Alexandre Joel Chorin (born 25 June 1938) is an American mathematician known for his contributions to
computational fluid mechanics,
turbulence, and computational
statistical mechanics.
Chorin's work involves developing methods for solving physics and fluid mechanics problems computationally. His early work introduced several widely used numerical methods for solving the Navier-Stokes equations, including the method of artificial compressibility, the
projection method, and vortex methods. He has made numerous contributions to turbulence theory. In recent years he has been developing methods for prediction in the face of uncertainty and for filtering and data assimilation.
Early life
Chorin was born on 25 June 1938 in
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
, Poland. Born just one year before Hitler's invasion, his family fled Poland through
Lithuania and
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
before spending 10 years living in
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
and 11 years living in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. Chorin came to the United States at 23 for graduate studies, nurturing his interest in fluid dynamics by working on the equations responsible for predicting
ocean tides.
Career
Chorin is a
University Professor at the
University of California, a Professor of Mathematics at the
University of California, Berkeley, and a Senior Scientist at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Chorin received the
Ing. Dipl. Physics degree from the
EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in 1961, an M.S. in Mathematics from New York University in 1964, and a PhD in Mathematics from
New York University in 1966. Chorin stayed at New York University as a researcher at the
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences until 1969 when he was promoted to assistant professor and then associate professor the following year.
Chorin is widely recognized for his mentoring of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, many of whom have become nationally and internationally recognized scientists in their own right. In 2008 he was honored with the Sarlo mentoring award by the
University of California, Berkeley.
Awards
Chorin's awards include the National Academy Award in Applied Mathematics and Numerical Analysis (1989), the Norbert Wiener Prize of the American Mathematical Society and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2000), the Lagrange Prize of the International Council on Industrial and Applied Mathematics (2011) and the
National Medal of Science (2012). He is a member of the US
National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the
Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and the
American Mathematical Society.
Journal publications
#
Chorin, A. J. "A numerical method for solving incompressible viscous flow problems" J. Comput. Phys. 2 (1967), pp. 12-26.Chorin, A. J. Numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations Math. Comp. 22 (1968) pp. 745-762Chorin, A. J., Numerical study of slightly viscous flow, J. Fluid. Mech. 57 (1973), pp. 785-796.#Chorin, A.J., Hald, O.H., and Kupferman, R., Optimal prediction and the Mori-Zwanzig representation of irreversible processes, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97 (2000), pp. 2968–2973.
#Chorin, A.J. and Tu, X., Implicit sampling for particle filters, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106 (2009), pp. 17249–17254.
Books authored
*
* Chorin, A. J., "Vorticity and Turbulence", Springer-Verlag (1994).
* Chorin, A.J. and O.H. Hald, "Stochastic Tools in Mathematics and Science", Springer-Verlag, 3rd ed., (2013).
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chorin, Alexandre Joel
Living people
University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty
Numerical analysts
American fluid dynamicists
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences alumni
New York University faculty
1938 births
Fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Fellows of the American Mathematical Society