for high-yield nanoparticle (NP) production with high precision and accuracy both in size and composition through laser irradiation of a micro-target jet. Laser ablation is an important technique for nano-sized material fabrication. The two main methods currently in use differ on whether the ablation environment is a liquid (LAL) or a low pressure gas (LAG). Though each one is specially indicated for a range of applications, both share the many control difficulties related to the energy-coupling uncertainty intrinsic of the laser-matter interaction in bulk samples. The method hereby proposed avoids the mentioned fluctuations and uncertainties as the injection of micro-targets smaller than the laser beam waist at its focal point, results in a full and repetitive conversion of the laser energy. In turn, a substantially higher yield is expected from the full energy conversion when compared to bulk laser ablation.The influence of the irradiation regime on the composition of the ablated matter such as liquid ejection, solid shrapnels, vapor and ions will be investigated for laser fluences ranging from the melting threshold (1 J/cm2 for Au) to the region beyond the ablation threshold (10 J/cm2) where the expanding matter is essentially a plasma. Additionally, the femtosecond regime will be succinctly studied as the laser energy release time is considerably shorter than the hydrodynamic time scale, and the expansion process is almost adiabatic, so the shrapnel and debris production is easier to investigate.At the last stage of the project, several of the many possibilities of the method will be explored including tailoring the composition of the precursor droplets, or using an optional infrared laser coaxially aligned with the droplet stream to evaporate the carrier liquid or producing a solid micro-target.

Santiago Palanco López, 41, graduated both from the University of Greenwich (UK) where he was awarded a BSc with Honour degree in Applied Chemistry in 1992, and from the University of Pais Vasco (Spain) where he became Licenciado en Ciencias Químicas in 1996. From 1994 to 1998 he worked on laser processing of materials at the University of Málaga (UMA) and gradually grew an interest on laser-induced plasmas. He received an MSc in Laser Engineering from TU Wien (Austria) under the framework of the EU Leonardo Program in 1998. Then he moved to the Bremen Institute of Applied Laser Science (BIAS, Germany) to investigate the correlation between the plasma emission and the keyhole phenomena during cw-laser welding of aluminum alloys, a work for which he received the award of the 1st International Conference on Laser-Induced Plasma (LIP) Spectroscopy and Applications in 2000.In 2001, he received a PhD in Science from UMA for his research on the physics and spectrochemistry of LIP and their industrial applications under the supervision of Prof. Javier Laserna. In 2003, he and other group members were awarded with the Leandro Martinez Award of the 10th JAI conference to the ¿best contribution to scientific instrumentation development basing of emission spectroscopy" for part of his PhD thesis research. He remained at UMA during his early post-doc stage working on the uses of LIP for remote sensing and nanocharacterization.In 2004, a collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory (ARL, US Department of Defense, DoD) for the first time demonstrated the feasibility of LIP for stand-off detection of energetic materials in a field test. This achievement marked Santiago¿s career and the research on IED detection both in the US and Europe. In the next years and within the Laser Laboratory of UMA, he developed two stand-off LIP instruments in conjunction with Indra Sistemas and the Spanish Ministerio de Defensa, and started a collaboration with ARL, OOI (US) and APL (UK) involving five more instruments. In 2006, he moved to the University of Central Florida (UCF, US) to become a Senior Scientist at CREOL. Along with Prof. Martin Richardson he co-led a DoD-funded MURI program on femtosecond laser propagation and interaction and was key to the establishment of the Laser Ignition Facility of UCF, but on top of all, he took this unique chance to deeply broaden his knowledge in the fields of optics and plasma physics and chemistry.Santiago is the co-author of 38 scientific works, including 6 book chapters, 4 patents and 28 papers published in peer-reviewed journals rated among the top 5 of their respective fields. He is the co-director of 1 PhD thesis, with 3 more on the way (he has a weaker link since he left UCF). His participation on conferences amounts to 62 papers (44 int. confs.) with 43 oral presentations. He has worked in 24 research projects/contracts co-directing 2 of them and has been a member of the international committees of several conferences worldwide.At present, while he keeps collaborating with UCF, he is back at UMA provisionally working as a laboratory technician for the Unidad de Nanotecnologia, a start up facility under the responsibility of Prof. José Ramos-Barrado (Dept. of Applied Physics). The Facility involves several UMA research groups working in Nanofabrication and Nanocharacterization (UPS-XPS, SNMS and FIB-SEM).




Titulo:TAILORED GENERATION OF NANOPARTICLES BY LASER IRRADIATION OF A MICRO-DROPLET STREAM


Nombre: PALANCO LÓPEZ, SANTIAGO



Protoplanetary disks around solar-type stars are the precursors of our own Solar System. During their few-million years lifetimes, the disks suffer evolution characterized by gas accretion, dust coagulation and growth from micron-sized grains to planetesimals, dust settling, and photoevaporation. Disks lose material, acquire inner holes and gaps, flatten out, and finally disperse. Disk lifetimes set strong constrains to the time available for the formation of (giant) planets, and determine when and whether planet formation is possible. Although time evolution is evident when comparing disks and disk fractions in clusters with different ages, the large individual differences reveal that age is not the only factor in disk dissipation. The interplay of the different physical processes affecting the dust and gas in the disks and the effect of disk/stellar mass, initial conditions and external influence of nearby stars on planet formation are complex. I propose a multiwavelength approach to study the physics of protoplanetary disk dispersal in various cluster environments (including massive star forming regions and compact, low-mass clusters) at different evolutionary stages. Using the telescope facilities available to Spain and the European Union (ground-based as well as space-borne), I will investigate the effects of stellar properties (especially, disk and stellar mass), initial conditions, and environment in disk evolution to construct a coherent picture of the scenario where planets are formed, and the physical processes involved. Optical and ultraviolet data reveal stellar properties, activity, accretion, and the effects of photoevaporation in the innermost disk. Infrared observations show the presence of warm dust and gas at different distances from the star, as well as the mineralogy and solid state of the dust material, which are indirect traces of turbulence and transport in disks as well as of the processes governing grain growth/settling and chemistry. Gas lines related to photoevaporation/X-ray excitation are also detectable in the infrared. Finally, far-infrared, millimeter and submillimeter observations constrain the disk masses and trace prestellar and protostellar cores, exposing the formation initial conditions. Recent space-borne missions, like the Spitzer Space Telescope, peered in the structure and mineralogy of the inner disk. Multiobject spectrographs on 6-8m class telescopes (like Hectochelle/Hectospec on the MMT or FLAMES/VLT) opened a door to study more distant, fainter systems. Near-IR (CRIRES/VLT) and UV (COS/HST) instruments reveal the gas in the terrestrial planet-forming regions. The present and immediate future with the Herschel Space Telescope will extend our knowledge of disks beyond the snowline and the ice giant planet location, as well as back in time into the formation processes of the star-plus-disk systems, to be complemented with current millimeter and submillimeter facilities (IRAM singledish and interferometer, SMA, APEX). Multiobject spectroscopy with 10+m class telescopes (GTC/Osiris) will reveal the properties of the faintest and lowest-mass objects. These observations will trace the way to future projects that will expose the innermost structure of individual disks (ALMA, 2012) and target for detailed planetary spectra (JWST, 2014-15).

My main field of expertise are multiwavelength studies of young stars and protoplanetary disks. I graduated in Physics in June 2000 at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, being awarded the national "Primer Premio Extraordinario Fin de Carrera". I worked as a summer student at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias from July-September 2000, before moving in October 2000 to start my doctorate in Astrophysics with a Smithsonian Fellowship to work with L. Hartmann at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, MA, USA. This grant allowed me to fully pursue the research for my thesis at the CfA, although it required the thesis defense to take place in the original university (UAM, June 8th, 2005). My thesis consisted of observational studies of the solar-type stars in young stellar clusters at the critical age for planet formation (4-12 Megayears), in order to characterize the cluster members and the presence of protoplanetary disks. For this purpose, I used several telescope facilities worldwide and infrared data from Spitzer. I acquired a vast observational experience with different instruments (optical and IR imaging and spectroscopy) at different observatories (Kitt Peak, FLWO, MMT, Mauna Kea), performing myself most of the required observations as well as service observations for other groups.From September 2005-September 2008, I worked as Postoctoral Fellow at the Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie (MPIA) in Heidelberg, Germany, within the group of Thomas Henning. I continued working on evolved protoplanetary disks, extending my research to include disk mineralogy (using IR spectra from IRS/Spitzer) to trace the evolution of dust and its relation to other parameters (disk turbulence), and millimeter observations to reveal the total disk mass and its evolution with time. I also extended my observational experience to radio observations (IRAM, Effelsberg) and optical observations at ESO/MPIA facilities. Most of the data used in my research came from my own accepted telescope applications, including ESO/VLT, IRAM, and Spitzer/IRS projects.In September 2008 I was awarded a two-year personal grant (extended to December 2010 due to maternity leave) from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation) to pursue my own research project. I continued working in Heidelberg to take advantage of the MPIA facilities, including a Herschel GTO program. My project focused at extending my previous research to low-mass stars in different types of clusters (low-mass clusters and OB associations). The required data was provided by my own successful telescope applications (ESO/VLT, APEX, Calar Alto, MMT, BTA-SAO, IRAM), in addition to a collaboration with a Herschel GTO PACS program (P.I. Ph. André) to study the initial conditions in star-forming regions.My experience in first-class international centers allows me to interact and collaborate with numerous people in institutions worldwide (USA, Spain, Hungary, Russia, France, Switzerland). During my postdoc time I have been awarded 236h of observing time at various telescopes. I have 21 publications in referred journals, 10 of them as first author, with 528 citations and H index 12. I am Spanish native speaker, and fluent in English and German. I have presented my results in numerous international conferences and seminars in different institutions.




Titulo:A dynamical picture of protoplanetary disk evolution: The influence of mass, environment, and initial conditions in the formation of extra-Solar Systems


Nombre: SICILIA AGUILAR, MARIA AURORA



El problema de la materia oscura es una de las cuestiones más díficiles a resolverpor la física moderna y es una de las mejores evidencias para la física más allá delModelo Estándar de la física de partículas. Supersimetría que es la teoría más prometedorapara nueva física predice partículas que satisfacen los requisitos para constituir la materia oscura del universo. Además, entre otras cosas, aparece como un marco natural para explicar el fenómeno de la inflación cosmológica. El area de aplicación de la física de partículas a comprender el cosmos es llamada física de astropartículas. Es un campo con interes creciente,principalmente debido a la gran variedad de experimentos que se estan llevando a cabo enrelación con el tema y a los proyectados para un futuro cercano. Por otro lado, con la puestaen marcha del Large Hadron Collider (LHC) se espera que se descubra nueva física, en concretosupersimetría. El candidato ha propuesto la investigación en tres campos diferenciados: materiaoscura y colisionadores, cosmología y teorías más allá de la mínima extensión supersimétricadel Modelo Estándar.Así, una parte importante estará focalizada en el uso de datos tanto del experimento ATLASen el LHC, como de detección de materia oscura, obserbables electro-débiles y física del mesonB para inferir los parámetros fundamentales y el espectro de modelos supersimétricos. Unaconsecuencia directa de la observación de una señal de nueva física de tipo supersimétrica enel LHC implicaría el conocimiento del mecanismo de ruptura de supersimetría y a nivelcosmológico la estructura del halo galáctico y de la cosmología pre Big Bang. Esto será llevadoa cabo dentro de un bien definido contexto estadístico como es la estadística Bayesiana y de unamanera complementaria a través de la estadística frecuentista.Esto constituye un programa ambicioso que está siendo desarrollado conjuntamente conexperimentales de ATLAS en el LHC, de detección directa y indirecta de materia oscura y confísicos teóricos de partículas, astrofísicos y estadísticos. Todo los avances están siendoplasmados en el código numérico llamado SuperBayeS. El código es público y disponible enhttp://superbayes.org y podrá ser también usado para estudios previos sobre el desarrollodel futuro colisionador lineal (ILC).Aparte de esto, el candidato propone trabajar en modelos de inflación, energía oscura yextensiones de la mínima realización supersimétrica del Modelo Estándar que engloban físicade neutrinos y asi analizar su fenomenología tanto desde el punto de colisionadores ycomo de implicaciones para materia oscura.

Me licencie en ciencias fisicas, especialidad de fundamental en la Universidad de Cantabria. Luego hice mi doctorado en la Universidad de Lancaster en el Reino Unido a cargo del profesor Leszek Roszkowski. Posteriormente fui a la Universidad de Salonica en Grecia con una beca postdoctoralde la network europea "Supersymmetry and the Early Universe" perteneciente al quintoframework Europeo. Alli trabaje 2 años con el profesor George Lazarides. Despues de esto consegui una beca postdoctoral de 1 año en el departamento defisica de la Universidad de Sheffield en el Reino Unido. A continuacion fui a la Universidad Autonoma de Madrid con una beca Juan de la Cierva a cargo del profesor Carlos Muñoz donde estuve 3 años, mas un tiempo breve de extension del contrato. Desde que la acabe estoy en el Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular en Valencia con una nueva beca postdoctoral.Durante los años de investigacion mi principal linea de investigacion se ha desarrollado en el campo de la fenomenologia de modelos SUSY aplicada tanto a colisionadores como al campo de las astroparticulas. Una de las mayores contribuciones que he echo en mi carrera investigadora ha sido la aplicacion de un metodo estadistico muy potente, que ha sido usado con exito en cosmologia del cosmic microwave background, en la exploracion de nueva fisica desde el punto de vista de colisionadores y de astroparticulas. Como consecuencia hemos creado un software publico que implementa todo esto. Ello ha tenido mucha aceptacion en la comunidad cientifica y como consecuencia hemos conseguido muchas citas en publicaciones relacionadas con ello. Ademas el codigoesta siendo utilizado por bastantes grupos de investigacion a nivel nacional y internacional.Esto ademas ha llevado al interes de muchos grupos en colaborar con nosotros para la aplicacion del metodo en su investigacion. Desde experimentales que trabajan en el LHC como grupos que trabajan en experimentos de astrofisica/astroparticulas tales como FERMI y ICECUBE. Sobre FERMI decir que soy miembro externo del grupo de Materia Oscura de la colaboracion. Como dato adicional quiero decir que algunos resultados obtenidos con este metodo han sido publicados en la revista Nature.Aparte de esto que ha focalizado mi atencion durante los ultimos años, he acumulado alrededor de 1300 citas en las publicaciones en los 39 articulos, contando proceedings, en los que he participado.Como otras cosas interesantes a citar, he enseñado en escuelas especializadas a estudiantes de doctorado y en la facultad de ciencias de la Universidad Autonoma de Madrid una asignatura del segundo año de ciencias fisicas durante dos años academicos. Tambien debo mencionar que soy referee de revistas con gran impacto como JCAP. Finalmente decir que he participado en la organizacion de congresos.




