Colloquia

So far the searches for extrasolar planets have found 40 planetary companions orbiting around nearby stars. In December 1999 a transit has been observed for one of them, providing the first independent confirmation of the reality of close-in planets as well as a measurement of its density. The techniques used to detect planets are limited and the detection threshold is biased but a first picture of the planet diversity and distribution emerges. Results of the search for extra-solar planets and their impacts on planetary formation will be reviewed. Future instruments are foreseen to detect Earth-like planets and possible signatures of organic activity. An overview of these future projects will be presented and more particularly the Darwin-IRSI mission studied by ESA for Horizon 2015..

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Terrestrial life, defined as a chemical system capable of self-reproduction and also capable of evolution, probably originated from the evolution of reduced organic molecules in liquid water. We are looking for fossilised remnants in old sediments and also for a second genesis of life, artificial in a test tube or natural on another celestial body. On Earth, organic molecules might have been formed in the atmosphere, near hydrothermal vents or delivered by extraterrestrial dust grains. Life might have evolved on early Mars when water existed on the surface. Europa has probably a water subsurface ocean and perhaps hydrothermal systems harbouring a basic life form. The discovery of exoplanets opens the search for a second genesis of life to the whole Universe..

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Neutron stars and black holes, the most compact astrophysical objects, have become observable in many different ways during the last few decades. We will first review the phenomenology and properties of neutron stars and black holes (stellar and supermassive) as derived from multiwavelength observatories. Recently much progress has been made by means of the new powerful X-ray observatories Chandra and XMM-Newton which provide a substantial increase in sensitivity as well as spectral and angular resolution compared with previous satellites like ROSAT and ASCA. We shall discuss in more detail two recent topics: (1) The attempts to use X-ray spectroscopy for measuring the radii of neutron stars which depend on the equation of state at supranuclear densities. Have quark stars been detected? (2) The diagnostics of the strong gravity regions around supermassive black holes using X-ray spectroscopy..

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Optical experiments have demonstrated cases in which mirror symmetry in stable atoms is broken during absorption or emission of light. Such results are in conflict with standard electromagnetic (EM) theory, but can be explained within the unified electroweak theory. Their interpretation is based on exchanges of virtual weak neutral Z_0 bosons between the electrons and the atomic nucleus. These effects were predicted to increase in heavy atoms a little faster than the cube of the atomic number. Moreover, in a highly forbidden transition, like the 6S-7S transition in cesium, the EM interaction is suppressed, leaving the Z_0 exchange a chance to show up. For achieving the determination of the Cs nucleus weak charge, Q_W(Cs), the basic experimental parameter playing in Z_0, exchange the same role as the nuclear charge in the Coulomb interaction, both experimental and theoretical hurdles had to be overcome: first, the excitation and detection of an atomic line with a transition rate about 10^{14} times less than a typical atomic rate, second, the resolution of a many(55)-body problem to extract Q_W from experiment. The progress achieved since the first determination, have now raised APV measurements to the status of a precise electroweak test. They become sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model which may have escaped high energy investigation. Consequently, strong motivation presently exists for a second independent precise measurement and still more accurate atomic physics calculations. The same experiments provide information about parity violating nuclear forces, responsible for a chiral deformation of the nuclear magnetization, described in terms of the nuclear anapole moment. I shall present today's projects and new perspectives open by atomic radiative cooling and trapping..

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Quark confinment.

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In their first announcement of muon polarization Garwin, Lederman and Weinrich (1957) used the g-2 principle to put limits on the g-factor. The progress since then will be reviewed, the three experiments at CERN leading up to the new Brookhaven measurement to 0.7 ppm disagreeing with current predictions by 3.0 sigma. Recent advances in the theory (hadronic light-by-light, e⁺e^- and tau decay data) will be covered and a CERN film from 1967 will be shown..

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A Celebration of Luigi di Lella's retirement.

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Quantum teleportation may look like magic! It is a marvelous manifestation of entanglement. After a brief introduction, a recent experiment performed in Geneva will be presented. Some consequences, both conceptual and for applications, will be discussed.

Organiser: Daniel Treille / CERN-EP
Tea and coffee will be served at 16:00 hrs.

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It has been proven over the years that an effort for the America's Cup require tomorrows technology if a realistic contender should be launched. EPFL has during the past years collaborated closely with the Alinghi team in terms of scientific research and implementation of new technology. It is always a challenge for a University to enter projects of this character, as they require the competence to combine long-term goals with sometimes very short-term needs and decisions. A split-vision approach is needed, which is both demanding and challenging for the partners when designing and manufacturing at the extreme limit. The impact of this involvement, and the close collaboration between EPFL and the Alinghi team will be illustrated with concrete examples taken from the fluid dynamics and the optimization of the composite materials for the hull manufacturing.
The application of numerical simulations to the design of sailing yachts is becoming more commonplace, particularly for the America's Cup. The research activity in fluid dynamics has been related to the application of advanced numerical methods for the solution of the mathematical equations governing the complex aerodynamic and hydrodynamic flows around the sailing yacht. In the talk numerical studies will be shown that have been undertaken in three principal areas: hydrodynamic flow around the boat appendages (hull, keel, bulb and winglets), aerodynamic flow around the mast and sails, and the generation of waves on the water surface. The results obtained have been integrated into the design process, together with the results of more traditional numerical tools and experimentation, in order to optimize the overall boat performance. This problem is very challenging from the mathematical standpoint. The benefits to the design process as well as its limitations will be discussed. Practical matters, such as manpower and computational requirements, are also considered.

