David Pierre Ruelle (; born 20 August 1935) is a Belgian

mathematical physicist Mathematical physics refers to the development of mathematical methods for application to problems in physics. The ''Journal of Mathematical Physics'' defines the field as "the application of mathematics to problems in physics and the developmen ...

, naturalized

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. He has worked on statistical physics and

dynamical systems In mathematics, a dynamical system is a system in which a function describes the time dependence of a point in an ambient space. Examples include the mathematical models that describe the swinging of a clock pendulum, the flow of water in a p ...

. With Floris Takens, Ruelle coined the term ''

strange attractor In the mathematical field of dynamical systems, an attractor is a set of states toward which a system tends to evolve, for a wide variety of starting conditions of the system. System values that get close enough to the attractor values remain ...

'', and developed a new theory of

turbulence In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...

Biography

Ruelle studied physics at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, obtaining a PhD degree in 1959 under the supervision of Res Jost. He spent two years (1960–1962) at the

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

, and another two years (1962–1964) at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

. In 1964, he became professor at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques in Bures-sur-Yvette,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Since 2000, he has been an emeritus professor at IHES and distinguished visiting professor at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

. David Ruelle made fundamental contributions in various aspects of mathematical physics. In quantum field theory, the most important contribution is the rigorous formulation of

scattering Scattering is a term used in physics to describe a wide range of physical processes where moving particles or radiation of some form, such as light or sound, are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory by localized non-uniformities (including ...

processes based on Wightman's axiomatic theory. This approach is known as the

Haag–Ruelle scattering theory In mathematical physics, the Wightman axioms (also called Gårding–Wightman axioms), named after Arthur Wightman, are an attempt at a mathematically rigorous formulation of quantum field theory. Arthur Wightman formulated the axioms in the ea ...

. Later Ruelle helped to create a rigorous theory of

statistical mechanics In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic be ...

of equilibrium, that includes the study of the

thermodynamic limit In statistical mechanics, the thermodynamic limit or macroscopic limit, of a system is the limit for a large number of particles (e.g., atoms or molecules) where the volume is taken to grow in proportion with the number of particles.S.J. Blundel ...

, the equivalence of ensembles, and the convergence of Mayer's series. A further result is the Asano-Ruelle lemma, which allows the study of the zeros of certain polynomial functions that are recurrent in statistical mechanics. The study of infinite systems led to the local definition of Gibbs states or to the global definition of equilibrium states. Ruelle demonstrated with

Roland L. Dobrushin Roland Lvovich Dobrushin (russian: Рола́нд Льво́вич Добру́шин) (July 20, 1929 – November 12, 1995) was a mathematician who made important contributions to probability theory, mathematical physics, and information theory ...

and Oscar E. Lanford that translationally invariant Gibbs states are precisely the equilibrium states. Together with Floris Takens, he proposed the description of hydrodynamic

based on strange attractors with chaotic properties of hyperbolic dynamics.

Honors and awards

Since 1985 David Ruelle has been a member of the

French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (French: ''Académie des sciences'') is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific me ...

and in 1988 he was

Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecturer The Josiah Willard Gibbs Lectureship (also called the Gibbs Lecture) of the American Mathematical Society is an annually awarded mathematical prize, named in honor of Josiah Willard Gibbs. The prize is intended not only for mathematicians, but also ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Since 1992 he has been an international honorary member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

and since 1993 ordinary member of the Academia Europaea. Since 2002 he has been an international member of the

United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

and since 2003 a foreign member of the

Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei The Accademia dei Lincei (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed", but anglicised as the Lincean Academy) is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rom ...

. Since 2012 he has been a fellow of the

American Mathematical Society The American Mathematical Society (AMS) is an association of professional mathematicians dedicated to the interests of mathematical research and scholarship, and serves the national and international community through its publications, meetings, ...

. In 1985 David Ruelle was awarded the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics and in 1986 he received the

Boltzmann Medal The Boltzmann Medal (or Boltzmann Award) is a prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann. The Boltzmann Medal is awarded once every three years ...

for his outstanding contributions to

. In 1993 he won the

Holweck Prize The Fernand Holweck Medal and Prize is a major European prize for Physics awarded jointly every year by the British Institute of Physics (IOP) and the Société Française de Physique (SFP). It is one of the four Grand Prix of the SFP and one of ...

and in 2004 he received the Matteucci Medal. In 2006 he was awarded the

Henri Poincaré Prize The Henri Poincaré Prize is awarded every three years since 1997 for exceptional achievements in mathematical physics and foundational contributions leading to new developments in the field. The prize is sponsored by the Daniel Iagolnitzer Foundat ...

and in 2014 he was honored with the prestigious Max Planck Medal for his achievements in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

. In 2022, Ruelle was awarded the ICTP's Dirac Medal for Mathematical Physics, along with Elliott H. Lieb and Joel Lebowitz, "for groundbreaking and mathematically rigorous contributions to the understanding of the statistical mechanics of classical and quantum physical systems".

Selected publications

* ; hbk * 1st edition 1969 * 1st edition 1978 * * *
1989 edition
* 1989 1st edition * * * * * *

References

External links

* * . * . * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruelle, David Pierre 1935 births Living people 20th-century French mathematicians 21st-century French mathematicians Belgian mathematicians Belgian physicists Chaos theorists Free University of Brussels (1834–1969) alumni Members of the French Academy of Sciences Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Great Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Brazil) Fellows of the American Mathematical Society ETH Zurich faculty Institute for Advanced Study visiting scholars Rutgers University faculty Recipients of the Matteucci Medal Belgian emigrants to France Winners of the Max Planck Medal Mathematical physicists Statistical physicists

Biography

Honors and awards

Selected publications

See also

References

External links