Titulo:Implicaciones de Modelos Supersimetricos en Colisionadores, Fisica de Astroparticulas y Cosmologia


Nombre: RUIZ DE AUSTRI BAZAN, ROBERTO



Experimentos con haces de iones radiactivos constituyen una herramienta fundamental para la investigación de la estructura de la materia y en astrofísica nuclear. La línea de investigación principal de este proyecto es doble. Por un lado propongo una línea puramente científica, basada en la realización de experimentos con haces radiactivos en la instalación GSI-FRS (Alemania). Estos tres experimentos están enfocados al estudio de la estructura nuclear con un impacto notable en diversos escenarios astrofísicos. Por otro lado, planteo el desarrollo y construcción de instrumentación nuclear vanguardista para experimentos de espectroscopía gamma. En particular, propongo el desarrollo de un sistema para la caracterización espacial de detectores gamma de germanio sensibles a las posiciones. Estas dos líneas de investigación constituyen una continuación natural de mi trabajo actual como investigador postdoctoral en el GSI (Alemania) y están estrechamente vinculadas a la futura instalación internacional FAIR, donde España tiene una participación importante.1) Estructura y astrofísica nuclear con haces de iones radiactivos en el GSI:i) El primer experimento consiste en la medida de desintegración beta y de neutrones retardados en los isótopos Tl213-216, Hg213-214, Au208-211, Pt208-209 y Ir205-206. Esta medida proporcionará información fundamental para el entendimiento del proceso de captura rápida de neutrones en entornos explosivos (como supernovas) y en particular para el estudio de la formación de los elementos más pesados que el bismuto, que son un producto exclusivo de la nucleosíntesis estelar explosiva. ii) El segundo experimento consiste en el estudio de la evolución de la estructura nuclear hacia el isótopo Ni78, que corresponde a un "cuello de botella" en la nucleosíntesis estelar del proceso rápido. Esta medida representará un importante adelanto para la mejor comprensión de la interacción spin-isospin residual y para el estudio de los efectos de estructura nuclear, característicos del cierre de capas (hacia N=50), que son fundamentales en la astrofísica del proceso rápido de captura neutrónica.iii) El tercer experimento consiste en hacer espectroscopía gamma en vuelo, a velocidades relativistas, para determinar con una precisión alta (5 keV) la energía de varios estados excitados en 47Mn y 58Zn, que corresponden a resonancias de captura protónica en el proceso de captura protónica rápida de nucleosíntesis estelar. Dichas medidas nos permitirán reducir entre 2 y 3 ordenes de magnitud incertidumbres existentes en la reacción de captura estelar (p,g) de estos dos isótopos, que son dos cuellos de botella en el proceso rápido de captura protónica, característico de las explosiones termonucleares en sistemas estelares binarios (x-ray bursts).2) Instrumentación vanguardista para experimentos de espectroscopía gamma:La línea de investigación científico-técnica de este proyecto esta dedicada al desarrollo de instrumentación nuclear vanguardista para espectroscopía gamma de alta resolución. Planteo el desarrollo de un sistema para la caracterización espacial de detectores de germanio. Un elemento clave en este trabajo consistirá en el desarrollo de una cámara-gamma, de alta resolución espacial y con un amplio campo de visión. Este tipo de investigación, es fundamental para experimentos con haces radioactivos, pero también tiene numerosas aplicaciones en el campo de la física médica.

Desde enero 2008 investigador postdoctoral en el centro GSI (Alemania). Mi línea principal de investigación es el estudio de la estructura de la materia y su impacto en varios escenarios astrofísicos. Soy responsable-principal (spokesperson) de tres propuestas experimentales en el GSI y una en el Laboratorio Nacional de Leñaro (Italia). En el proyecto PRESPEC-GSI, soy responsable principal del "Grupo de Trabajo de Detectores de Radiación Gamma". Soy coordinador del "Grupo de simulación MC de AGATA en el GSI", este último involucra a unos 20 científicos de varios paises. En el GSI, dentro del proyecto HISPEC-DESPEC de FAIR, soy responsable principal de un proyecto enfocado al desarrollo de un sistema vanguardista para la caracterización de detectores de germanio sensibles a las posiciones. En el marco de este proyecto he desarrollado una cámara-gamma, con aplicaciones en física médica. En el proyecto RISING-GSI he participado en 7 experimentos de beta-decay, correspondientes a mas de 60 días de medida. Participo activamente en el experimento n_TOF del CERN, en la medida de secciones eficaces de captura neutrónica.De 4/2006 a 12/2007, investigador postdoctoral en el centro FZK-Karlsruhe (Alemania). Mi línea principal de investigación consiste en la medida de secciones eficaces de captura neutrónica de relevancia para astrofísica (nucleosíntesis estelar del proceso lento de captura neutrónica en estrellas AGB). Durante esta estancia también analizo y publico datos medidos anteriormente (durante mi tesis) en la instalación n_TOF del CERN. Trabajo en estrecha colaboración con los astrofísicos F.Kaeppeler y R.Gallino. Me convierto en el miembro de la colaboración n_TOF del CERN con mayor número de publicaciones como primer autor (relacionadas con n_TOF).2001-2006: Tesis doctoral con una beca I3P-CSIC en el IFIC (CSIC-Universidad de Valencia). La parte experimental la realizo en la instalación n_TOF del CERN, en varias estancias de 2-3 meses. En el CERN participo en la puesta a punto del dispositivo para medidas de captura neutrónica y en el "commissioning" de la instalación. Una parte central de mi trabajo la dedico a la simulación MC del dispositivo de medida. Hacemos una contribución importante a la mejora de la técnica de medida (NIMA 517 (2004)).1999-2000: Tesis de licenciatura en el Instituto de Física Nuclear de Mainz, en el marco de la colaboración A2. Beca del DAAD y 2 becas de la Universidad Johannes-Gutenberg de Mainz.Escribo mi tesis de licenciatura en alemán y obtengo la mejor calificación.En resumen he publicado 40 artículos en revistas científicas, tengo contribuciones a casi 60 congresos internacionales, 2 de ellas como conferenciante invitado, 4 años de estancia postdoctoral en FZK (Alemania) y en el GSI (Alemania), varias estancias de 2-3 meses en el CERN durante mi tesis doctoral y un año en el Instituto de Física Nuclear de Mainz durante mi tesis de licenciatura.En resumen tengo 40 publicaciones en revistas científicas, casi 60 contribuciones a congresos internacionales, 2 de ellas como conferenciante invitado, 4 años de estancia postdoctoral en FZK (Alemania) y en el GSI (Alemania), varias estancias de 2-3 meses en el CERN durante mi tesis doctoral, una estancia de un año para realizar mi tesis de licenciatura en el Instituto de Física Nuclear de Mainz (Alemania) y 3 meses como Summer-Student en la Universidad de Mainz (Alemania).




Titulo:Nuclear structure and astrophysics with exotic ions


Nombre: DOMINGO PARDO, CÉSAR



Since the discovery of the first exoplanet orbiting a solar type star in 1995 by Mayor & Queloz, more than 400 exoplanets have been found. The orbital inclinations of 65 of them are high enough as to cause the occultation of some parts of the host star by the planet during transits, which allow a series of follow-up studies that are not possible by other means. Thanks to the transits, we can measure the radius of the planet, which together with its mass estimation provides the density of the planet, and clues about its composition. The relatively few transiting exoplanets known to date already give an idea about the variety of these objects, which go from a dense planet, with a 70 M_E core, to an extremely low dense planet thatreaches a size of 1.7 R_J. As for today, the variety in densities and sizes of these objects is not fully understood, and additional sources of energy in some of these objects need to be invoked in order to explain the observed radius. Future planet discoveries using the transit method will throw some light in the planetary formation, structure and evolution. Space missions such as CoRoT, Kepler and PLATO are increasing the range of known planets, reaching terrestrial masses and orbits further away from their host stars. The first two discovered transiting Super-Earths (CoRoT-7b and GJ1214b) already show a difference in densities of a factor of 3.6, confirming the expected diversity in the exoplanets that are not gas giants. Some of the known transiting systems are multiple planet systems, and thus changes in the orbit of the transiting planet might be currently detectable. With the transmission spectroscopy technique, which allows the study of the radius of the planet at different wavelengths, we can detect the main absorption elements in the atmospheres of these objects. Measuring the occultation of the planet by the star, or secondary eclipse, we can infer the thermal emission from the planet at different wavelengths, thusproviding a method to obtain a spectrum of these objects.

Licenciado en Física por la Universidad de La Laguna (2000). Doctor en Astrofísica por el Departamento de Astrofísica de la Universidad de la Laguna (Enero 2006), con la tesis "Detección y caracterización de exoplanetas mediante el método de los tránsitos", dirigida por los Dres. J.A. Belmonte y T.M. Brown. Post-doc en el Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille (2006-2009, Dr. P. Barge) y en el Observatoire Astronomique de l'Université de Genève (2009-2010, Prof. D. Queloz). He participado en varios proyectos pioneros en la detección de exoplanetas mediante el método de los tránsitos: STARE/TrES proporcionó las primeras detecciones en torno a estrellas relativamente brillantes. La misión espacial CoRoT detectó los primeros exoplanetas desde el espacio. En ambos proyectos he estado profundamente implicado, liderando los artículos que a día de hoy más citas han recibido de cada uno de los proyectos (2004: descubrimiento de TrES-1, >210 citas, 2008: descubrimiento de CoRoT-2b,>60 citas). TrES-1 fue clave para la primera detección de emisión térmica procedente de un exoplaneta, de la que soy coautor (>230 citas). En total, soy coautor de 46 artículos aceptados en revistas internacionales con árbitro. Mi índice h-Hirsch es de 18, y el conjunto de mis publicaciones ha sido citado más de 1250 veces. He arbitrado trabajos en ApJ (4), A&A (2), IAU proceedings, y proyectos en la Academy of Science of the Check Republic. He sido miembro de cómite científico organizador de un workshop y miembro de tribunal de tesis. He sido invitado como lecturer a dos escuelas internacionales y como conferenciante a varios congresos. He impartido charlas y publicado trabajos de divulgación.




Titulo:Detection and characterization of exoplanets


Nombre: ALONSO SOBRINO, ROI



In this application I am proposing the scheme of a project, whose driving theme consists in applying to CMS the experience gained in CDF.My contribution to CDF will continue focusing in the following projects:1.- To follow the radiation damage study of the Silicon detector comparing model predictions to depletion voltage and signal to noise ratio measurements. 2.- To analyse CDF data, focused on the identification and reconstruction of tau leptons in hadronic collisions. My contribution to CMS will evolve smoothly from my current CDF activities:1.- It is important to replicate the Silicon detector radiation damage analysis, since it is one of the main drivers of LHC/SLHC R&D.2.- To apply my CDF analysis experience to object reconstruction in CMS and ultimately to searches beyond the standard model. 3.- To participate in the operation of the CMS muon chambers, using my experience with the CDF silicon to help streamlining operations, decrase manpower requirements by increasing the automation of the system.This activity leads me naturally to work in SLHC upgrades of theCMS DT system.

I have signed 214 publications, which average ~30 cites/publication in spires: 135 were articles published by the CDF Collaboration, 52 by the ZEUS Collaboration and 14 by the H.E.S.S. Collaboration. I have also written 6 proceedings reports, 5 of them were published in refereed international journals; and edited the proceedings of a conference. Currently (from March 2006), I am a researcher financed by the CIEMAT. From March 2009 I have been ramping up the involvement in CMS, becoming a member; from 1/11/09 I am based at CERN. In CMS I have become an expert of the drift tubes muon detector (DT), particularly in the readout electronics that was mostly designed and built by CIEMAT. Previously I was based at Fermilab (Chicago, EE.UU.) working for CDF: 1- There, I was leader of Silicon operations group (SPL) from 02/2007 to 12/2007. This group is composed by ~10 people. As SPL, I was a member of the ISL Cooling task force, where my contribution was crucial for the diagnostic, design and application of the solution to the acidification problem that was threatening the detector. This problem is described in my proceedings submitted to VillaOlmo Conference in October 2007. The detector has been working fine since repairs during the 2007 shutdown.2- Silicon radiation degradation studies. I have co-supervised a PhD thesis ("Evidence of Dopant Type-Inversion and Other Radiation Effects of the CDF Silicon Detectors") that is about to be defended.3-Involvement in B physics analysis From 03/04 to 03/06 I was financed by a PPARC technology transfer project: "Development of a prototype microstrip dosimeter for characterization of medical radiotherapy and radiosurgery systems". Initially, I was a Research Associate (RA) in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sheffield, depending from the University of Glasgow from 11/04. In the context of this collaboration of industrial (Micron, ETL) and academic partners (Sheffield/Glasgow, RAL and the Weston Park Hospital, where I was based), I was responsible of a vast variety of projects, both hardware and software related. The results have been presented to several international conferences (IWORID, PSD, MIC/NSS IEEE) and published in refereed journals.I join the Astroparticle Group in LLR-Ecole Polytechnique (in2p3,CNRS) in January 2004 to work in the H.E.S.S. experiment, a system of Cerenkov Telescopes in Namibia. I think the H.E.S.S. articles listed in my publication list (including one in Nature and one in Science) show that, after decades of pioneering efforts, H.E.S.S. has finally opened a new window in high energy gamma astronomy never explored before. I was a member of the High Energy Physics Group at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid during the period linked to my thesis (08/97 to 12/01), which was titled "Charm Electroproduction at HERA" (supervisor L. Labarga), working in the ZEUS collaboration based in the DESY-Hamburg laboratory. I was financed by a pre-doctoral grant of the Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. MY PhD work otained the extraordinary mention in Physics by the University.1-Analysis of the ZEUS data on D* meson electroproduction which lead to the ZEUS publication "Measurement of D*+- production and the charm contribution to F_2 in DIS" (150 cites in spires). 2-I took part in the ZEUS silicon vertex (MVD) test beam program (data taking, analysis and wrote publication in NIM) to study the behaviour of the Silicon microstrip dete




Titulo:Física de particulas experimental usando colisiones hadrónicas en CDF y CMS


Nombre: REDONDO FERNÁNDEZ, IGNACIO



The research on the origin of the high energy radiation arriving to Earth is a field with a long history. The definition of the energy regime and quanta type that this field refers to has changed over time. My main area of research is the study of the origin of Cosmic Rays. This type of radiation refers to charged particles, either leptons or quark composites, that arrive to Earth. Within this field, I focus in those that we are sure about its extra-solar origin. Due to the deflections of these particles in the intervening magnetic fields and the experimental techniques with which we measured them, it is a research that cannot be conducted in the same way as Astronomy. However, it requires input from both Astronomy and Particle Physics.I am planning to develop my research in this field with special of focus in the high energy end of the spectrum that is being measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory. Due to the low fluxes, these particles are measured via Extensive Air Showers. Therefore, the modeling of particle interactions at energies much higher than in current accelerators is required. One of my main topics will be the understanding of Extensive Air Showers.I have also diverse interests in the field of High Energy Physics. The field of High Energy Astrophysics has the potential to give us an insight not only on the Astrophysical environments where the radiation is produced, but also on Fundamental physics.

