Francis Harvey Harlow (22 January 1928 – 1 July 2016) was an American theoretical physicist known for his work in the field of

fluid dynamics In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids— liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including ''aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) an ...

. He was a researcher at

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

Los Alamos, New Mexico Los Alamos is an census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as the development and creation place of the atomic bomb—the primary objective of the Manhattan Project by Los Alamos National Labora ...

. Harlow is credited with establishing the science of

computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...

(CFD) as an important discipline. He is known for his fundamental contributions to the development of several CFD

algorithms In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific problems or to perform a computation. Algorithms are used as specifications for performing c ...

for computer simulation of fluid flows, including

Particle-In-Cell In plasma physics, the particle-in-cell (PIC) method refers to a technique used to solve a certain class of partial differential equations. In this method, individual particles (or fluid elements) in a Lagrangian frame are tracked in continuous ph ...

(PIC), Fluid-In-Cell (FLIC), and Marker-and-Cell (MAC) methods. Harlow was a Fellow of the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

. He was also a noted expert on the

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

of the

Puebloan peoples The Puebloans or Pueblo peoples, are Native Americans in the Southwestern United States who share common agricultural, material, and religious practices. Currently 100 pueblos are actively inhabited, among which Taos, San Ildefonso, Acoma, Zun ...

of New Mexico, publishing in this field as well as in physics, and donated his extensive and significant collection of Puebloan pottery to the

Museum of Indian Arts and Culture The Museum of Indian Arts and Culture is a museum of Native American art and culture located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is one of eight museums in the state operated by the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs and is accredited by the Ameri ...

several years before his death. In 2016, Harlow's autobiography was published in the collection ''Adventures in Physics and Pueblo Pottery: Memoirs of a Los Alamos Scientist.''

Awards and honors

Harlow was a fellow of the American Physical Society since 2003. He was selected "For his contributions to our understanding of low-speed, free-surface, and turbulent flow through computational modeling, and his invention of completely original methods to address these issues." In 2004, he received ''Los Alamos Medal'', the highest honor given to an individual or small group by LANL.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlow, Francis H. American physicists Computational fluid dynamicists Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel Fellows of the American Physical Society 1928 births 2016 deaths