Elio SAMARA will defend his PhD Thesis entitled “Optimization and Validation of Microwave Scattering Measurements for Protoplanetary Dust Analogues” on Thursday, October 8th, 2026 at 02:00 p.m. in Ponte amphitheater, campus St Jérôme, Marseille, France.
The presentation and the slides will be in English. You will find a short abstract below. The link to join the videoconference will be provided at a later date.
Jury Composition :
– Mohammed SERHIR, Centrale Supélec, President of Jury
– Elodie RICHALOT-TAISNE, Université Gustave Eiffel, Reviewer
– Jean-Yves DAUVIGNAC, Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, Reviewer
– Nicolas MEZIERES, Université de Rennes, Examiner
– François MÉNARD, IPAG, Université Grenoble Alpes, Examinaner
– Amélie LITMAN, Institut Fresnel, AMU, Marseille, Thesis Director
– Jean-Michel GEFFRIN, Institut Fresnel, AMU, Marseille, Thesis Co-director
Abstract : Planet formation begins with the aggregation of dust in protoplanetary disks, whose properties (size, shape, porosity, composition) are inferred from the light they scatter. Interpreting these observations requires reliable scattering models for complex particles, which numerical methods alone cannot always handle or validate. Within the ERC Dust2Planets project, this thesis relies on the microwave analogy: dust analogues scaled up to the centimeter range are characterized in an anechoic chamber on the MIMOSA setup (Multi Incidences Multi Orientation Scattering Analyzer) over the 2-18 GHz frequency band.
This work presents the optimization of the MIMOSA setup, initiated in early 2024, together with the optimization and validation of the measurement processing chain, including bistatic polarimetric measurements, the extraction of Jones and Mueller matrices, and uncertainties propagation. The results are validated against Mie theory and numerical simulations (DDA, FEM). This work provides reference data to constrain the scattering models used in astrophysics.