I obtained my PhD title in the Department of Particle Physics of the University of Santiago the Compostela in the field of Astroparticle Physics. I have been working in this field for the last 10 years. I worked as a PPARC fellow in the University of Leeds, as a scientist in the University of Chicago, and in the TUM (Technische Universitaet Muenchen). Right now I am in the Institut fuer Kernphysik (IK), Karlsruhe. I am very much involved in the Pierre Auger Project, but I have also diverse interests in the field.




Titulo:High energy extra-solar radiation


Nombre: AVE PERNAS, MÁXIMO



One of the most fruitful notions that have been derived from string theory is the gauge-gravity correspondence. Weakly coupled gravity is useful for describing strongly coupled gauge systems and vice-versa. The study of different generalizations of the original AdS/CFT correspondence has provided remarkable insights in the physics of different set-ups, for instance, the quark-gluon plasma. The generalization and application of dualities between string and gauge theories has been one of my main research lines in the past. I have collaborated in related issues within several groups, finding nice results as a description of chiral symmetry breaking in terms of an open string tachyon or the construction of supergravity solutions corresponding to gauge theories with unquenched quarks.In the last years, a lot of progress, both technical and conceptual, has been achieved in this general framework. Thus, it is exciting and promising to work on it.My intention for future projects is to explore new possibilities that these developments have opened. The goal is to make contact with phenomenology as much as possible and to search for relations among the different areas of physics in which these methods can be applied. Concretely, I would like to use gauge-gravity methods to gain insight in the following questions, not unrelated among them:- Walking technicolor models for electroweak symmetry breaking. One essential limitation from the field theory point of view of this proposed UV completion of the standard model is the impossibility of making computations at strong coupling. Thus, it is a scenario where holographic models can naturally produce new insights. Some works have been done along this line, but I expect a lot of interesting physics to be discovered yet.- Study of properties of strongly coupled theories in which the dynamical effects of fundamental matter are essential, like phase diagrams of gauge theories. For instance, studies from the gauge-gravity point of view of color-flavor-locking-like phases or conformal windows. I expect my previous work about holographic theories in the Veneziano limit to be a good starting point.- Building of holographic models of hadrons, including mesons and baryons, their spectrum and other properties. Much work has been devoted for this, but models with open string tachyon effective actions are promising and yet to be thoroughly explored.- Construction of holographic models for certain condensed matter systems. Since the above research lines are ambitious enough, at this stage I regard this point as a tentative collateral prospect of the present project. It is worth emphasizing that since the gauge-gravity formalism gives a common framework for many strong coupling situations, one should keep in mind that technical developments in one model could be useful elsewhere.

I am a postdoctoral researcher in the area of high energy physics ¿ theory (hep-th). Mostly, I have studied string theory methods for the analysis of strong gauge interactions using the so-called AdS/CFT duality and its generalizations.I have published 23 articles in top, international, specialized peer-reviewed journals; plus 5 contributions to conference proceedings. This work has achieved significant impact and has received approximately 760 citations, having two topcite 100+ papers and other two 50+ (my total citation count is 739 regarding SPIRES-HEP, the most complete database for the hep-th publications, to which 27 citations have to be added corresponding to my paper in Europhysics Letters which is not high energy physics and therefore is not listed in Spires). These papers were co-authored with 18 different scientists of 7 nationalities (all articles were small size collaborations of 3.1 authors in average). I have been able to present my research work in 36 specilized lectures in 13 different countries, including contributions to scientific meetings and invited seminars at different institutions. The list of places where I have been invited to present my work includes renowned institutions as Princeton University (USA), Imperial College (UK), École Normale Superieure (France), CERN (Switzerland), etc.I graduated in Physics at the University of Santiago de Compostela with a mark of 3.46 out of 4, in 1999. I obtained my Ph.D. cum laude also at Santiago, in June 2004, working under the supervision of Prof. Alfonso. V. Ramallo. After that, I have worked as a postdoctoral researcher in three leading European institutions, as I describe below. I accessed each of my three postdoctoral contracts after a competitive open process of applications, in which I was selected for the position by a local committee of each research institution. I have twice obtained the Marie Curie Intra-European fellowship (although I did not accept the second one).- From September 2004 to September 2007, I was postdoc researcher at the École Polytechnique in France. I was hired by Prof. E. Kiritis under a European EXT grant and extended my stay with a Marie Curie IEF. - From October 2007 to May 2009, I worked as a postdoc for the Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands. I was hired by Dr. Kasper Peeters under a VIDI grant of the Dutch national agency of research.- Since June 2009, I am working at University of Barcelona in Spain, supported by a project financed by the Spanish government of which Prof. J. Garriga is the principal investigator.Apart from speaking Spanish and Galician as a native, I speak fluently English and French, while I have basic knowledge of Dutch and Catalan. As a chess player, I am FIDE Master (World Chess Federation), since 2004. I have obtained several academic prizes in my predoctoral career, of which I would like to highlight the first national (Spanish) prize of secondary education (in 1995).




Titulo:Applications of gauge-gravity duality


Nombre: PAREDES GALÁN, ÁNGEL



My current research lines can be summarized as "Study of waves, convection, magnetic fields and their interaction in the atmospheres of Sun and stars" with observational analysis and theoretical /numerical modelling being in an equilibrium proportion. During my Thesis, I studied the statistical relationship between waves and solar granulation in order to understand the mechanisms of wave excitation in the Sun. I proposed an alternative theoretical model to explain these relationships, without the need to assume different acoustic excitation rates in granules and intergranular lanes. Over the same years I participated in a project aimed at studying the solar magnetic field topology, strength and dynamical processes using high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of quiet Sun and active regions. Together with my collaborators, I showed, for the first time, that at least 50% of the quiet solar surface is covered by the magnetic field directly measurable with the Zeeman effect, and estimated the magnetic energy budget of the quiet solar regions. Working as a Post Doc Juan de la Cierva at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, I have developed from scratch a non-linear numerical code to solve the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations in 2 or 3 dimensions. The code is adapted for simulations of MHD wave propagation in non-trivial magnetic field configurations under adiabatic and non-adiabatic conditions. It has already been applied successfully to a number of problems in solar and stellar physics and is one of the most advanced in the community to study physics of waves in magnetic fields. This code has been used to study the wave propagation and refraction in sunspots; modelling of the behaviour of helioseismic waves propagating below the surface in active regions; simulations of magneto-acoustic pulsations in rapidly oscillating Ap stars, etc. Apart from the work on the quiet Sun magnetism and numerical simulations of MHD waves in solar and stellar atmospheres, I have expanded my scientific interests to stellar astrophysics. A most recently started research line is numerical simulations of stellar magneto-convection. This is a long-term ambitious project aiming at solving the problem of abundance determination of different chemical elements in different types of stars, primarily in metal-poor stars.My future perspective research lines will be. (1) continuation of work on the physics of waves in the magnetized atmospheres of Sun and stars; (2) magnetoconvection simulations of stellar atmospheres and precise chemical abundance determination; (3) study of the possible consequences of the deviations from ideal magnetohydrodynamics in the solar photosphere and chromosphere, due to their low degree of ionization, on the stability of the magnetic structures (such as sunspot and flux tubes) and on the energy transport and dissipation by means of MHD waves and electric currents.

I obtained my Doctorate degree in 2003 at the Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences in Ukraine. The title of my thesis was "Five minute oscillations in local solar structures: granules, porules and sunspots". During 2004-2007 I was working as a Post-Doc Juan de la Cierva at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias. Presently, I am enjoying another Post Doctoral position at the same institute. During my scientific carrier I have participated successfully in a number of international and national scientific projects and have got experience both in theoretical and observational solar physics in diverse fields such as: magnetohydrodynamics (MHD), analytical and numerical solutions of MHD equations, plasma physics, physics of waves in quiet and active regions of the solar atmosphere, radiative transfer of polarised light and spectral line formation, Zeeman effect on spectral lines, etc. I have experience in writing and executing numerical MHD codes for solving non-linear MHD equations in two and three dimensions. On the observational side, I have experience with state-of-art ground-based solar telescopes and instruments, spectropolarimeters and analysis of spectropolarimetric data. I am familiar with advanced methods of data analysis such as inversion techniques. My main actual research line is "Interaction of waves, convection and magnetic fields in the atmospheres of the Sun and stars". It comprises observational, theoretical and numerical aspects. I have published 31 refereed papers (22 of them as first-author), including 5 invited reviews on different subjects, from observations to numerical simulations. One of my recent papers was granted the JOSO 2007 Prize for the best paper by a young solar physicist. I have participated in 35 international conferences and have been invited 6 times to give review lectures on these conferences. My papers have received 292 citations in total. I presently participate in active collaborations with several institutes in Europe, US and Australia and have spent around 19 months in research visits to these institutes. I am the supervisor of two PhD thesis works, both started around 2006 and to be successfully finished in 2010. My application to the European Research Council Starting Grant call in 2010 "SPIA: Magnetic connectivity through the Solar Partially Ionized Atmosphere" successfully passed the Step 1 selection and I was invited for an interview with the evaluation panel in April 2010. I have been selected several times as a referee for the most prestigious journals in my field of research, such as The Astrophysical Journal, Astronomy & Astrophysics and Solar Physics.




Titulo:Ondas, convección y campos magnéticos en la atmósfera del Sol y de estrellas


Nombre: KHOMENKO , OLENA



I would like to pursue a few lines of research in Cosmology and Theoretical Physics. A first line of research focuses on the problem of the accelerated expansion of the Universe. In particular I have focused on the idea that we could live near the center of a large underdense region, which has ben shown to mimic an accelerated expansion without Dark Energy. The challenge here is to find a model which can account for all cosmological observations and to find observables specific to this model. Another connected issue that I am studying involves the Cosmic Microwave Background anisotropies, including primordial non-gaussianity and also the effect due to structures on very large scales (which could account for some observed anomalies in the CMB sky), their specific observational signatures, including cmb-lensing, non gaussianity and weak-lensing. Another line of research involves the dynamics of Primordial Inflation in the Early Universe. In earlier publications we have proposed a scenario where Inflation from a metastable vacuum is successful in scalar-tensor gravity theories. In addition we have found that this scenario offers a possibility to explain dynamically the Hierarchy Problem (why gravity is so much weaker than the other forces). This scenario has moreover the unique virtue that it can be tested in gravitational wave experiments (LISA) and by CMB observations. This line of research requires to construct realistic particle physics candidates for such a scenario. Also, this is intimately connected to scalar-tensor and other modifications of gravity, and I plan to pursue these subjects as well, in relation to the acceleration of the Universe and to new observations of structure formation.Another topic that I am working on is the generation of primordial magnetic fields in the primordial plasma. Moreover, I have worked on field theory at finite temperature for models of baryogenesis and I am now starting to work on aspects of it, in external fields for various applications. In general, I plan to connect theoretical ideas with the observations that are coming from experimental cosmology and particle physics (with the coming LHC experiment), on several topics: inflation, dark energy, cosmological perturbations, baryogenesis and particle phenomenology.

I have studied Physics at Scuola Normale Superiore and Universita' di Pisa (Italy) from 1997 to 2001. In November 2001 I have graduated in Physics at Universita' di Pisa (110/110 cum laude), with a thesis in Theoretical Cosmology and Particle Physics, on the ``Cosmology of neutrinos as warm dark matter'', supervised by prof.A.Riotto and prof. R.Barbieri. In October 2002 I have graduated also from Scuola Normale Superiore (70/70 cum laude). I have pursued a Ph.D. program at Scuola Normale Superiore from 2002 to the end of 2004, supervised by A.Riotto. During this period I have worked on topics related to the very early universe, such as effects of low reheating temperatures after primordial inflation on production of neutrinos, cosmological perturbations through quantum fluctuations of scalar fields (specifically, isocurvature fluctuations with non canonical kinetic terms), the curvaton scenario for the production of cosmological perturbations, the issue of vacuum choice in quantum fluctuations during inflation, the presence of thermal masses in the reheating process after inflation. Mainly my Ph.D. thesis has been based on the production of matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe, via the Leptogenesis mechanism, through heavy right handed neutrinos decays. Using finite temperature field theory we have included thermal plasma effects, performing a thorough detailed study taking into account of many new effects with respect to the previous literature. Then, we have re-analyzed the issue of deriving a bound on light neutrino masses from leptogenesis, correcting and settling down previous calculations and showing new results, which are important for connecting this scenario to experimental results.In July 2005 I have obtained my Ph.D. degree in Physics (70/70 cum laude), with a Ph.D. thesis on ``Thermal Leptogenesis in the Early Universe and Bounds on Neutrino Masses''. In September 2005 I have moved as a post-doc to McGill University (Montreal, QC). In this period I have worked on new lines of research. One is the production of cosmological magnetic fields: we have shown for the first time how standard structure formation produces small cosmic magnetic fields around the epoch of recombination (based on second order cosmological perturbations).Another line of research I have started is the problem of the observed late-time acceleration, which is one of the major puzzles in cosmology, in the last decade. The approach that I have followed is the one of connecting this phenomenon with structure formation, which could offer, if viable, a natural possibility to explain the so-called coincidence problem (why acceleration starts around the epoch where we live).Finally I have worked on the dynamics and model-building of Inflation, proposing a model which is built starting from a false vacuum (as in "Old Inflation"), and which has many observable consequences.In this period I have also got Teaching experience at McGill University named ``Space, Time and Matter'', giving lectures and having office hours for the students. After being a Fellow at C.E.R.N. Theory Division for 2 years, I have now moved to the University of Heidelberg and I am working on the above subjects, in addition to new ones, such as secondary effects in the CMB, weak-lensing, scalar-tensor gravity theories as well as finite temperature field theory.




