Guy Laval (born 17 November 1935 in

Boulogne-sur-mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

Pas de Calais The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...

) is a French physicist, professor at the

École polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

and 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 ...

. He is a former student of the École polytechnique (X1956), a member of the

Corps des Ponts Ponts may refer to: *Ponts, Lleida, a municipality in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. *Ponts, Manche Ponts (; sometimes referred to as Ponts-sous-Avranches, literally ''Ponts under Avranches'') is a commune in the Manche department in n ...

and a

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

physical sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Phy ...

Training and career

After attending the Ecole Polytechnique (1956–1958), he entered the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (1959–1961), then was seconded to the

Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique A commissariat is a department or organization commanded by a commissary or by a corps of commissaries. In many countries, commissary is a police rank. In those countries, a commissariat is a police station commanded by a commissary. In some ...

(CEA) (1962–1971), and became a lecturer at the Ecole Polytechnique (1970–1982). He was a tutor on a five-year contract 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 ...

in Princeton, New Jersey (USA) (1976–1978), seconded to the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

as a research master (1971–1983), CNRS research director (1983–2003), then director of the Centre de physique théorique de l'école polytechnique (1985–1995) and finally a professor at the École polytechnique (1983–1992).

Scientific work

Guy Laval's scientific work concerns

plasma physics Plasma ()πλάσμα
, Henry George Liddell, R ...

and its applications. First, he demonstrates the need for hydromagnetic energy principles for stability, and finds that the shape of the cross-section of a cylindrical pinch has a strong influence on its stability. Then, using Vlasov-Boltzmann's equations, he demonstrates the instability of a Harris pinch plan. He brings these results closer to the knowledge of the time on the interaction of the Earth's

magnetosphere In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynam ...

with the

solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the sola ...

. He then uses intermediate formulations of the plasma evolution equations to calculate the magnetic reconnection in tokamaks, especially for the m=1 mode. Then it evaluates the effects of wave coupling during the quasi-linear evolution of a plasma beam instability in the unidimensional case. It shows that imperfect turbulence or pump wave can have a stabilizing effect for parametric instability but can also restore parametric instability suppressed by plasma inhomogeneity. He shows that a non-linear displacement of the frequency of a daughter wave can make the interaction chaotic, thus limiting the reflectivity of the plasma. It shows that parametric instabilities are strongly modified if the amplitude of the laser wave reaches the relativistic domain and that the generated relativistic electrons are emitted with an angular dispersion that can be problematic for the rapid ignition of targets. Finally, in the operation of Hall effect space thrusters, he found instability that explains the abnormal electronic conductivity that neutralizes the

ion beam An ion beam is a type of charged particle beam consisting of ions. Ion beams have many uses in electronics manufacturing (principally ion implantation) and other industries. A variety of ion beam sources exists, some derived from the mercury ...

Functions and Distinction

Source: * Silver medal of the CNRS (1972) * Member of the

French Physical Society 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 France ...

, of which he was President (1987–1988), * Member of the

European Physical Society The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach. Formally established in 1968, its membership includes the national physical so ...

, * Deputy Director General of the École Polytechnique, in charge of education (1995–1996), * Member of the National Committee for Scientific Research (1970–1975, 1988–1992, 1996–2000). * Member of the French Academy of Sciences 2003 * Johannides Prize of the French Academy of Sciences 1983 * Jean Ricard Prize in Physics from the French Physical Society. 1993

Books

* Christian Labrousse and Jean-Pierre Poirier, La science en France : dictionnaire biographique des scientifiques français de l'an mille à nos jours, Paris, Jean-Cyrille Godefroy, 2017, 1494 p. (), entry "Laval, Guy", pp. 844–845 * Blue Energy: a history of nuclear fusion. Odile Jacob (2007) * Uncertainties on climate, with K. Laval, Belin, (2013) * Coordinator of the Report on Research and Technology, N°26: Nuclear fusion: from fundamental research to energy production?

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laval, Guy Living people French physicists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research École Polytechnique alumni 1935 births Academic staff of École Polytechnique