Future observations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarisation have the potential to answer some of the most fundamental questions of modern physics and cosmology, including: What physical process gave birth to the Universe we see today? What are the dark matter and dark energy that seem to constitute 95% of the energy density of the Universe? Do we need extensions to the standard model of particle physics and fundamental interactions? Is the ΛCDM cosmological scenario correct, or are we missing an essential piece of the puzzle? In this paper, we list the requirements for a future CMB polarisation survey addressing these scientific objectives, and discuss the design drivers of the CORE space mission proposed to ESA in answer to the "M5" call for a medium-sized mission. The rationale and options, and the methodologies used to assess the mission's performance, are of interest to other future CMB mission design studies. CORE has 19 frequency channels, distributed over a broad frequency range, spanning the 60-600 GHz interval, to control astrophysical foreground emission. The angular resolution ranges from 2 to 18 , and the aggregate CMB sensitivity is about 2 µK.arcmin. The observations are made with a single integrated focal-plane instrument, consisting of an array of 2100 cryogenically-cooled, linearly-polarised detectors at the focus of a 1.2-m aperture cross-Dragone telescope. The mission is designed to minimise all sources of systematic effects, which must be controlled so that no more than 10 −4 of the intensity leaks into polarisation maps, and no more than about 1% of E-type polarisation leaks into B-type modes. CORE observes the sky from a large Lissajous orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point on an orbit that offers stable observing conditions and avoids contamination from sidelobe pick-up of stray radiation originating from the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The entire sky is observed repeatedly during four years of continuous scanning, with a combination of three rotations of the spacecraft over different timescales. With about 50% of the sky covered every few days, this scan strategy provides the mitigation of systematic effects and the internal redundancy that are needed to convincingly extract the primordial B-mode signal on large angular scales, and check with adequate sensitivity the consistency of the observations in several independent data subsets. CORE is designed as a "near-ultimate" CMB polarisation mission which, for optimal complementarity with ground-based observations, will perform the observations that are known to be essential to CMB polarisation science and cannot be obtained by any other means than a dedicated space mission. It will provide well-characterised, highly-redundant multi-frequency observations of polarisation at all the scales where foreground emission and cosmic variance dominate the final uncertainty for obtaining precision CMB science, as well as 2 angular resolution maps of high-frequency foreground emission in the 300-600 GHz frequency range, essential for complementarity w...

To develop a full understanding of interactions in nanomagnet arrays is a persistent challenge, critically impacting their technological acceptance. This paper reports the experimental, numerical and analytical investigation of interactions in arrays of Co nanoellipses using the first-order reversal curve (FORC) technique. A mean-field analysis has revealed the physical mechanisms giving rise to all of the observed features: a shift of the non-interacting FORC-ridge at the low-HC end off the local coercivity HC axis; a stretch of the FORC-ridge at the high-HC end without shifting it off the HC axis; and a formation of a tilted edge connected to the ridge at the low-HC end. Changing from flat to Gaussian coercivity distribution produces a negative feature, bends the ridge, and broadens the edge. Finally, nearest neighbor interactions segment the FORC-ridge. These results demonstrate that the FORC approach provides a comprehensive framework to qualitatively and quantitatively decode interactions in nanomagnet arrays.

Citation: González-Suárez, M., A. Gómez, and E. Revilla. 2013. Which intrinsic traits predict vulnerability to extinction depends on the actual threatening processes. Ecosphere 4(6):76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/ES12-00380.1Abstract. Understanding what makes some species more vulnerable to extinction than others is an important challenge for conservation. Many comparative analyses have addressed this issue exploring how intrinsic and extrinsic traits associate with general estimates of vulnerability. However, these general estimates do not consider the actual threats that drive species to extinction and hence, are more difficult to translate into effective management. We provide an updated description of the types and spatial distribution of threats that affect mammals globally using data from the IUCN for 5941 species of mammals. Using these data we explore the links between intrinsic species traits and specific threats in order to identify key intrinsic features associated with particular drivers of extinction. We find that families formed by small-size habitat specialists are more likely to be threatened by habitat-modifying processes; whereas, families formed by larger mammals with small litter sizes are more likely to be threatened by processes that directly affect survival. These results highlight the importance of considering the actual threatening process in comparative studies. We also discuss the need to standardize and rank threat importance in global assessments such as the IUCN Red List to improve our ability to understand what makes some species more vulnerable to extinction than others.