Titulo:Theoretical Cosmology and High Energy Physics


Nombre: NOTARI , ALESSIO



Despite the central importance that the study of compact binaries has on key issues in modern astrophysics, such as the role of Type Ia supernovae in the calibration of the cosmological distance scale, the nature of gamma ray bursts or, more recently, the calibration of gravitational wave experiments, there are still fundamental open questions. Therefore, I am currently leading the effort aimed at unveiling some of the most extreme evolution stages of white dwarf binaries, the most numerous population of compact binary, thus capable of providing statistically significant samples. My research line, which is developed along with a large international collaboration, comprises the following open fronts:1. Study of the evolution of the SW Sextantis stars, the dominant population of cataclysmic variables (CVs) in the narrow orbital period region (3-4 h) where steep changes in the angular momentum loss and the accretion process are expected by theory. These systems also show the highest mass transfer rates among CVs. My research involves (i) pioneering dynamical measurements of the stellar masses during low states (when both stars get exposed due to accretion greatly diminishing), by means of time-resolved spectroscopy with 8-10m class telescopes (VLT, Gemini, GTC), and (ii) measurement of white dwarf magnetic fields (circular polarimetry) and their role in the accretion process. My recent discoveries point out a likely relationship between the low states and solar-like magnetic cycles in the donor stars. Therefore, the study of the interplay between the magnetic fields of both stars has become fundamental.2. Characterisation of the faint end of the Galactic CV population: the study of the Galactic population of CVs (encouraged and currently led by our international research collaboration) is now providing the long-awaited observational evidence needed by the evolution theory since decades ago. However, theory is still missing essential observational input from the large population of intrinsically faint CVs (V > 19.5 and Porb ~ 80 min), which show the lowest accretion rates and are close to end their lifes as CVs. I intend to lead this study in Spain, which requires the largest telescopes. Observing time has already been awarded at the GTC and the VLT.3. Studies of ultra-compact binaries: Double white dwarf binaries are another cornerstone population for compact binary evolution, which provide the dominant component in Galactic gravitational wave emission and connect to Type Ia supernova pathways. Among these, ultra-compact systems (with orbital periods of a few minutes) are of chief importance, as they have been ear-marked as crucial calibration sources for the LISA gravitational-wave mission. It is therefore important to study these systems in detail and rigorously establish the makeup of the underlying binaries. I am just starting off this research line, which has recently been granted high-priority,16 hours dark time with the GTC to perform fast spectroscopy of the 9.5-minute period system V407 Vul.

SITUACIÓN ACTUAL: Astrónomo de Soporte Científico en el Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (ING, La Palma) desde noviembre de 2007 (tercer contrato postdoctoral). Actual Jefe del Telescopio Isaac Newton de 2.5 m (INT) y segundo Jefe del Telescopio William Herschel de 4.2 m (WHT), ambos en el Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos. TRAYECTORIA CIENTÍFICA: Doctorado en Astrofísica por la Universidad de La Laguna (2003). Desde mi estancia doctoral en el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC, 1998-2002), mi actividad investigadora ha estado centrada en el estudio de la estructura y evolución de estrellas binarias compactas. Primer contrato postdoctoral de dos años realizado entre las universidades de Southampton y Warwick (Reino Unido), referentes en este campo de investigación. Contrato postdoctoral de 3 años en el IAC. ESTANCIAS: Invitado como Visiting Scientist por el Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (EE.UU) y en dos ocasiones por el European Southern Observatory (Chile). PRODUCTIVIDAD CIENTÍFICA: 50 artículos en revistas internacionales con árbitro e índice de impacto mayor que 4.15; 15 como primer autor. Número total de publicaciones de 98, con 691 citas y número de Hirsch H=15. 22 comunicaciones a congresos internacionales. 5 charlas invitadas. EVALUACIÓN CIENTÍFICA: evaluador del National Time Allocation Commitee del Telescopio Gemini de 8 m (2004). Miembro de la Comisión para la Asignación de Tiempo (CAT) desde 2008. Evaluador de la Agencia Nacional de Evaluación y Prospectiva (ANEP). Referee de las revistas Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Astronomy & Astrophysics y The Astronomical Journal. Miembro de 3 tribunales de tesis. DOCENCIA: he dirigido una tesis doctoral, leída en 2008. Profesor del Máster de Astrofísica del Departamento de Astrofísica de la Universidad de La Laguna. Responsable del Programa de Estudiantes del ING, dedicado a la formación científica y técnica de jóvenes astrónomos. TECNOLOGÍA: Instrument Scientist del Intermediate resolution Spectrograph and Imaging System (ISIS), el instrumento más productivo del WHT, y del Intermediate Dispersion Spectrograph en el INT. Project scientist del sistema QUCAM de espectroscopia rápida con cámaras CCD de multiplicación de electrones en WHT/ISIS. Project scientist de la nueva caja de adquisición y guiado del WHT.




Titulo:Extreme evolution of compact binary stars


Nombre: RODRÍGUEZ GIL, PABLO



The understanding of the dynamics of light hadrons and the quantitative prediction of the rich low-energy QCDphenomenology is of fundamental importance for the study of both the strong and weak interactions. However, dueto the non-perturbative character of QCD in this regime, this task constitutes a big challenge. Lattice QCD is anappropriate tool to perform ab-initio calculations by keeping, at least in principle, all the systematics under control.Together with the use of suitable effective theories as the chiral effective theory (needed for the chiral extrapolation of observables depending on the up/down quark masses) and the heavy quark effective theory (needed to compute non-perturbatively observables depending on one heavy quark), lattice QCD is well suited to study the non-perturbative aspects of the physics of light and heavy-light hadrons (hadron spectroscopy, decay constants, weak matrix elements, form factors, etc.).My proposal consists in applying these techniques to study quantities which are of fundamental importance eitherto understand the non-perturbative aspects of QCD or to constrain the CKM unitarity triangle (and thus crucial forthe possible discovery of new physics beyond the SM).I am interested in particular in the computation of the Kaon B-parameter (needed to constrain the upper vertex ofthe CKM triangle) and in the study of hadron-hadron scattering (in particular pi-pi scattering, a crucial step for the study of non-leptonic Kaon decays); in the computation of B-meson decay constants, B-parameters and semileptonic form factors which, combined with the experimental data from BaBar/Belle/D0/CDF II and the upcoming LHC-b and Super B Factory, are needed in order to improve the constraints on the CKM triangle. Finally I am interested in various aspects of baryon physics which also represent a testing ground for QCD (baryon spectroscopy, the neutron electric dipole moment, generalized parton distributions, electromagnetic form factors, the strange content of the nucleon).

* November 2009-October 2012: three years CNRS research position ("CDD chercheurs", renewable 1 time) atLPSC Grenoble.* February 2007-October 2009: nine months CNRS research contract at LPSC Grenoble.* February 2007-January 2009: post-doctoral fellowship at CERN.* October 2005-January 2007: Assegno di ricerca (italian post-doctoral position) at Sezione INFN di Roma 3.* October 2003-September 2005: post-doctoral fellowship at NIC/DESY Zeuthen.* February 2002-September 2003: post-doctoral fellowship at DESY Hamburg.* 1st February 2002: PhD degree in Physics at Univ. of Pisa. Thesis: "New Lattice Approaches to Non-Leptonic Kaon Decays". Thesis advisor: Prof. G. Martinelli.* November 2001-January 2002: Three months research contract at Univ. of Roma "La Sapienza".* January-July 2000: Visitor at Laboratoire de Physique Theorique (LPT) de l'Univ. de Paris Sud.* 17th November 1998: Diploma in Physics at Scuola Normale Superiore (final mark: 70/70 cum laude).* 30th September 1998: Degree in Physics at Univ. of Pisa (final mark: 110/110 cum laude).Thesis: "Monte Carlo Methods for the Interacting Self-Avoiding Walk". Thesis advisor: Prof. S. CaraccioloAWARDS AND QUALIFICATIONS* September 2002: Award "New Talents" for the best theoretical talk at the International Schoolof Subnuclear Physics, 40th Course (directors G. 't Hooft), Erice, Italy.* 10th-18th July 1993: Participant, as one of the five members of the italian team, at the XXIV InternationalPhysics Olympiad, Williamsburg VA, USA.SUMMARY OF OBTAINED EXTERNAL FUNDING* Project "Lattice QCD Calculations in Hadron Physics", financed by the EC with a "Marie Curie European Reintegration Grant" (ERG) for 30 months (November 2009-April 2012) with contract PERG05-GA-2009-249309. * Project "Lattice QCD with light quarks", financed by the EC with a "Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship" (EIF) for 2 years (February 2007 - January 2009) with contract MEIF-CT-2006-040458.REFEREE EXPERIENCE* From 2008: Referee for "Physics Letters B" (Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics), Elsevier B.V.PUBLICATIONS AND TALKS2000-2009 co-author of 25 publications in Refereed Journals2002-2009 co-author of 28 conference proceedings2001-2009 author of 30 talks:* 4 invited talks: HEP2001, Monte Porzio Catone 2005, Ringberg 2006, HEP2007; * 6 at the "International Symposium on Lattice Field Theories": Berlin 2001, Boston 2002, Tsukuba 2003, Chicago 2004, Dublin 2005, Regensburg 2007;* 6 at international workshops and conferences;* 14 in European Research Centres and Universities.TEACHING* 2005-2007 3x20h exercise classes of "Elements of theoretical physics I & II" (3rd year Physics, Univ. of Roma Tre).* March 2009 4h course on "Non-Perturbative Renormalization in QCD" to the researchers of the French GDR"Calcul sur Reseau en Physique Subatomique".* 2009 15h exercise classes "Mathematiques pour la Physique" (3rd year Physics-Chemistry Univ J. Fourier).* 2010 48h laboratory classes "Introduction to C++" (3rd year Physics, Univ. J. Fourier).* 2010 10h course "Topics in Perturbative and Non-Perturbative Quantum Field Theory" at the "Ecole Doctorale de Grenoble".* Co-supervisor of the PhD thesis of P.A.Harraud: "Non-perturbative computation of nucleon generalized form factors"LANGUAGES* Italian (own language) * English (fluent)* French (fluent) * German (good)




Titulo:Non-perturbative QCD, heavy quark effective theory and flavour physics


Nombre: PAPINUTTO , MAURO



Pretendo dedicar mis próximos años de investigación al estudio, mediante simulación, de la física de nuevos materiales. En concreto planeo: (i) estudiar posibles rutas para la formación de nuevos materiales y (ii) entender cómo las propiedades macroscópicas de estos materiales se ven afectadas por las características de los constituyentes del material y/o por la ruta de formación del mismo.La línea (i) implica el estudio del proceso por el que los elementos constituyentes de un material (átomos, moléculas, coloides, macromoléculas) se organizan para dar lugar a una estructura (una red cristalina, una lámina bidimensional, una vesícula) cuyas propiedades puedan tener interés a nivel biológico (cristales de proteínas) o tecnológico (cristales coloidales con propiedades fotónicas, geles coloidales). Este tipo de estudio requiere, como punto de partida, un conocimiento preciso de las fases que los elementos constituyentes del material pueden formar, y de las condiciones termodinámicas a las que cada una de estas fases es estable. La razón por la que esto es así es obvia si la estructura que se pretende formar es una estructura de equilibrio. Si se pretende obtener una estructura fuera del equilibrio es igualmente necesario conocer el diagrama de fases, dado que el comportamiento de equilibrio subyacente ejerce, en cualquier caso, una fuerte influencia sobre la ruta de formación. Una vez que el comportamiento de equilibrio ha sido caracterizado, es posible abordar el estudio de la transición entre un estado en el que los elementos constituyentes del material están situados y/u orientados al azar y el estado final, en el que conforman la estructura deseada. La influencia de campos externos (gravitacional, eléctrico, magnético) y/o de la presencia de interfases podría permitir la accesibilidad a nuevos materiales, por lo que también querría dedicarme a su estudio. Tan importante como el estudio de la viabilidad de formación de un nuevo material, es la caracterización y el control de sus propiedades (línea (ii)). Por ejemplo, ¿podemos controlar el modo en el que un gel fluye modificando el protocolo de formación o alterando las propiedades de sus constituyentes? O, ¿es posible usar constituyentes que se auto-propulsan (materia activa) para dar lugar a materiales con nuevas propiedades? Dado el vasto espectro de parámetros que entra en juego en el proceso de elaboración experimental de nuevos materiales, un trabajo numérico que dé información acerca de los requisitos fundamentales que garantizan el éxito puede constituir una guía muy valiosa.

