Loup Verlet

Loup Verlet [ lu vɛʁˈlɛ ] (born May 24, 1931 in Paris ; † June 13, 2019 ) was a French physicist , known as the pioneer of computer simulations of liquids at the molecular level ( molecular dynamics simulation ).

career

Verlet studied at the École normal supérieure (ENS) in Paris and received his doctorate from the Sorbonne in 1957 ( Contribution à l'étude du modèle optique du noyau ). He then spent two years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with Victor Weisskopf . At that time he was working on elementary particle physics, which he continued with Maurice Lévy at the ENS. When the ENS theory group moved to the newly founded science center in Orsay , he turned to the numerical solution of integral equations of the microscopic theory of liquids, such as the HNC (hypernetted chain) method in the Ornstein-Zernike equation and higher equations, including (quantum ) - Monte Carlo procedures were necessary.

In 1966 he was in the group of Joel Lebowitz in New York (Graduate School Belfer of Yeshiva University ), where there is a cooperation with Lebowitz and Jerome K. Percus came up with a basic publication for molecular dynamics in 1967, in which it the microcanonical ensemble at constant energy used. In a paper from 1967, Verlet proposed a numerical integration method in molecular dynamics (numerical simulation of Newton's equations of motion of several hundred particles over a Lennard-Jones potential ), which was then widely used. The previous pioneering work on the molecular dynamics of liquids with Lennard-Jones potential by Aneesur Rahman (1964) was known to him and he later maintained good contacts with Rahman and Bernie Alder , who are considered to be further pioneers of molecular dynamics. The method named after him was also used by Carl Størmer in the beginning of 1907 in connection with the movement of charged particles in magnetic fields (theory of the auroras) and astronomy (hence the Störmer method or Verlet-Störmer integration, also the symplectic Verlet algorithm) and used by others. Later, while studying the history of science, Verlet found that his method appeared directly in Newton's Principia . His algorithm also used periodically recalculated neighborhood tables, which reduced the computing time from (for particles) to . In New York, he used the CDC high performance computer at the Courant Institute . ${\ displaystyle n ^ {2}}$ ${\ displaystyle n}$ ${\ displaystyle n \ cdot \ ln (n)}$

He returned to Orsay in 1967 and became director of research at the Center national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). With his work in the 1960s, he is one of the pioneers in the simulation of liquids with molecular dynamics, which he expanded with his group in Paris and applied to many aspects of simple and complex liquids in classical and quantum mechanical treatment. He used his own algorithm as well as various Monte Carlo methods and combined analytical and numerical techniques.

He later turned away from physics in order to devote himself to the history of science , having undergone many years of psychoanalysis at the suggestion of the psychoanalyst and mathematician Daniel Sibony . As a result, he published books on the history of science and the philosophy of science, including Isaac Newton against the background of three social and cultural revolutions (introduction of parliamentarism, development of capitalism and scientific revolution). Finally, he dealt with climate change. As early as the 1970s he was involved in the activist group Survivre et Vivre (with Alexander Grothendieck, among others ).

His hobbies included mountain climbing and music - he was a very good pianist and cellist.

Fonts

with Lebowitz, Percus: Ensemble Dependence of Fluctuations with Application to Machine Computations , Phys. Rev., Vol. 153, 1967, p. 250, abstract
Computer experiments on classical fluids. I. Thermodynamical properties of Lennard-Jones molecules , Physical Review, Volume 159, 1967, p. 98
Computer experiments on classical fluids. II. Equilibrium correlation functions , Physical Review, Volume 165, 1968, p. 201
Computer experiments on classical fluids. III, Time-Dependent Self-Correlation Functions , Physical Review A, Volume 2, 1970, p. 2514
with D. Levesque, J. Kürkijarvi: Computer experiments on classical fluids. IV, Transport Properties and Time-Correlation Functions of the Lennard-Jones Liquid near Its Triple Point , Physical Review A, Volume 7, 1973, p. 1690
La malle de Newton , Gallimard 1993
Chimères et Paradoxes , Editions Cerf 2007
with others: Le changement climatique - Aubaine ou désastre? , Éditions Cerf, 2007

Individual evidence

^ Ernst Hairer, Gerhard Lubich and Christian Wanner: Geometric Numerical Integration , Springer Verlag, 2nd edition 2006, p. 7, with photo

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Lost, Loup
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	French physicist
DATE OF BIRTH	May 24, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH	Paris
DATE OF DEATH	June 13, 2019

[1] Ernst Hairer, Gerhard Lubich and Christian Wanner: Geometric Numerical Integration , Springer Verlag, 2nd edition 2006, p. 7, with photo