Bernard Derrida (; born 1952) is a French

theoretical A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

. He is best known for his work in

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 b ...

, and is the eponym of ''Derrida plots'', an analytical technique for characterising differences between

Boolean networks A Boolean network consists of a discrete set of boolean variables each of which has a Boolean function (possibly different for each variable) assigned to it which takes inputs from a subset of those variables and output that determines the stat ...

Biography

Derrida entered the

École Normale Supérieure 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, S ...

in 1971, and received his doctorate in 1976. Since 1993 he has been professor of physics at

Université Pierre et Marie Curie Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussieu Campus in the ...

and at ENS. He is an expert in statistical mechanics who has adapted statistical-physics ideas to various problems in biology. He was elected, in 2004 to the

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

. In 2010, Derrida was awarded 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 ...

by IUPAP with

John Cardy John Lawrence Cardy FRS (born 19 March 1947, England)Guggenheim Foundation: Annual Report 1985. is a British-American theoretical physicist at the University of California, Berkeley. He is best known for his work in theoretical condensed matter ...

. Awarded the

Ampère Prize The Prix Ampère de l’Électricité de France is a scientific prize awarded annually by the French Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1974 in honor of André-Marie Ampère to celebrate his 200th birthday in 1975, the award is granted to one or mo ...

in 2001.

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Derrida, Bernard Living people French physicists Members of the French Academy of Sciences Year of birth missing (living people)