Mi carrera científica comenzó hace 8 años, cuando empecé el doctorado en enero de 2002. Hasta la fecha he publicado 33 artículos en revistas internacionales, 5 de ellos en la prestigiosa revista de física Physical Review Letters (3 de los cuales como primer autor). Mistrabajos han sido citados 641 veces hasta la fecha y mi índice "h" es 13. Estudie química en la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) y, desde el tercer curso, empecé a interesarme por la investigación, colaborando en mi tiempo libre con el grupo "Termodinámica estadística de fluidos moleculares" del profesor C. Vega de las Heras, donde más adelante hice mi tesis, "Equilibrio termodinámico de sólidos mediante simulación molecular", con una beca FPU del Ministerio de Educación. Hice la tesis en 4 años y, al final de la misma, contaba con 15 artículos publicados en revistas internacionales. Uno de ellos, publicado en Phys. Rev. Lett. en 2004 y del que soy primer autor, tiene 97 citas y otro, en J. Chem. Phys en 2005, 106 citas. Durante mi tesis hice dos estancias de 3 meses en el grupo del profesor Daan Frenkel en Amsterdam. Fruto de la colaboración publicamos un artículo en 2005 que cuenta con 36 citas. Mi tesis, aprobada sobresaliente cum laude, recibió mención Europea y el premio extraordinario de doctorado por la UCM. Defendí la tesis el viernes 13 de enero de 2006 y el lunes 16 me incorporé al grupo de Soft Matter de la profesora Marjolein Dijkstra, con un contrato por la Universidad de Utrecht. Dos de los 6 artículos que hasta la fecha tengo con el grupo de Utrecht han sido publicados en Phys. Rev. Lett. En enero de 2008 comencé mi segundo post-doctorado, en el grupo "Condensed Matter" del profesor Michael E Cates de la Universidad de Edimburgo, UK. A pesar de tener un contrato de dos años con la universidad de Edimburgo, en 2008 decidí solicitar una beca Marie Curie de la Unión Europea para tener más independencia como investigador. Desde mayo de 2009 mi actividad científica está financiada por dicha beca. En Edimburgo he publicado, entre otros, dos artículos en Phys. Rev. Lett. Uno de ellos, del que soy primer autor, ha sido recomendado por el editor de la revista (el artículo ha sido publicado con un símbolo especial para que quede constancia de ello), además de ser reseñado en la revista de física divulgativa Physics Today y en la página de internet del American Institute of Physics (APS). Además de mantener activas colaboraciones con los grupos de Madrid y de Utrecht, también trabajo con el grupo del profesor Francesco Sciortino (Universidad La Sapienza de Roma), quien me invitó durante el mes de octubre de 2008 a visitar su grupo. Esta colaboración ya ha dado sus frutos --un articulo tipo "letter" en J. Phys. Chem. B-- y continúa activa.He hecho más de 10 presentaciones orales entre simposios y congresos, de las que destacan la presentación oral en el 2008 en la conferencia Liquids Matter, Lund, Sueceia, organizada por la European Physical Society, y la charla invitada en el APS March meeting en 2009, Pittsburgh, USA (el congreso de física más grande de los Estados Unidos). Soy censor de 5 revistas internacionales.




Titulo:Physical properties and assembly routes of new materials


Nombre: SANZ GARCÍA, EDUARDO



The role that isospin asymmetry plays in determining the properties of atomic nuclei and nuclear matter is one of the most fundamental open questions in modern nuclear physics. Its study will ultimately give new information on the isospin dependence of the in-medium nucleon-nucleon interaction. One important and topical example is how single particle structure is modified in isospin asymmetric nuclei. For example, the well-established magic numbers appear to change as the neutron drip line is approached, the spin-orbit splitting weakens with the neutron excess and large variations in the single particle occupancies appear. This area forms a major topic of the FAIR and SPIRAL2 Scientific Programs. In particular it will provide key insights into the question ¿How does the ordering of quantum states, with all of its consequent implications for nuclear structure and reactions, alter in highly dilute or neutron-rich matter ?¿. My research programme will investigate how the single-particle structure and correlations evolve in asymmetric systems.Direct reactions have proven to be a suitable spectroscopic tool to extract information on the nuclear wavefunction. In the short-term, my research line focuses on using a coherent programme of direct reactions studies of exotic nuclei at two of the world¿s leading Radioactive Ion Beam facilities (RIB) such as GANIL/SPIRAL (Caen, France) and GSI (Darmstadt, Germany) combining both the low and high energy regimes. The beam energies provided by the GANIL facility are well adapted for studies of transfer at ~10 A MeV. The current GSI facility offers the possibility to use knockout reactions at higher energies ~ 500 A MeV. The set of data obtained with these techniques will be an invaluable source to constraint the parameters used in the theoretical models describing the reactions and will provide invaluable insight into our knowledge of the nuclear structure. In the long-term, the next-generation of radioactive facilities in Europe such as FAIR(Germany) and SPIRAL2(France) will allow an increased range of exotic systems to carry out studies with higher beam intensities and high-quality beams. The main experimental programmes of the R3B and HISPEC projects at the future FAIR facility lie closely to my research line. Complementary, the energy of SPIRAL2 is well suited for transfer reactions. During my previous experience, I have played a major role in the preparation and running of a programme of studies of n-rich nuclei by knockout reactions at GANIL and GSI and I have been the spokesperson for a transfer experiment at GANIL. In addition, I have been involved in the technical development (R&D) to optimise several detection set-ups for future experiments at SPIRAL2 and FAIR. These experiences provided me with the knowledge, skills, leadership roles and responsibilities necessary to carry out the proposed programme in the studies of direct reactions with radioactive ion beams

Ph. D. at the University of Caen (France) in 2003 working at the SPhN-CEA (France), in 2004 postdoctoral contracts at the IPNO (France) and then to the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (SPAIN), 2004-2005 Post-doctoral Royal Society Fellow, 2005-2008 Senior Research assistant at the University of Liverpool. Current, 2009-2010 Post-Doctoral CEA-contract at GANIL (France). In total, I have 7 years post-doctoral experience working experimentally at GANIL (France) and GSI (Germany). I took a leading role in the EPSRC-funded TIARA project at the University of Liverpool and contributed very significantly to all parts of the project from the commissioning to the physics programme. I submitted a proposal in GANIL which was approved by the International Programme Advisory Committee in 2005, I have led my proposal and as the spokesperson of the experimental campaign I had to coordinate an international group of scientist of around 30 people. Furthermore, I have co-led other experimentaI campaigns in GANIL. Apart my extensive experimental activity I have strongly contributed to the technical design and tests of instrumentation to be used in future RIB facilities such as: FAIR, EURISOL, and SPIRAL2. The projects I have been involved in are respectively: R3B (2005, I was in charge of optimising the experimental conditions for the quasi-free scattering project), EURISOL (2006-2008 I was responsible for validating the design choices of a simultaneous gamma-particle detection system, published in ¿Final Report of the EURISOL Design study¿ pp. 144-145), ACTAR (2006 I led the development of event generators) and (2009-2010 I participated to the test of new gas mixtures and different amplification systems such as MICROMEGAS or GEM for the new electronic system GET¿). I have 35 peer-reviewed publications in journals of high impact factor, many of them as first author and several technical reports. I have 20 contributions to intenational conferences and I have given 6 seminars in prestigious Universities and Research centres. I have taught at the University of Liverpool and at the Technical University of Caen. I have co-supervised a total of 4 Ph. D. students.




Titulo:Study of the Evolution of the Shell Structure with the Isospin using Direct Reactions


Nombre: FERNANDEZ DOMINGUEZ, BEATRIZ



The main research line that I propose in this report is the calculation of non-perturbative quantities relevant for the study of flavour-violating and CP-violating processes using lattice Quantum Chromodynamics (lattice QCD) techniques. The goal is to investigate to what extent the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics adequately describes what we observe in Nature. Flavour and CP-violating observables have the potential to indirectly test very high energies (of the order of several hundreds TeV) and thus provide with information complementary to that obtained from direct search of beyond SM physics at colliders like LHC. Those tests are limited not by the available energy but by the available precision in both experiment and theory. My goal is to provide with solid and accurate theoretical descriptions for many of these quantities that match current and future experimental errors in BaBar, Belle, Tevatron, CLEO, BES, super-B factories, LCHb, ... These kind of studies have become more relevant in the last few years due to the observed hints of discrepancies between SM predictions and experimental measurements in Tevatron, CLEO and B-factories. Several tensions at the 2-3 sigma level have started to show up in some CP-violating observables in the B0-bar B0 system, D and B mesons leptonic decays, unitarity triangle analyses ... Accurate calculations of neutral meson mixing parameters, decay constants, semileptonic form factors, ..., involved in those analyses, is crucial inorder to discern the origin of those disagreements and to fully exploit the potential of these CP observables on constraining New Physics (NP) models.There are also observables for which we have not observed any disagreement yet but which are potentially very sensitive to NP like, for example, B -> mu^+ mu^-, and other B and K rare decays.The non-perturbative parameters mentioned above, given by hadronic matrix elements, can be calculated in a very accurate way using lattice QCD as explained in this report. In order to achieve the high precision required one has to take into account vacuum polarization effects in the numerical simulations and rigurously study all the possible sources of systematic errors. The comparison of B and D-meson masses as calculated with the same machinery with experimental values will give us a good test of our methods. Our methodology can also be tested by studying CKM independent ratios (for example, ratios of semileptonic and leptonic decay widths) or by comparing parameters extracted from sum rules using both experimental and lattice data. Another research line I proposed in here is the application of sum rules together with lattice data to accurately extract quark masses, CKM matrix elements, condensates and low energy constants.The forthcoming experimental data from the B factories, BaBar and Belle, LHCb, and eventually from super-B factories, will require theoretical calculations of electroweak matrix elements which match the experimental accuracy. These non-perturbative inputs can be provided by lattice QCD, leaning only on first principles. We are in a precision test era not only for lattice QCD but for QCD itself. The lattice QCD studies that I want to perform will play a dominant role in the explanation of the discrepancies theory-experiment mentioned before as well as in the study of the flavour properties of the new physics that could be discover in LHC, and the constrain of parameters in BSM theories.

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH ACTIVITY:My research is focused on the low energy physics relevant for the determination of fundamental parameters of the Standard Model, like quark masses and CKM matrix elements, the analysis of CP violation and flavour observables, and the use of those observables to try to unveil New Physics effects and constrain beyond the Standard Model building.*My main results from my PhD (Granada, 2003) research include calculation of parameters describing direct and indirect CP violation in Kaon decays (Delta I=3/2 contribution to epsilon'_K, B_K, CP-violating parameters in K->3 pi decays ...) and determinations of the strange quark mass and the CKM element V_us, together with the development of a hadronic model compatible with all the information from QCD and phenomenology.In some of thes projects I collaborate with Profs. Joquim Prades, Antonio Pich and Johan Bijnens.*At the begining of my postdoctoral work I changed the approach to the problems I was interested in to incorporate lattice gauge theories as my main research tool.As a Marie Curie Fellow at University of Glasgow (2004-2006) and then as a Research Associate at University of Illinois (2006-2009), I gained expertise in the different formulations (for light as well as heavy quarks) and techniques of lattice QCD, and worked in all the steps of a typical lattice calculation.I have been the leading researcher in the first (2006) realistic unquenched lattice calculation of B_K and the first realistic unquenched lattice calculation of the parameters describing neutral B mixing in both the B^0_s (2008) and B^0_d systems, including the ratio xi=f_{B_s}^2B_{B_s}/f_{B_d}^2B_{B_d} (2009).I have also been one of the main authors in lattice determinations of the CKM elements V_ub and V_cb, and the most precise calculation to date of a gold-plated hadron mass, B_c^*. I am currently working as Research Associate at Fermilab.*PUBLICATIONS: 17 articles published in PRL, JHEP, PRD y Eur. Phys. Jour.C (5 of them with more than 50 citations).39 citations per article according to Spires.*CONFERENCES:Attendance to 29 international meetings and workshops with presentation of results in 18 of them (10 of which were invited plenary talks).Especially relevant are the review talks on phenomenology with lattice QCD at 2008 Flavour Physics and CP Violation conference, The XXVI International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory and The 8th International Conference on Hyperons, Charm and Beauty Hadrons.*ONE-MONTH (OR LONGER) STAYS:Lund Universitet (Sweden) (3 times); Centre de Physique Teorique, Marsella (Francia); Fermilab (USA) (4 times); The Ohio State University (USA); Universidad de Granada.*CO-SUPERVISION OF PHD STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS:R.T.Evans (thesis defense:2008) and C.Bouchard (thesis defense (estimate):2011).*TEACHING:2 years at Universidad de Granada (Mathematical Methods for Physicists), 2 years at Glasgow University (Physics II), 5 semesters at University of Illinois (short courses and tutorials on lattice QCD), 3-weeks invited course for the Masters Degree `Àdvanced Methods and techniques in Physics'' (Universidad de Granada). *HONORS AND AWARDS:Newton International Fellowship (2009,declined);Universities Research Association Visiting Scholars Grant (2008-09);CERN Short Term Visitor Fellow*OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS:Referee for JHEP;16 invited seminars in Europe, USA and Asia; member of HPQCD and Fermilab/MILC collaborations;




Titulo:Phenomenology of the Standard Model and its extensions using latice QCD


Nombre: GAMIZ SANCHEZ, MARIA ELVIRA



El objetivo fundamental es desarrollar, aplicar y explotar nuevas y existentes herramientas para obtener, a partir deobservaciones espectropolarimétricas, información robusta sobre las propiedades dinámicas, térmicas y magnéticasde plasmas astrofísicos como la fotosfera, cromosfera y corona solar y de otras estrellas, envolturascircunestelares y el medio interestelar. El campo magnético juega un papel fundamental en el sostenimientode la mayoría de las estructuras estelares como las protuberancias, filamentos o espículas y tiene unpapel relevante en los mecanismos de calentamiento coronal debido a la energía que almacena y que se puedeliberar al plasma por fenómenos de reconexión magnética. Por tanto, resulta fundamental estimarempíricamente las propiedades magnéticas de tales estructuras para poder, entre otras cosas, llevar acabo el balance de fuerzas y comprobar el papel del campo magnético en los procesos de calentamiento delas capas superiores atmosféricas, así como verificar los modelos teóricos existentes. Para todo ello,es necesario combinar adecuadamente diversos campos de la física. Primero, la teoría cuántica que describe lageneración y transporte de radiación polarizada en un plasma magnetizado. Entre los mecanismos degeneración de polarización, hay que tener en cuenta la transferencia de polarización de un campo de radiación noisótropo a polarización atómica por bombeo óptico y su modificación en presencia de undébil campo magnético (efecto Hanle), así como la generación intrínseca de polarización por la presenciade un fuerte campo magnético (efecto Zeeman). El desarrollo y aplicación de códigosde inversión que contengan toda la física involucrada constituye la aproximación correcta parainferir las propiedades físicas. Hay que tener en cuenta que, debido a la complejidad, hay unagran escasez de este tipo de códigos. Durante los últimos años he desarrollado uno de los más potentesy completos y está siendo aplicados por varios grupos en el mundo. Segundo, el desarrollo y mejora de las técnicas observacionalespunteras, que permitan detectar con gran fiabilidad las débiles señales de polarización emergentes de talesplasmas. La gran sensibilidad polarimétrica necesaria y los altos ritmos de adquisición hacen complicadodetectar de forma fiable tales señales. Por ello, además de mejorar los algoritmos de análisisde datos de actuales instrumentos mediante técnicas estadísticas de gran potencia, es fundamentalproponer y construir nuevos esquemas de medida. En este sentido, propongo el nuevo paradigma de "compressedsensing", que permite adquirir señales por debajo del límite de Shannon-Nyquist, como base parael desarrollo de nueva instrumentación rápida y con gran sensibilidad para futuros telescopios. Por último, laaplicación de las técnicas de análisis e inferencia adecuadas para extraer información física de las propiedades de estosplasmas a partir de observaciones. La inferencia de las propiedades físicas del plasma se debe llevara cabo, idealmente, en el marco de la teoría Bayesiana para evitar o identificar problemas de unicidad ydegeneración. En este momento, soy puntero en la aplicación de este tipo de métodos para la inferenciade las propiedades magnéticas de plasmas estelares, con el desarrollo de los primeros códigos deinferencia Bayesianos de perfiles de Stokes dominados por el efecto Zeeman.

