Missions

The Virgo collaboration is developing and using the Virgo gravitational wave detector located near Pisa, Italy. A tight relationship has been built between Virgo and the LIGO scientific collaboration and LIGO lab which are operating two large interferometers in the US. This relationship includes full data sharing and common data analysis.

The IPHC Virgo group is in charge of the Newtonian Calibrator (“NCal”) for the Virgo detector. This device producing a variable gravitational field to provide an absolute Virgo calibration. This system is being commissioned, and will be used during the 2023-2024 “O4” data taking. It will also be improved for future data taking run.

The successful candidate will contribute to the operation of the NCal system, including data collection, and data analysis in the framework of the Virgo calibration. He/she will contribute to the future improvements of the NCal system.

The IPHC group, together with other Virgo groups, is also developing the data analysis pipeline called MBTA, dedicated to the search of compact binary coalescences. The successful candidate will contribute to the use of this pipeline during the O4 data taking, both for the online and offline analysis, making the link with the Virgo calibration.

Activités

• Operation of the existing Newtonian calibrator (NCal).
• Contribution to the NCal design improvement, and associated tests.
• Contribution to the improvements and operation of the MBTA data analysis pipeline, searching for binary coalescence system.
• Writing reports and research articles

Compétences

• Have obtained a PhD in experimental astroparticle physics or equivalent
• Knowledge of gravitational wave detectors.
• Analysis and software skills (C/C++, ROOT, Python).
• French to allow interaction with the IPHC technical team.
• English at level B2 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

Contexte de travail

The “Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien” (IPHC), a joint research unit under the co-supervision of CNRS and Strasbourg University (UMR7178), is a multidisciplinary laboratory where research groups from various scientific fields (ecology, physiology and ethology, chemistry and subatomic physics) develop high level research program with a strong instrumentation basement. IPHC is composed of 4 departments and counts a total number of 393 agents including 257 permanent position (119 researchers, assistant-professors and professors and 138 engineers and technicians), 46 fixed term contracts and 90 PhD students.

This research activity will be carried out within the Virgo group of the OGMA team, which is right now composed of 3 permanent researchers, 4 postdocs and PhD students, with support from engineers and technicians. The recruited person will be placed under the responsibility of Benoit Mours. The post-doctoral collaborator will become a member of the Virgo international collaboration. Travels to the experiment site in Italy and to national and international conferences and workshops are planned.

Informations complémentaires

Your application must include following documents (in English):
- A detailed CV including a list of publications to which you made significant contribution
- A cover letter
- The names of at least two persons willing to write recommendation letters.