Context. NIKA2 is a dual-band millimetre continuum camera of 2 900 kinetic inductance detectors, operating at 150 and 260 GHz, installed at the IRAM 30-m telescope in Spain. Open to the scientific community since October 2017, NIKA2 will provide key observations for the next decade to address a wide range of open questions in astrophysics and cosmology. Aims. Our aim is to present the calibration method and the performance assessment of NIKA2 after one year of observation. Methods. We used a large data set acquired between January 2017 and February 2018 including observations of primary and secondary calibrators and faint sources that span the whole range of observing elevations and atmospheric conditions encountered by the IRAM 30-m telescope. This allowed us to test the stability of the performance parameters against time evolution and observing conditions. We describe a standard calibration method, referred to as the “Baseline” method, to translate raw data into flux density measurements. This includes the determination of the detector positions in the sky, the selection of the detectors, the measurement of the beam pattern, the estimation of the atmospheric opacity, the calibration of absolute flux density scale, the flat fielding, and the photometry. We assessed the robustness of the performance results using the Baseline method against systematic effects by comparing results using alternative methods. Results. We report an instantaneous field of view of 6.5′ in diameter, filled with an average fraction of 84%, and 90% of valid detectors at 150 and 260 GHz, respectively. The beam pattern is characterised by a FWHM of 17.6″ ± 0.1″ and 11.1″ ± 0.2″, and a main-beam efficiency of 47%±3%, and 64%±3% at 150 and 260 GHz, respectively. The point-source rms calibration uncertainties are about 3% at 150 GHz and 6% at 260 GHz. This demonstrates the accuracy of the methods that we deployed to correct for atmospheric attenuation. The absolute calibration uncertainties are of 5%, and the systematic calibration uncertainties evaluated at the IRAM 30-m reference Winter observing conditions are below 1% in both channels. The noise equivalent flux density at 150 and 260 GHz are of 9 ± 1 mJy s1/2 and 30 ± 3 mJy s1/2. This state-of-the-art performance confers NIKA2 with mapping speeds of 1388 ± 174 and 111 ± 11 arcmin2 mJy−2 h−1 at 150 and 260 GHz. Conclusions. With these unique capabilities of fast dual-band mapping at high (better that 18″) angular resolution, NIKA2 is providing an unprecedented view of the millimetre Universe.

We describe a space-borne, multi-band, multi-beam polarimeter aiming at a precise and accurate measurement of the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background. The instrument is optimized to be compatible with the strict budget requirements of a mediumsize space mission within the Cosmic Vision Programme of the European Space Agency. The instrument has no moving parts, and uses arrays of diffraction-limited Kinetic Inductance Detectors to cover the frequency range from 60 GHz to 600 GHz in 19 wide bands, in the focal plane of a 1.2 m aperture telescope cooled at 40 K, allowing for an accurate extraction of the CMB signal from polarized foreground emission. The projected CMB polarization survey sensitivity of this instrument, after foregrounds removal, is 1.7 µK•arcmin. The design is robust enough to allow, if needed, a downscoped version of the instrument covering the 100 GHz to 600 GHz range with a 0.8 m aperture telescope cooled at 85 K, with a projected CMB polarization survey sensitivity of 3.2 µK•arcmin.

We report on a detailed study of the optical response and Tc − ρ phase diagram (Tc being the superconducting critical temperature and ρ the normal state resistivity of the film) of granular aluminum, combining transport measurements and a high resolution optical spectroscopy technique. The Tc − ρ phase diagram is discussed as resulting from an interplay between the phase stiffness, the Coulomb repulsion and the superconducting gap ∆. We provide a direct evidence for two different types of well resolved sub-gap absorptions, at ω1 ∆ and at ∆ ω2 2∆ (decreasing with increasing resistivity).

We have designed, fabricated and tested a robust superconducting ratchet device based on topologically frustrated spin-ice nanomagnets. The device is made of a magnetic Co honeycomb array embedded in a superconducting Nb film. This device is based on three simple mechanisms: i) the topology of the Co honeycomb array frustrates in-plane magnetic configurations in the array yielding a distribution of magnetic charges which can be ordered or disordered with in-plane magnetic fields, following spin-ice rules; ii) the local vertex magnetization, which consists of a magnetic half vortex with two charged magnetic Néel walls; iii) the interaction between superconducting vortices and the asymmetric potentials provided by the Néel walls. The combination of these elements leads to a superconducting ratchet effect. Thus, superconducting vortices driven by alternating forces and moving on magnetic half vortices generate a unidirectional net vortex flow. This ratchet effect is independent of the distribution of magnetic charges in the array.

Summary. We present the current status of the QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) CMB Experiment, a new instrument which will start operations early 2009 at Teide Observatory, with the aim of characterizing the polarization of the CMB and other processes of galactic and extragalactic emission in the frequency range 10-30 GHz and at large angular scales. QUIJOTE will be a valuable complement at low frequencies for the PLANCK mission, and will have the required sensitivity to detect a primordial gravitational-wave component if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than r = 0.05.