Organiser: Daniel Treille / EP Division
* Tea & coffee will be served at 16:00 hrs.
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Based mainly on the results of two experiments, KamiokaNDE and Super-KamiokaNDE, the birth of neutrino astrophysics will be described. At the end, the result of the third generation Kamioka experiment, KamLAND, will be discussed together with the future possibilities.

Organiser(s): Daniel Treille / EP Division

Note: * Tea & coffee will be served at 16:00 hrs.
Please note unusual day..

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This talk will be given in two parts as follows:

Opteron Overview; Architecture, Infrastructure and Technology (David Rich)
This talk will provide an overview of the Opteron processor architecture in particular, 32 and 64 bit capabilities, integrated memory controller, and the use of HyperTransport technology. HyperTransport technology will also be discussed in general. Opteron infrastructure -- platforms, enabling software -- will also be discussed. Some industry standard benchmark results will be provided.

Opteron Performance Considerations - Application Programmer's View (David Cownie)
This talk concentrates on issues that relate to obtaining peak performance from the Opteron processor. Compiler options, memory layout, MPI issues in multi-processor configurations and the use of a NUMA kernel will be covered. A discussion of recent benchmarking projects and results will also be included.

Biographies
David Rich
David directs AMD's efforts in high performance computing and also in the use of Opteron processors in non-traditional or embedded applications. Previous to AMD, David was general manager at API Networks, Inc. API co-developed HyperTransport technology with AMD. He was VP of Business Development at Fujitsu System Technologies and directed the spin out of that group into RedSwitch (now acquired by Agilent). RedSwitch is a leader in InfiniBand switch silicon products. Before Fujitsu, David was VP of Marketing and Sales at Dolphin Interconnect Solutions.
David worked on the Butterfly series of parallel computers at BBN and also created a software tool business based around the TotalView debugger and managed the spin-off of that business from BBN � now Etnus. He held technical and marketing positions at a number of companies including Octocom Systems, Apollo Computer and Micom Systems. David has a BA in computer science from Brown University.

David "Boris" Cownie
David started his career at Inmos where he wrote the "Occam" compiler and the code generator for the Transputer processor. From there he joined Meiko, Ltd. as one of the first employees where he worked on many parallel codes including benchmarks for many large national laboratories -- e.g. NASA Ames, Lawrence Livermore. He also managed 3rd party compiler and tools vendors as part of his work at Meiko. Currently David works with AMD's customers (vendors) and end users of AMD processors on optimization of HPC applications. David has an MA in computer science from Cambridge University, UK..

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Richard Stallman will speak about the purpose, goals, philosophy, methods, status, and future prospects of the GNU operating system, which in combination with the kernel Linux is now used by an estimated 17 to 20 million users world wide.

Biography
Richard Stallman is the founder of the Gnu Project, launched in 1984 to develop the free operating system GNU (an acronym for ''GNU's Not Unix''), and thereby give computer users the freedom that most of them have lost. GNU is free software: everyone is free to copy it and redistribute it, as well as to make changes either large or small.
Today, Linux-based variants of the GNU system, based on the kernel Linux developed by Linus Torvalds, are in widespread use. There are estimated to be some 20 million users of GNU/Linux systems today.
Richard Stallman is the principal author of the GNU Compiler Collection, a portable optimizing compiler which was designed to support diverse architectures and multiple languages. The compiler now supports over 30 different architectures and 7 programming languages.
Stallman also wrote the GNU symbolic debugger (gdb), GNU Emacs, and various other GNU programs.
Stallman graduated from Harvard in 1974 with a BA in physics. During his college years, he also worked as a staff hacker at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab, learning operating system development by doing it. He wrote the first extensible Emacs text editor there in 1975. In January 1984 he resigned from MIT to start the GNU project.
Stallman received the Grace Hopper award for 1991 from the Association for Computing Machinery, for his development of the first Emacs editor. In 1990 he was awarded a Macarthur foundation fellowship, and in 1996 an honorary doctorate from the royal institute of Technology in Sweden. In 1998 he received the Electronic Frontier Foundation's pioneer award along with Linus Torvalds. In 1999 he received the Yuri Rubinski award. In 2001 he received a second honorary doctorate, from the University of Glasgow, and shared the Takeda award for social/economic betterment with Torvalds and Ken Sakamura. In 2002 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering..

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