Accelerators provide the majority of performance in modern High Performance Computing (HPC) systems and are the fundamental building blocks for Exascale systems. The European PILOT (Pilot using Independent Local & Open Technology) will be the first demonstration of two ALL European HPC and High Performance Data Analytics (HPDA) (AI, ML, DL) accelerators, designed, implemented, manufactured, and owned by Europe. The European PILOT combines open source software (SW) and open and proprietary hardware (HW) to deliver the first completely European full stack software, accelerator, and integrated ecosystem based on RISC-V accelerators coupled to any general purpose processor (CPU) via PCIe Gen 6.0 or CXL 3.0. This pilot will demonstrate key HPC and HPDA workloads and software stacks. The European PILOT is also the first to demonstrate an ALL European HPC ecosystem. The accelerators will be manufactured in the new European GlobalFoundries 12 nm advanced silicon technology, a major demonstration of European technology independence. The European PILOT combines cutting edge research utilizing SW/HW co-design to demonstrate HPC and HPDA accelerators running key applications and libraries in a full software stack including middleware, runtimes, compilers, and tools for the emerging RISC-V ecosystem. The European PILOT is able to produce a full stack (SW and HW) research prototype by leveraging and extending the work done in multiple European projects like: EPI, MEEP, POP2 CoE, EuroEXA, and ExaNeSt. This pre-production system can only be realized with a combination of existing IP, HW emulation using FPGAs, and real ASIC prototypes that demonstrate the full stack feasibility of the hardware and software. Finally, while the applications we use span AI to HPC, the aggressive ASIC implementation (chiplet size and small geometry) will be the smallest technology node manufactured in Europe and can easily be adapted for a near-future HPC implementation.

Extragalactic TeV gamma ray sources carry potentially very useful information for probing basic physics. The goal of this project is to bring together all necessary ingredients to exploit these data the best. The axes of the proposal are the study of the cosmological standard model, the search for new light bosons (axion-like particles, ALPs) and the search for Lorentz invariance breaking. In all cases, specific properties in the sources energy spectra are sought. TeV photons allow probing the extragalactic background light, which they interact with. This is how the cosmological model will be tested (metric, cosmological parameters). In case of an absence of detection of exotic effects (axions, Lorentz invariance breakdown), it will be possible to constraint particles physics models predicting ALPs and to set lower limits on the energy scale up to which Lorentz invariance holds. The IRFU team is traditionally involved in the search for new physics, in particular the search for non-baryonic dark matter. This project aims at extending the activity of the group to other fundamental physics domains within astroparticle physics. We propose to join forces with the Polish group of R. Moderski, who is specialized in the modeling of conventional TeV gamma ray emissions. His PhD student A. Barnacka is already in joint supervision PhD thesis together with the IRFU group in Saclay. The Warsaw Nicolaus Copernicus Center appears as associated lab, which receives no funding from the ANR. Predictions for the intrinsic spectrum of the source and the magnetic field configuration will be used to make theoretical predictions. Those will be tested with the HESS, Fermi and HESS II data and then used to estimate the sensitivity of future gamma ray observatories to these effects. A key point of this project is that it aggregates different types of knowledge that can be used for other analyses as by-products. It is the merging of two teams specialized respectively in the modeling of TeV emissions and in the search for new physics with gamma-ray astronomy that is the important point here. So in a second phase, we propose to study other subjects, for example constraining the properties of the propagation of TeV photons in the intergalactic medium (large-scale relic magnetic fields, ultra-high energy cosmic rays, gravitational lensing, etc). Other even more challenging subjects may be studied if the previous analyses are successful, such as the use of gamma ray bursts. It is foreseen to organize two workshops dedicated to the search for new phenomena with TeV sources. This project enlarges the topics in which the IRFU team is traditionally involved. The proposal is held by a team of young physicists whose collaboration will naturally sustain when the project ends thanks to the starting of next generation observatories and the wealth of subjects raised. ANR funding will allow hiring a 3 year post-doc and increase significantly the work capacity of the team. The funding will also cover travels and the organization of dedicated workshops.

Solid granular explosives are used in a large number of applications for their ability to deliver a fast and intensive mechanical work (genie civil, mining, military applications, etc.) or to synthesize materials for which the reaction path travels through pressure and temperature ranges not accessible to conventional processes. For instance, mixtures of carbon-rich and high detonation pressure explosives are used to synthesize detonation nanodiamonds for various applications [Pichot et al. Sci. Rep. 7, 14086 (2017), Pichot et al., J. Hazard. Mater. 300, 194-201 (2015)]. The detonation mechanism of these solid explosives is widely studied, both from the experimental and theoretical point of view, despite the difficulties inherent to its characteristic length and time scales, which represent a challenge both for experiments and simulations. In the course of the previous ANR-ASTRID project « ATOLE », the NS3E laboratory and CEA-DAM have built a collaboration based on theory and experiments in order to understand the impact of granularity on the pyrotechnic properties of various explosives and explosive mixtures. The objective of the project was to understand the correlation between the nanostructure of the explosives and the size distribution of the recovered detonation nanodiamonds. During this project, NS3E showed that the spray flash evaporation process used to synthesize the nanograins of explosive could lead to the formation of sub-micrometer core-shell structures, with a core of one explosive covered by a layer, or shell, of the other [T. Deckert-Gaudig et al, Chem. Phys. Chem. 18 (2), 175-178 (2017)]. Although these original structures are well known at the micrometer scale, the formation of these new nanostructures through a fully "in situ" reaction path opens new potential routes to the synthesis of granular explosives. However this discovery calls for preliminary experimental and theoretical studies in order to understand, and rationalise, their formation process and their properties. The goal of this proposal is to take advantage of the duality and complementarity of the NS3E/CEA-DAM consortium in order to investigate the formation mechanism of the nanometric core-shell explosives. Their thermodynamic stability and pyrotechnic properties will be investigated in terms of yield and safety, with a particular focus on the influence of the experimental conditions, which could be adapted to tune the performance of the explosive. NS3E will run the experimental component of the project and CEA-DAM will lead the theoretical studies.