FORMACIÓN ACADÉMICA: Licenciado en Ciencias Físicas (1999) y Doctor en Astrofísica (2004).PREMIOS: Premio extraordinario de licenciatura (1999), Premio extraordinario de doctorado (2004), Premio a la mejor tesis en la convocatorio (2004-2005) de la Sociedad Española de Astronomía (SEA), Premio Career Award de la Joint Organization for Solar Observatories (2007).SITUACIÓN PROFESIONAL ACTUAL: Contratado postdoctoral en el Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (2008-2010)LÍNEAS DE INVESTIGACIÓN: Magnetismo solar y estelar. Espectropolarimetría. Transporte radiativo. Métodos estadísticos de análisis. Mecánica cuántica. Técnicas de medida.PUBLICACIONES: 40 artículos en revistas internacionales con árbitro (+1 aceptado, +3 en preparación)PUBLICACIONES MÁS RELEVANTES:Asensio Ramos, A., Trujillo Bueno, J., Carlsson, M., Cernicharo, J., "Non-equilibrium CO chemistry in the Solar Atmosphere", 2003, ApJ, 588, 61; Trujillo Bueno, J., Shchukina, N., Asensio Ramos, A., "A substantial amount of hidden magnetic energy in the quiet Sun", 2004, Nature, 430, 326; Asensio Ramos, A., Martínez González, M. J., Rubiño-Martín, J. A., "Bayesian inversion of Stokes profiles", 2007, A Asensio Ramos, A., Trujillo Bueno, J., Landi Degl'Innocenti, E., "Advanced forward modeling and inversion of Stokes profiles resulting from the joint action of the Hanle and Zeeman effects", 2008, ApJ, 683, 542; Asensio Ramos, A., "Evidence for Quasi-Isotropic Magnetic Fields from Hinode Quiet-Sun Observations", ApJ, 701, 1032COMUNICACIONES EN CONGRESOS INTERNACIONALES: 20 comunicaciones, entre las cuales destacan 3 artículos de revisión.ESTANCIAS EN CENTROS DE RECONOCIDO PRESTIGIO: Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri (Italia, 15 meses), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (Francia, 2 semanas), Observatorie de Paris-Meudon (Francia, 5 meses), Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (España, 2 meses), Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Kentucky (EEUU, 3 meses)PARTICIPACIÓN EN CAMPAÑAS DE OBSERVACIÓN: más de 5 meses acumulados en los telescopios VTT y THEMIS (Observatorio del Teide, España), 6 días en el radiotelescopio IRAM-30m (Sierra Nevada, España), 7 días de observación en el telescopio CSO-Caltech (Hawaii, EEUU)TRABAJOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN DIRIGIDOS: Beca de verano de Edgar Carlín RamírezTESIS DIRIGIDAS: Edgar Carlín Ramírez (Generación y transporte de radiación polarizada en modelos magnetohidrodinámicos de atmósferas estelares), Universidad de La Laguna, en preparación.ARBITRAJE: The Astrophysical Journal, Astronomy & Astrophysics, New Astronomy, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative TransferCOMITES: Vocal del Comité de Asignación de Tiempo Español de los Telescopios Solares en los Observatorios de Canarias (2008-2010)COLABORACIONES ACTIVAS: Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, Observatorie de Paris-Meudon, Department of Physics & Astronomy (University of Kentucky), Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, High Altitude Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Kiepenheuer-Institut fur Sonnenphysik, Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno




Titulo:Magnetism, spectropolarimetry and radiative transfer in Astrophysics


Nombre: ASENSIO RAMOS, ANDRÉS



My research develops at the interface between physics and biology. In particular I am interested in biological phenomena that can be understood with the language and tools of non-equilibrium statistical physics. A central objective of my research is to contribute to the developing of a general theory of competition among biological species. Biological systems are constituted by discrete entities that compete stochastically in space and time. Understanding, in general, the conditions in which many species can coexist or in which some of them will reach extinction constitutes an ambitious problem which involves aspects of dynamical systems theory, complex systems, and non-equilibrium statistical physics. These issues are central in evolutionary theory and have attracted the attention of many statistical physicists. One of the focuses of my research is the investigation of the role of space-time heterogeneities. Biological systems experience diverse environments and are subject to conditions that may vary in time. We still lack of a theory that can predict the effect of these varying conditions on, for example, extinction risks of populations. Exploring these effects could lead to the discovery of new phenomena, in a similar way in which disorder affects the physics of solid state systems and can lead to phenomena such as localization. I am working also on another aspect of this general problem, that is the implementation of numerical algorithms for spatial biological systems. Very few analytical results are known for these models, so that direct numerical simulations are of great importance. In most cases, the discrete nature of the constituent cannot be neglected, so that a hydrodynamic description is not appropriate, so that there is an interest in simulating a large number of ``particles'' interacting on different time and spatial scales. I work also in the application of techniques from population dynamics, non-equilibrium statistical physics and dynamical systems theory to understand biophysical phenomena such as the competition between proteina aggregation and the effect of the immune system in the developing of neurodegenerative diseases.

Simone Pigolotti, born in Rome 17/05/1977. Gradated in 2001 in University of Rome "La Sapienza" with a study of discrete dynamical systems with finite size entropies. PhD in Statistical and Biological Physics in 2004 in SISSA/ISAS (Trieste), under the supervision of prof. A. Maritan, studying neutral models in population dynamics. One year of postdoctoral experience at University of Rome "La Sapienza", one year of postdoc at IMEDEA/IFISC (Mallorca, Spain) and more than three years postdoc at the Niels Bohr International Academy (Copenhagen, Denmark). My research uses analytical and numerical techniques learned in the fields of dynamical systems theory, non-equilibrium statistical physics and stochastic processes to tackle problems at the interface between physics and biology. I published 20 papers in international, peer reviewed journals in physics and biology, including highly ranked interdisciplinary journals such as Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and Physical Review Letters. In particular, I published 4 papers in Phys. Rev. Lett (two signed as first author) and two papers in Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., both signed as first author and direct submission (track II).




Titulo:Non-equilibrium dynamics of populations


Nombre: PIGOLOTTI , SIMONE



La interferencia puede considerarse como el rasgo más distintivo de la mecánica cuántica, pues revela la naturaleza cuántica de un sistema, así como su progresiva pérdida (decoherencia) cuando éste interacciona (se entrelaza) con otros sistemas o entorno. Hoy día, determinar las propiedades físicas asociadas con la interferencia, su pérdida o su control constituye el objeto de interés en campos tan variados, como la óptica cuántica, física atómica y molecular, física de superficies, física de la materia condensada, estado sólido, nanociencia, información cuántica, attofísica o femtoquímica. Éste es el motivo por el que, entre otras, las técnicas y experimentos basados en la interferometría están adquiriendo una gran relevancia en los últimos años como medio para explorar las propiedades asociadas con la coherencia de los sistemas físicos y sus posibles aplicaciones prácticas. Considérese, por ejemplo, la interferometría con condensados de Bose-Einstein, basada en la superposición coherente de nubes de miles de átomos, pero con un control relativamente preciso, dando lugar a aplicaciones que van desde estudios fundamentales sobre coherencia a metrología cuántica. En general, la mayoría de estos experimentos vienen acompañados de cálculos precisos y detallados obtenidos a partir de simulaciones numéricas muy sofisticadas. Estos cálculos suelen involucrar un gran número de grados de libertad (clásicos, cuánticos o ambos) y se valen del alto rendimiento computacional disponible actualmente así como de las técnicas numéricas propiciadas por el mismo (por ejemplo, la paralelización). No obstante, a pesar de que se realizan reproducciones numéricas bastante fidedignas del experimento (algo muy importante, sin lugar a dudas), tal precisión es también la causa de que, en mi opinión, se de una carencia de explicaciones físicas generales sobre los mecanismos subyacentes dada la complejidad inherente a los esquemas numéricos empleados. Esto es, a menudo existe una carencia de modelos simples que permitan describir e interpretar procesos tales como la interferencia, entrelazamiento, coincidencia, decoherencia o control cuántico que caracterizan a estos experimentos. Este inconveniente puede ser abordado mediante la teoría de sistemas abiertos (clásicos y cuánticos), que suministra el marco teórico-analítico y conceptual ideal para extraer modelos alternativos y complementarios, cuyo objetivo sea comprender la fenomenología del problema en cuestión en términos de mecanismos físicos fundamentales, y ello a un bajo coste computacional. Basándome en mis conocimientos en este campo, el proyecto que pretendo llevar a cabo aquí tiene por objeto el diseño de modelos simples que permitan analizar, comprender e interpretar problemas relacionados con la interferencia cuántica y la interferometría, principalmente dentro de la física atómica, molecular y óptica, en particular: experimentos de interferometría de ondas de materia, tales como neutrones fríos, condensados de Bose-Einstein o moléculas de NO; efectos de coherencia cuántica en propiedades de transporte, como la transferencia electrónica en cadenas de ADN; y propiedades de decoherencia en colisiones átomo-superficie, como las observadas en difracción de gases nobles a ángulos rasantes o el ensanchamiento de los perfiles de línea de resonancias por adsorción selectiva.

Licenciado en Ciencias Físicas (Física Teórica) por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) y Doctor en Ciencias Físicas (Física de la Materia Condensada) por la misma Universidad en 2003. Realicé mi proyecto de tesis en el grupo de Florentino Borondo, en el Departamento de Química de la UAM, trabajando en el estudio de colisiones átomo-superficie a partir del enfoque cuántico causal suministrado por la mecánica bohmiana, que utilicé como marco teórico para analizar, comprender e interpretar este tipo de procesos. Además, también realicé estudios sobre sistemas difractantes y decoherencia, así como un par de estancias breves en el grupo de Turgay Uzer, en el Center for Nonlinear Sciences del Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, EEUU), donde adquirí conocimientos a nivel teórico y numérico sobre dinámica clásica y cuántica de sistemas no lineales. A finales de 2003, comencé un postdoc en el grupo de Paul Brumer, en el Departamento de Química de la Universidad de Toronto, donde me dediqué al desarrollo y aplicación de los formalismos y técnicas utilizados en teoría de sistemas abiertos (clásicos y cuánticos), teoría cuántica de la información y control coherente a diversos problemas de interés dentro del ámbito de la física atómica y molecular. Desde finales de 2005, primero con un contrato Juan de la Cierva y después con uno JAE para doctores del CSIC, llevo a cabo mi investigación en el Instituto de Física Fundamental (CSIC), en colaboración Salvador Miret Artés. Durante esta etapa, he venido desarrollando tres líneas de investigación, "Mecánica bohmiana en física atómica, molecular y óptica", "Dinámica estocástica clásica y cuántica" y "Correspondencia clásico-cuántica: entrelazamiento, decoherencia y control cuántico", teniendo la oportunidad de dirigir una tesis doctoral en la segunda de ellas. Estas líneas cubren un amplio espectro de campos, como óptica de ondas materiales, óptica física, física de superficies, física atómica y molecular, física de la materia condensada o química física, y han dado lugar a una serie de colaboraciones estables tanto a nivel nacional como internacional, lo que permite tener una idea de la alta interdisciplinariedad que tienen tanto mi labor investigadora como mi formación científica. Esto viene reflejado también en mis publicaciones, entre las cuales se cuentan unos 40 artículos de investigación en revistas de reconocido prestigio internacional en los campos donde trabajo (entre ellos, un Surface Science Reports, un Physics Reports y 2 Physical Review Letters), varios capítulos de libro, un libro para la serie Lecture Notes in Physics de Springer y otras publicaciones a nivel nacional de carácter pedagógico (entre ellas, un libro) y divulgativo.




Titulo:Interferencia e Interferometría en Física Atómica, Molecular y Óptica


Nombre: SANZ ORTIZ, ÁNGEL SANTIAGO



The Standard Model (SM) description of the strong, weak and electromagnetic interactions is in remarkable agreement with the present experimental measurements, but its internal consistency requires the existence of an Higgs boson or other new particles within the TeV energy scale.Such particles, related to the dynamics of the electro-weak symmetry breaking, are expected to appear in the proton-proton collisions produced by the LHC synchrotron.The inauguration of LHC opens a new frontier in the Particle Physics field, allowing the two main experiments installed at the collider, ATLAS and CMS, to explore the origin of the mass of the elementary particles and to investigate the nature of the elusive dark matter existing in the universe. The present project has the goal of extracting the first physics results on the existence of new physics phenomena from the early data delivered by the LHC. The ATLAS experiment, whose complexity and expectations have no precedents in the history of physics, has successfully observed the first proton beams circulating in LHC in 2008 and detected the first LHC proton-proton collisions in 2009.The main steps to achieve the first ATLAS results on Beyond the SM (BSM) phenomena will be the following: 1) run the detector in the most efficient way during 2010 and 2011 data taking; 2) prepare the data for the analysis with quality control and calibration processes; 3) study the SM processes and backgrounds that could affect New Physics signals; 4) tune the Monte Carlo simulations parameters to reproduce the experimental data; 5) use the data to understand the experimental uncertainties and study a large range of possible final states of BSM with different properties.Once a preliminary understanding of the detector is gained, measurements of known SM processes must be made for two purposes: to model the SM backgrounds for BSM searches and to gain a systematic knowledge of the systematic uncertainties in such searches.The study of the top quark sector is a fundamental step in the BSM search, because the top production is one of the main background process at LHC and because its large mass suggests a special role of the top quark in the yet unknown dynamics of the Electroweak Symmetry Breaking. One of the first lines of BSM research that will be explored is the search for a heavy quarks and for new particles decaying into top anti-top pairs. These phenomena are predicted in several BSM models, like Extra Dimensions, Composite Higgs and SM4, they have experimental signatures that require an accurate understanding of the top sector physics and are naturally linked to my current research activities.As a result of my research work up to now, I feel that I have acquired a vast competence and experience in all the five key aspects listed above that will allow to extract the first physics results from ATLAS data. At a later stage, I plan to contribute to the ATLAS detector upgrade, whose purpose is to adapt the detector to the high luminosity of the proposed super-LHC (sLHC) collider.

