David Pierre Ruelle (; born 20 August 1935) is a Belgian and naturalized French mathematical physicist. He has worked on statistical physics and dynamical systems. With Floris Takens, Ruelle coined the term ''

strange attractor In the mathematics, 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 va ...

'', and developed a new theory of turbulence.

Biography

Ruelle studied physics at the Free University of Brussels, obtaining a PhD degree in 1959 under the supervision of Res Jost. He spent two years (1960–1962) at the ETH Zurich, and another two years (1962–1964) at the

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

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

. In 1964, he became professor at the

Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques The Institut des hautes études scientifiques (IHÉS; English: Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies) is a French research institute supporting advanced research in mathematics and theoretical physics (also with a small theoretical biology g ...

in Bures-sur-Yvette,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Since 2000, he has been an

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

at IHES and distinguished visiting professor at Rutgers University. 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 In physics, scattering is 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 particles and radiat ...

processes based on Wightman's axiomatic theory. This approach is known as the Haag–Ruelle scattering theory. 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. Sometimes called statistical physics or statistical thermodynamics, its applicati ...

of equilibrium, that includes the study of the thermodynamic limit, 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 and Oscar E. Lanford that translationally invariant Gibbs states are precisely the equilibrium states. Together with Floris Takens, he proposed the description of hydrodynamic turbulence 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 (, ) 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 method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...

and in 1988 he was Josiah Willard Gibbs Lecturer in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) 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 other ...

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 and since 2003 a foreign member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. 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 for his outstanding contributions to

. In 1993 he won the Holweck Prize 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. It is named after the French mathematician Henri Poincar ...

and in 2014 he was honored with the prestigious

Max Planck Medal The Max Planck Medal is the highest award of the German Physical Society , the world's largest organization of physicists, for extraordinary achievements in theoretical physics. The prize has been awarded annually since 1929, with few exceptions ...

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 List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

. 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 Academic staff of ETH Zurich 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 Members of Academia Europaea Recipients of the Boltzmann Medal

Biography

Honors and awards

Selected publications

See also

References

External links