The SNIP Project (Numerical Simulation of Impact in Porous Materials) is proposed by researchers from AMU (Aix-Marseille University) and from the Direction des Applications Militaires of the Centre à l’énergie Atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA-DAM) CESTA (Centre d’Etude Scientifiques et Techniques d’Aquitaine). These researchers are specialists in mathematical and numerical modeling in fluid and solid mechanics. The aim of this project is to understand the behaviour of porous materials under impacts. During the impacts, shock waves are present accompanied with high pressures and temperatures. Many phenoma have to be taken into account such as compaction of the porous materials, plasticity, damag. Interaction with a surrounding fluid or a fluid in the pores have also to be taken into account. These problems are crucial in astrophysics (asteroid impacts), for military applications (bunker buster simulation, shock detonation transition in solid explosives), in petrol industry (fracturation of rocks ), and in civil industry (security of chemical facilities). For the modeling of porous materials, two approches can be found in the litterature. From one side, there are models obtained by the homogenization technique. In this approach the elasto-plastic matrix is usually considered as incompressible, and the dynamic behaviour is rarely taken into account. From the other side, there are models developped for multi-component solid explosives. These models take into account the phase compressibility but are, most of the time, unable to take into account the shear effects in solids. The models are thus purely hydrodynamical. Our aim is the developement of a mathematical model for porous materials with a multiphase flow approach. The multiphase flow models have shown their ability for the simulation of fluid mixtures, fluid - solid interfaces and the treatment of various physical effects (spallation, phase transition, detonation waves, capillarity effects). The new model must be able to describe the compaction process in the porous solids, take into account the compressibility of all the phases with both closed and open porosity. The model and the corresponding numerical methods will be able to recover classical homogenization results, mixture Hugoniot curves and quasi-static compaction experiments. The model will also be able to take into account micro-inertia effects. Damage effects will be then studied. The numerical results will be compared with impact experiments from the litterature and those performed in the CEA DAM. The comparison with experiments (plate impact, ballistic impact) will define the validity domain of the model and will help to determine the other physical effects to deal with (hardening, phase transition). The influence of micro-inertia effects on the shock wave structure will also be studied.

The exchanger-reactors technology opens many opportunities for the chemical and the energy markets. R&D activities in this area have been important for many years. Despite works of high scientific quality, maturity level is insufficient to scale up to the industrial scale. The laboratory of thermal components and assembling technology (LCTA), of CEA-Liten, and ATMOSTAT, of the Group ALCEN, propose the creation of a common laboratory "LACRE" for Common Laboratory of Assembling for Exchanger Reactors. The LACRE will be positioned between the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 2-3 and 6-7 of exchanger reactor i.e. between laboratory research reactors allowing upstream studies and the realization of demonstrator reactors tested in a representative environment. The creation of this common laboratory on the technology of exchanger reactors is aimed at accelerating the "time to market". The final objective for ATMOSTAT will be to industrialize and commercialize these exchanger reactors. LACRE laboratory will mainly target the chemical and the energy markets. For the chemical market, exchanger-reactors prospect in terms of cost saving, productivity and security with the transition of batch reactors to continuous process. For the energy market, the 'power to gas' and 'power to liquid' approaches require modular exchanger reactors ensuring an optimal thermal management of the exothermic catalytic reactions. This kind of reactor does not exist in the current market. The LCTA laboratory has developed for more than 15 years the design and the manufacturing of complex thermal components using assembling technology by brazing and diffusion bonding, and powder metallurgy technology. Since 2006, the LCTA has contributed to the development of exchanger-reactors for exothermic chemical reactions for chemistry and energy. ATMOSTAT company is part of the ALCEN group, which is a medium company. This group works in 4 areas which are (i) defence and security, (ii) energy, (iii) medical equipment and (iv) aeronautic. ATMOSTAT, which has the size of a small company, has developed expertise in the design, development, manufacture and commercialisation of mechanical equipment. It also provides engineering support on the reliability of equipment, lifetime and qualification of industrial processes. ATMOSTAT has a specfic know-how and equipment means CAD; machining; welding by diffusion and electron beam; non-destructive testing; metrology; heat treatments and surface treatments. Its development always relied on a strong R&D activity. Its current development strategy focuses on diversification of its activities to the field of chemistry and energy. To achieve the objective of the LACRE, a road map has been defined. It presents the strategy of research and innovation for the 5 years to come for exchanger-reactors development. A market analysis is planned to update the specifications and the roadmap of LACRE.