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Theoretical physicist Kadanoff to present CNLS Kac lectures

One of the world's leading theoretical physicists will present three talks at the Center for Non-Linear Studies Feb. 22-24.

Professor Leo Kadanoff of the University of Chicago will present a series of three Mark Kac Memorial Lectures. The schedule of talks is as follows:

• "Excellence in Computer Simulations," 3 p.m., Feb. 22, Physics Building Auditorium, Technical Area 3;
• "Making a Splash; Breaking a Neck," 10 a.m., Feb. 23, Center for Nonlinear Studies Conference Room, Building 1690, TA-3; and
• "Loewner Evolution: Maps and Shapes in Two Dimensions" 10 a.m., Feb. 24, CNLS Conference Room.

"Leo Kadanoff is a superstar of modern science. Since the 1960s, he has been one of the most influential condensed matter theorists of his generation," said Bob Ecke, director of the Center for Nonlinear Studies (T-CNLS). "His contributions to statistical mechanics, including seminal ideas that led to renormalization group theory and his more recent important contributions to nonlinear science, have had tremendous impact on a large range of scientific topics.

"Furthermore, he has played a significant role in the partnership for astrophysical simulations between Los Alamos and the University of Chicago through the Advanced Simulation and Computing program," Ecke continued. "We are honored and excited to have Leo here at the Laboratory for what I know will be three stimulating talks."

Since 1978 Kadanoff, has taught at the University of Chicago, where he is currently the John D. and Katherine T. MacArthur Service Professor of Physics and Mathematics. He holds a doctorate from Harvard University, did postdoctoral work at the Neils Bohr Institute in Denmark and held professorial positions at University of Illinois, Brown University and Cambridge University.

In the first talk, Kadanoff will discuss the integration of computer simulations, modeling and science with examples drawn from the work of the Alliance Laboratories and from recent work on astrophysics at the University of Chicago's Alliance Center for Astrophysical Thermonuclear Flashes, which is part of the ASC Academic Strategic Alliances Program Center.

His second talk on Wednesday (Feb. 23) will explore the fundamentals of fluid flow and how the model-examples provided by fluids provide a better understanding of the nature of complexity. Problems encountered modeling fluid flows lead to broader issues, such as predictability and chaos, the likelihood of very extreme outcomes and the natural formation of complex 'machines.'

Kadanoff's third lecture is more technical in nature and reports on recent application of Loewner's method that uses conformal maps for constructing fractal line patterns, a method that has allowed for the solution of shape problems in percolation, self-avoiding walks and critical phenomena.

From 1962-69 at the University of Illinois, Kadanoff researched the fundamental properties of matter, especially the phenomenon of superconductivity. In 1966-1967 he did research on the organization of matter in "phase transitions" which led to a substantial modification of physicists' way of looking at these changes in the state of matter. This research led to his winning the Buckley Prize of the American Physical Society (1977), the Wolf Foundation Prize (1980) and the Boltzmann Medal of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (1989). In 1970, Kadanoff moved to Brown University where he worked on mathematical models of urban planning and on solid-state physics. In 1978, he moved to University of Chicago where he became particularly interested in complexity, fluid flow and in the applications of computers to physical calculations.

Kadanoff is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society as well as being a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He received the Centennial Medal of Harvard University, the Onsager Prize of the American Physical Society, the Grande Medaille d'Or of the Academy des Sciences de l'Institut de France and most recently the National Medal of Science.

The Mark Kac Annual Memorial Lecture Series was established in 1985 as a continuing tribute to the founding chairman of the CNLS External Advisory Committee, recognizing his lifelong commitment to the pursuit of scientific research of the highest quality and to the broad dissemination of the results of this research, Ecke said.

Kac, who pioneered the modern development of mathematical probability and its applications to statistical physics, headed the first CNLS External Advisory Committee from 1981 until his death in 1987. At the time he was at the University of Southern California after 20 years each at Cornell, from 1940-1961 and at Rockefeller University from 1961-1981.

-- Jim Danneskiold

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