During the first phase of my carrier, I contributed to some of the most outstanding measurements in the kaon physics of the last ten years: the discovery of the direct CP violation in the neutral Kaons decays Re(e'/e), the first observation of the Ks->pi0l+l- decays, the measurement of the pp scattering length in the Kaon system and the precise measurement of the K± leptonic branching ratios, sensitive to Supersymmetry effects violating the lepton universality.I finished my doctoral studies at the ¿Scuola Normale Superiore¿ of Pisa in 2005, performed under the supervision of Prof. I. Mannelli.After my PhD, I devoted my research activities to the study of the proton-proton collisions.I'm a member of the ATLAS collaboration since 2005, when I started my first post-doc in Cambridge. I worked along the following directions: detector operations, detector calibration and quality assessment of the data (DQ) and physics analysis.I have a high profile in the ATLAS detector activities. I was Run Coordinator of the Tile Calorimeter in 2009 during the first LHC collisions and in 2008 I was Deputy Run Coordinator during the LHC start-up and first circulating beam. I coordinated the activities of a large team of physicists (36 FTE, Full Time Equivalent) and I was the liaison contact for the ATLAS management. In 2010, I' ll have more responsibilities: I'll be ATLAS Run Field Manager, part of a restricted group of experienced physicists, who manages of the operations of the detector on behalf of the the ATLAS run coordinator.I chose during my researches to be always closely involved in the DQ Assessment, calibration and performance of the detector, that are crucial for the outcome of any physics analysis. I have built a consistent profile during my carrier: I contributed and coordinated the DQ process of the Inner Detector (2005-2006), of the hadronic calorimeter (2006-2010) and ATLAS global monitoring project (2008). Recently, I managed the Tile Calorimeter DQ group (2008-2010), counting 8 FTE and I contributed to the calibration of the ATLAS detector for the first collisions. For these and other merits, in 2010 I'm the coordinator of the Data Preparation of the hadronic calorimeter of ATLAS, leading the groups responsible for the DQ , Calibration, Databases, performance of the calorimeters, for a total of 30 FTE.At the same time, I consolidated my role in the ATLAS physics groups, in particular the Top Physics one. I'm convener of the Top-Muon liaison group, dedicated to the study of the muons particles in the top physics and edited the ATLAS note defining the physics objects to be used in early top-physics analyses. I contributed with novel techniques to the state of the art analyses for the early measurement of the Top cross-section, I studied the backgrounds due to top production and W,Z+jets processes to the discovery of Supersymmetry signatures. I contributed to the understanding of the Monte Carlo (MC) simulation in ATLAS, studying the different W,Z+jets MC generators and understanding the relevant systematics for the ATLAS physics analyses.I participated to 46 peer-reviewed articles (6 as corresponding author) and 13 technical notes, among which 3 TopCite100+ and 4 TopCite50+, for a total of about 1200 citations. I participated as speaker or organizer to 15 international conferences. I supervised 4 PhD students.




Titulo:Search of phenomena beyond the Standard Model at LHC


Nombre: FIORINI , LUCA



The cutting-edge research in Particle Physics is performed at high energy colliding machines, where the high temperature primordial conditions are accessed through very energetic particle scattering.The most recent human effort in this direction is certainly represented by the just-started CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) whose research programs are focused on looking for answers to the following questions: what is the universe made of, what are the mechanism responsible for particle masses and interaction strengths, what was the universe like just after the big bang, what is the nature of the dark matter, what is the source of the dark energy.The increasing experimental precision demands for high accuracy predictions on the theoretical side: the matching of theoretical and experimental results of known physics process is mandatory to discriminate the new physics signals within the forthcoming experiments; the determination of the properties of new particles requires a deep theoretical understanding of the involved interactions, modeled on new theoretical ideas and supported by new calculations. The aim of our project is the improvment of the state-of-the-art of theoretical particles physics, by providing new automatic tools for computing Feynman integrals, describing the quanto-mechanical interaction among elementary particles. The tools we propose are based on the most advanced mathematical techniques physicists dispose of, which I have been recently developed with my collaborators. The exciting aspects of the proposed projects are due to: i. novel challenging mathematical methods; ii. wide range of applicability in Particle Physics. We aim to reduce the computational load by exploiting a general mathematical property of Feynman integrals, called unitarity, encoding probability conservation of scattering processes. Instead of the direct integration, which is very time consuming and represents the bottleneck limiting the availability of the current theoretical predictions, we propose the iterative construction of Feynman diagrams. Accordingly, the corresponding integrals can be re-constructed from the knowledge of simpler building-blocks: the kinematic structure of any diagram is inherited from the products of its subdiagrams (obtained by cutting the internal lines of the parent diagram in all the possible ways). The theory of multivariate complex functions is the mathematical framework yielding the effectiveness of our method. Cauchy's residue theorem (and its generalizations) constitutes the driving principle of our developments.The specific goal of our research plan is two-fold:1. writing a new code for the evaluation of the one-loop Feynman integrals;2. extending the unitarity-based reduction technology to the two-loop level.The techinque employed within the current project has already been proven to be suitable for the achievment of our goal, having been used both for analytic and numerical calculation at an unprecedented level of accuracy - see the publication list.The benefits of the proposed research program, will derive from the high accuracy results and their direct consequences for the LHC phenomenology, but, also from the flexibility of the method that can be applied for the investigation of the general properties of particles participating to sub-nuclear interactions within the Standard Model and beyond.

CURRENT POSITION: Postdoctoral Researcher at the Physics Deparment, University of Salerno, Italy, and at the Theory Department of CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, supported by an individual Junior Grant awarded by the Centro Studi e Ricerche "E. Fermi", Rome, since January 2010.EDUCATION: 17.07.2000 - Degree in Astronomy at the Department of Astronomy, Bologna University, Italy (score: 110/110 cum laude). Title of the dissertation: ``Correzioni radiative al momento magnetico anomalo dell'elettrone'' (Radiative correction to the anomalous magnetic moment of the electron). Supervisor: Prof. E. Remiddi.21.05.2004 - PhD in Physics at Department of Physics, Bologna University, Italy. Title of the dissertation: ``Differential Equations for Feynman Graph Integrals: application to multi-loop, multi-leg and multi-scale diagrams.'' Advisor: Prof. E. Remiddi.FELLOWSHIPS:Feb-Jul 2001. Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) fellowat the Department of Physics, Bologna University, Italy.Sept-Dec 2001. Marie Curie Training Site, "Particle Physics at Present and Future Colliders", fellow at the Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics, University of Karlsruhe, Germany.Feb-Jul 2002. Progetto Marco Polo (Bologna Univ.) fellow at the Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics, University of Karlsruhe, Germany.Oct-Dec 2002. Marie Curie Training Site "Particle Physics atPresent and Future Colliders", fellow at the Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics, University of Karlsruhe, Germany.Jan-Dec 2003. SFB ``Trans-Regio 9'' fellow at the Institute for Theoretical Particle Physics, University of Karlsruhe, Germany.Jan and Mar 2004. Associate researcher at the ``KITP Program: Collider Physics'', Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), USA.Oct 2007. Associate researcher at the ``GGI Program: Advancing Collider Physics: from Twistors to Monte Carlos'', Galileo Galilei Institute for Theoretical Physics, Firenze, Italy.Jan 2006 - Dec 2007. Marie Curie Intra-European (individual) Fellowship (EIF) at the the Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Zuerich, Switzerland.Jan 2008 - Dec 2009, CERN Postdoctoral Fellowship, at the Theory Department of CERN, Geneva, Switzerland.AWARDS: 1. Nomination to the Chancellor's Award 2005 for Postdoctoral Research, at University of California Los Angeles.2. Premio Fubini 2005, for one of the three best Italian PhD thesis of the academic year 2004/2005, assigned by Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Rome.3. New Talent Award 2007, for the work on "Spinors and Unitarity-Cuts", awarded at the International School of Subnuclear Physics, Erice; committee chaired by G. 't Hooft and A. Zichichi4. Junior Grant 2010-2013, awarded by the Centro Studi e Ricerche "E. Fermi", RomePUBLICATIONS: I am author of 31 articles, 1 review paper, and 10 proceedings;total citations = 1130; impact factor h=20.




Titulo:Advanced Mathematical Methods for High Energy Particle Physics


Nombre: MASTROLIA , PIERPAOLO



En la corona solar existen parámetros físicos, como son el campo magnético y el número de Reynolds, que no se pueden medir con la instrumentación y técnicas de reducción existentes en la actualidad. La sismología coronal tiene por objetivo utilizar las oscilaciones detectadas y su interpretación en términos de ondas magnetohidrodinámicas (MHD), como instrumento que permita diagnosticar las condiciones físicas reales en estructuras magnéticas y ayudar a complementar el déficit en la determinación directa de parámetros. La sismología coronal desarrollada hasta el momento tiene graves limitaciones puesto que se ha basado en modelos muy sencillos (mayoritariamente unidimensionales) y cálculos aproximados (analíticos). El proyecto que aquí se plantea tiene como objetivo fundamental subsanar estas dos deficiencias. Por este motivo, se utilizarán las simulaciones numéricas como herramienta para analizar problemas de ondas en diversas estructuras coronales. La magnetohidrodinámica computacional abre la posibilidad de estudiar problemas de evolución temporal como son la excitación, atenuación y propagación de las ondas MHD. Debido a la naturaleza de las estructuras y la necesidad de utilizar configuraciones de equilibrio lo más realistas posibles, un elemento clave en las simulaciones es la geometría en tres dimensiones que se debe implementar en los modelos. De la comparación entre las simulaciones y las observaciones trataremos de extraer conclusiones sobre cómo mejorar los modelos de equilibrio y en consecuencia conocer mejor las características de las estructuras magnéticas y cómo determinar algunos los valores de diferentes parámetros de la corona solar. Además, de la atenuación de las oscilaciones se podrá extraer información sobre el mecanismo de disipación de las ondas observadas en bucles coronales.

SITUACIÓN PROFESIONAL ACTUAL: Contratado postdoctoral en el Departamento de Física de laUniversitat de les Illes BalearsLÍNEAS DE INVESTIGACIÓN: Magnetohidrodinámica de la atmósfera solar, ondasmagnetohidrodinámicas, sismología coronalFORMACIÓN ACADÉMICA: Licenciado en Ciencias Físicas, Universidad de les IllesBalears, junio, 1997. Doctor en Física, Universitat de les Illes Balears,noviembre 2002.ACTIVIDADES ANTERIORES DE CARÁCTER CIENTÍFICO:Ayudante de Universidad 2000-2002Contratado postdoctoral en NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (EEUU), 2002-2003Contratado postdoctoral en la Universitat de les Illes Balears, 2003-2004Contratado Juan de la Cierva, 2004-2007Contratado postdoctoral en el Centre for Plasma Astrophysics (CPA) de la KatholiekeUniversiteit Leuven (KUL) (Bélgica), 2008-2009PARTICIPACIÓN EN PROYECTOS DE INVESTIGACIÓN: 8Interaction of MHD waves and flows in astrophysical plasmas (INTAS), Sismología de la Corona Solar y Actividad (DGICYT), Ayudas a grupos competitivos (Conselleria de Educación y Cultura de la Comunidad Autónoma de las Islas Baleares), Oscilaciones en estructuras magnéticas de la corona solar (DGI), Aplicación de nuevas tecnologías de computación numérica en paralelo a la resolución de problemas astrofísicos (Comunitat Autònoma de les Illes Balears), Plasma dynamics and wave phenomena in solar prominences (PNCI), Sismología local y global de la atmósfera solar (MEC), Ayudas a grupos competitivos (Conselleria d¿Economia, Hisenda i Innovació, Govern de les IIles Balears).PUBLICACIONES CON REVISOR: total 35, el 54% como primer autor y el 46% comocoautor. De estas publicaciones un 47% tienen un índice de impacto alrededor de6, un 32% alrededor de 4, y un 21% alrededor de 2. Cinco seleccionadas:Two-dimensional distribution of oscillations in quiescent solar prominences,Terradas, J. et al. 2004, A Ofman, L. 2004, ApJ, 610, 523, IMP: 6.237, CITAS: 20The Excitation and Damping of Transversal Coronal Loop Oscillations,Terradas, J.; Oliver , R.; Ballester, J. L 2005, ApJL, 618, 149, IMP: 6.237,CITAS: 16 Damped coronal loop oscillations: time-dependent results, Terradas, J.;Oliver ,R.; Ballester, J. L 2006, ApJ, 642, 533, IMP: 6.119, CITAS: 25Resonant absorption in complicated plasma configurations: applications tomulti-stranded coronal loop oscillations, Terradas, J.; Oliver, R.;Ballester, J. L, Andries, J., Goossens, M. 2008, ApJ, 679, 1611, IMP: 6.237,CITAS: 16 NÚMERO TOTAL DE CITAS: 390 (www.adsabs,harvards.edu) siendo el índice H de 14.ESTANCIAS EN CENTROS DE RECONOCIDO PRESTIGIO INTERNACIONAL: CENTRO: Solar and Magnetospheric MHD Theory Group, School of Mathematics and Statistics St. Andrews, Escocia, TEMA: Ondas magnetohidrodinámicas en protuberancias solares, CENTRO: NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, USA TEMA: Simulación numérica de ondas MHD, CENTRO: Centre for Plasma Astrophysics (CPA), Dept. of Mathematics, Bélgica TEMA: Absorción resonante en bucles coronales. Total periodo estancias en centros en el extranjero: 4 años.




