The aim of this course is to present a selection of advanced topics in classical gravitational dynamics. 

Progress in experimental quantum physics has transformed thought experiments into reality, so that an exciting new question can now be asked : How can we harness the "strange" features of quantum mechanics - such as nonlocality, entanglement, and quantum measurement - in new applications ? In this new field, broadly called “quantum technologies”, new ideas and concepts are being put forward.

• This lecture aims at the description of the interaction between quantum matter in its simplest form, an atom, and an electromagnetic field. A semi-classical approach, where the field is classical, is first considered, including relaxation of the atom. We then study the quantization of the electromagnetic field and its relaxation, before its interaction with an atom is described in a full quantum model.

The aim of the course is to present in details some advanced theoretical tools in quantum mechanics with an emphasis on degenerate many-body systems and scattering theory.

« La chétive pécore, s’enfla si bien qu’elle creva ». « Je plie, et ne romps pas ». While taking inspiration from the living, La Fontaine noticed examples of organisms – frog and reed – that deform strongly, sometimes beyond unrecoverable limits.

Turbulent flows are present all around us and are crucial in fields such as aeronautics, industry, meteorology, astrophysics, climate. 

The development of animals, starting from a single cell to produce a fully formed organism, is a fascinating process. Its study is currently advancing at a rapid pace thanks to combined experimental and theoretical progress, with yet many fundamental questions remaining to be understood. 

This course will address the fundamental theoretical concepts underlying the self-organization of multicellular systems, from genetic regulation to the mechanics of active biological materials. The course will be based on various concepts of theoretical physics: dynamical systems, soft an active matter, mechanics of continuous media, numerical modeling, etc.

In this course we will cover the basics of ecology, evolution, and epidemiology, with the lens and tools of physics. 

The lectures offer a statistical-physics perspective on active matter, which encompasses systems whose fundamental constituents dissipate energy to exert forces on the environment. This out-of-equilibrium microscopic drive endows active systems with properties unmatched in passive ones. From molecular motors to bacteria and animals, active agents are found at all scales in nature. Over the past twenty years, physicists and chemists have also engineered synthetic active systems in the lab, by motorizing particles whose sizes range from nanometers to centimeters, hence paving the way towards the engineering of active materials.

The lectures will rely on the modern tools of statistical mechanics, from stochastic calculus to field theoretical methods, using both theoretical models and experimental systems to illustrate the rich physics of active matter.