Titulo:Magnetohidrodinámica Computacional: Ondas en Estructuras Magnéticas Tridimensionales de la Corona Solar


Nombre: TERRADAS CALAFELL, JAUME



At finite temperature Quantum Chromo-Dynamics (QCD) experiences a (cross over) phase transition into a new phase, the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP), in which the color degrees of freedom are deconfined and chiral symmetry is restored . In recent years, the study of this transition both from theoretical and lattice studies and from the experimental findings of the RHIC program have lead to the conclusion that the QGP does not behave like an almost free gas of quarks and gluons, but the interactions among the plasma constituents are strong. As a consequence, the hypothesis that the QGP right above the deconfined phase transition is strongly coupled has emerged; one of the most important physical consequences of this hypothesis is that, unlike at weak coupling where the dynamics are dominated by quasiparticles, the QGP does not posses narrow excitations. In the near future, the heavy ion program at the LHC will provide new data which will be able to test this hypothesis. It is the primary goal of this project to address the presence or absence of quasiparticles in deconfined QCD matter and to provide analysis strategies based on strong coupling. To this end, the AdS/CFT correspondence will be utilized as a model of a strongly coupled gauge theory plasma with no quasiparticles. A systematic comparison of computations performed within the correspondence and perturbative and lattice calculations will be performed in order to resolve this issue. A special phenomenological effort will also be made in searching for observable consequences of the strong coupling hypothesis which can be confronted to LHC data.In a different line of research, the high energy and luminosity p-p runs at the LHC will produce large samples of very high multiplicity p-p events. These will provide a novel physics opportunity, the study of collectivity and multiparticle interaction not only in heavy ion collisions but also in elementary p-p collisions. It is also an aim of this project to adapt the techniques used in heavy ion collisions to this smaller systems. The characterization of final state interactions effects in these collisions will provide invaluable information not only on the collective phenomena of QCD but also on the proton structure.In a different line of research, the high energy and luminosity p-p runs at the LHC will produce large samples of very high multiplicity p-p events. These will provide a novel physics opportunity, the study of collectivity and multiparticle interaction not only in heavy ion collisions but also in elementary p-p collisions. It is also an aim of this project to adapt the techniques used in heavy ion collisions to this smaller systems. The characterization of final state interactions effects in these collisions will provide invaluable information not only on the collective phenomena of QCD but also on the proton structure.

The main field of research of the applicant is the phenomenological and theoretical study of the deconfined phase of QCD. His research has been in close contact with the experimental studies of ultra-relativisitc heavy ion collisions. Among other observables, he has studied the collective response of the matter created in these collision to the passage of high energy particles. The strong collectivity in these collisions, which is one of the most important findings of the experimental heavy ion program, lead to the hypothesis that QCD right above deconfinement is strongly coupled. This observation motivated the applicant to explore the connection of the gauge/gravity duality with the physics of QCD. In particular, he has performed important research on the dynamics of external probes in strongly coupled gauge theory plasmas. On this line, the applicant has also performed an effort to generate genuine predictions based solely on strong coupling physics, which can be tested at the LHC. Finally, the applicant started recently a new line of research aimed at identifying collective phenomena in high multiplicity p-p events at the LHC.




Titulo:Strong Coupling and Heavy Ion Collisions at the LHC


Nombre: CASALDERREY SOLANA, JORGE



During embryo development, stem cells differentiate forming patterns and domains that give rise to different tissues and organs. Historically, the problem of morphogenesis has been the driving force of the field of reaction-diffusion and nonlinear pattern formation, in an attempt to understand biological patterns by using nonlinear instabilities. But nowadays, few of the mechanisms that trigger to spontaneous symmetry breaking are well understood. Periodic behavior, cell communication, positional information, and gradient sensing are some of the keys of cell differentiation during embryogenesis. The research line suggested here proposes to gain a deeper understanding of the process of stem cell differentiation and morphogenesis by combining experimental methods of cell biology, nonlinear dynamics, with theory of chemical and biochemical pattern formation. The proposal is based on the development of a nonlinear mechanism by which a homogeneous pool of pluri-potent stem cells undergoes differentiation into different neuronal subtypes creating patterns and domains based on an engineered spatial coupling mechanism with their neighbors. Using synthetic biology, we will engineer synthetic cell communication based on the regulation of expression of morphogens (Shh) controlled by the activation of their own corresponding cell surface receptors (Ptch1). Under the appropriate conditions, cells will be able to exhibit spontaneous symmetry breaking, creating domains of differentiated cells, which can be monitored by the expression of proteins detected by fluorescent microscopy. The background of the investigator in nonlinear autocatalytic systems and pattern formation (PhD), combined with experience in the design and engineering of oscillatory nonlinear systems in enzymatic biochemical systems (postdoc at Brandeis, University, Miguez et al, PNAS), oscillations in protein expression in human cell lines (Postdoc at Harvard, Swinburne, Miguez et al, Genes & Development), and patterning and differentiation of stem cells in mammalian embryo development (postdoc at Institute of Molecular Biology-CSIC) is the necessary to conduct the research line here proposed. In the same way, the investigator possesses solid experience in the development of nonlinear mathematical models of receptor signaling (Miguez DG, Biophys Chem, in press) and signal transduction (Miguez DG, Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, invited review) that will complement the experimental results and will help in their interpretation and deeper understanding.

My research trajectory is composed of a PhD in the Group of Complex Systems, at the Physics Department of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain); a year and a half as a postdoctoral fellow in Irving Epstein Group at the Chemistry Department of Brandeis University (USA), followed by two years an 9 months as a postdoctoral fellow in Pam Silver Group at the Department of Systems Biology of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University (USA), followed by 9 months in the Institute of Molecular Biology of Barcelona ¿ IBMB-CSIC. During my PhD, I spent five months at the Physics Department of Bayreuth University (Germany), and three months at the Chemistry Department at Brandeis University (USA). My background is markedly interdisciplinary, combining experience in the areas of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Altogether, and the ability to perform experimental research in combination with the development of theoretical models allowed me to publish my research in some of the most prestigious journals (four Phys. Rev. Lett, one P.N.A.S. and one Genes and Development). I have published a total amount of 18 papers in journals of top level in the field (11 as a first author), some of them with high number of citations (43 and 21 citations) in a short time frame. Some papers from my postdoctoral period at Harvard are nowadays under revision in top scientific journals (17). My scientific career has been focused into patterns and nonlinear dynamical systems, from different points of view and with an increasing interest towards living systems: starting with physical systems and physical chemistry during the PhD; biochemical and enzymatic systems during my first postdoctoral position; unicellular systems during the second posdoctoral position, and organisms in my third postdoc. I have been awarded with several prizes and honors: a Marie Curie International Reintegration Grant IRG (2009); the prize for best PhD Thesis in the Physics Department by the University of Santiago de Compostela (2005); and a posdoctoral fellowship by the Ministerio of Education y Ciencia of Spain (2006). During my career, I have demonstrated capability to develop independent ideas and novel research lines, as well as long lasting collaborations with the top scientist in the field: in Spain (Elisa Martí, Alberto Pérez Muñuzuri, Carlos Perez García, Jaume Casademunt and Francesc Sagués) and internationally (Michael Menzinger, Pamela Silver, Lorenz Kramer, Irving Epstein and Anatol Zhabotinsky). I have shown capability to obtain financial support for my projects as principal investigator from an international source (Marie Curie IRG, 4 years, 100000 euros) as well as potential for independence, with a first paper published as a single author (18) and a review paper as a single author (19).




Titulo:Engineering of nonlinear mechanisms of spontaneous spatial differentiation of stem cells


Nombre: GOMEZ MIGUEZ, DAVID



Strongly Correlated Quantum GasesRecent progess in experimental techniques (Feshbach resonances, molecular quantumgases) has advance the field of ultracold quantum gases to a point wherecorrections to mean field results can become important.Going beyond the mean field treatment of weakly interacting quantum gases,I plan to study strongly correlated Bose and Fermi gases using methods fromquantum many-body theory and computational physics:1. quantum many-body theoretical approach: hypernetted-chain Euler-Lagrange(HNC-EL) method, and its time-dependent generalization to describe excited state properties;2. computational physics approach: quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations. Ourrecently developed code base for path integral ground state (PIGS) MC will beextended accordingly; finite temperature simulations performed using PIMC.Our combination of QMC for ground state properties and time-dependent HNC-ELfor excitations has proved to be highly successful already in the calculation ofmolecular spectra in superfluid helium; and most recently in a collaborationwith UPC Barcelona, for 2-dimensional system of aligned dipoles.Initial emphasis will be on dipolar Bose gases of heteronuclear molecules,both in the limit of strong alignment of these dipolar moleculesand allowing for rotational fluctuations; later studies of dipolar Fermigases, quantum gases in optical lattices complementing the traditionalHubbard model approach.Clusters in Superfuid HeliumThe experimental technique to study cold atoms, molecules and cluster by puttingthem into superfluid helium-4 droplets has become an active fieldof physics and chemistry. Our theoretical contributions to this field haveconcerned rotational spectra of molecules inside He, and electronic excitations ofalkali atoms on the He surface. Experimental studies of e.g. Mg clustersassemblied inside He4 droplets have to date not been analyzed by theoretical research.I plan to open a line of researchstudying clusters inside He droplets by a combination of quantum Monte Carlosimulations for He4 droplet and density functional theory for the cluster insidethe He4 droplet.

employmentsince 2007 assistant professor (`Ùniversit\"atsassistent'') at the Institute for Theoretical Physics,Johannes Kepler Universit\"at, Linz, AustriaJune 2004 -- Dec 2006 postdoctoral fellow and researcher at the Fraunhofer Institut f\"ur Techno- undWirtschaftsmathematik, Kaiserslautern, Germanyresearch activity: development of multiscale molecular dynamics simulationalgorithms for equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical physicsJuly 2001 -- May 2004 postdoctoral fellow in the Chemistry Department, University of California, Berkeley,USA and Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science, Berkeley, USAresearch activity: calculation of molecule spectra in superfluid helium with quantumMonte Carlo simulations and quantum many-body theoryeducation13.6.2001 PhD degree (title: Dr. techn.) at the Johannes Kepler Universit\"at, Linz, Austriaadvisor: Prof. Eckhard Krotschecktitle of thesis: Atom Scattering off Superfluid $^4$He Clusters and Films11.12.1997 diploma degree at the Johannes Kepler Universit\"at, Linzadvisor: Prof. Eckhard Krotschecktitle of thesis: Scattering of $^3$He off thin $^4$He-filmsawards \& fellowships2008 Programa de movilidad de profesores visitantes en masteres oficiales del Ministeriode Educacion y Ciencia de Espana (mobility program for visiting professorsteaching master courses, awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science)2007 Honourable Mention -- K\"ummel Early Achievement Award, RPMBT14 in Barcelona, Spain2001 Miller Research Fellowship for Basic Research in Science, Berkeley, California1998 Wilhelm-Macke-Award for diploma thesis, Linz, Austria




Titulo:Strongly Correlated Quantum Gases & Clusters in Superfluid Helium


Nombre: ROBERT EUGEN, ZILLICH



With this project I plan to set up a new research line focussed in the study of the dynamics of excited electronic states in nanostructures deposited on metal surfaces. I will tackle different interesting problems involving excited electrons on metal surfaces with potential interest in nanotechnology. It will be divided in four different parts, strongly related between them:(I) Ultrathin ionic layers on metal surfaces:Excited states delocalized on ionic monolayer(s) deposited on metal surfaces. Simulation of the electron dynamics in an ultrathin ionic layer deposited on a metal surface.Relaxation of the ionic crystal layer due to the action of a STM electric field.(II) Metal nanostructures on metal surfaces:Long-lived excited electronic states localized on metal nanostructures deposited on metal surfaces.Electron transmission through metal nanostructures deposited on surfaces. (III) Controlled chemistry on SAMs with excited electrons:Structure and geometry of Self Assembled Molecules (SAMs) deposited on metal surfaces.Electron induced chemical functionalization of SAMs supported on metal surfaces.(IV) Photovoltaic materials:Structure of new photovoltaic materials based on organic molecules.Adsorption properties of these molecules on metal surfaces: possibility of self-assembly.Mechanisms behind the photovoltaic activity of the ¿organic molecule-metal surface¿ system: Dynamics of electron transfer.The multidisciplinary character of the project is reflected in the different aspects involved: surface physics, dynamics of excited electrons, self-assembly of molecules, controlled chemical reactivity, etc. Different theoretical methods will be used; some of them will be developed during the project.

BSc in Chemistry (2000) and MSc in Physical Chemistry (2002) from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). PhD thesis in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (2005), also from the UAM, graded Sobresaliente cum laude and european mention. PhD special award of the UAM. Two predoctoral stays in Strasbourg (France) during the PhD period and two postdoctoral stays in Paris (France) and Orsay (France). After more than three years of postdoctoral experience, I joined the Departamento de Química of the UAM with a Juan de la Cierva contract. The research experience allowed me to acquire a large background in theoretical methods of Quantum Chemistry and Computational Physics, in particular, methods of standard quantum chemistry, statistical mechanics, molecular dynamics, and electron dynamics. I have applied and developed theoretical methods to study a large variety of problems: electronic structure, geometry, spectroscopic properties and fragmentation dynamics of small carbon clusters and fullerenes; collisions of clusters with high energetic ions; fragmentation of metal nanostructures; excited electronic states in metal surfaces, electron dynamics in nanostructures supported in metal surfaces. This research was carried out in the framework of six funded projects and has lead to 32 articles; among them 4 Phys. Rev. Lett., 1 NanoLetters, 3 Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 3 J. Chem. Phys., 3 Phys. Rev. B, 2 Chem.Phys.Chem., 2 Eur. J. Phys. D, 2 Chem. Phys. Lett., etc. These publications show a high quality work carried out in the frontier between Chemistry and Physics, and have received a total of 269 cites. I am the first author in 19 of the 32 publications with an h-index of 9. Furthermore, I have presented the work in a large number of international conferences including six oral communications and one invited talk. Apart from my research related computational background, I developed a wide experience working as part-time system manager during my first year of PhD. In addition, I have combined research with teaching activities. I have been referee of The Journal of Chemical Physics, Chemical Physics Letters and NanoScale.




Titulo:Electron dynamics in nanostructures supported on metal surfaces


Nombre: DIAZ-TENDERO VICTORIA, SERGIO

Documents

MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACIÓN SUBPROGRAMA … · SUBPROGRAMA RAMON Y CAJAL CONVOCATORIA 2010 MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA E INNOVACIÓN Subject Area (UNESCO codes): 2212.02 Theoretical