Pierre-Gilles de Gennes: the Nobel Prize in Physics 1991

Jerzy A. Janik

doi:10.1117/12.156936

15 October 1993 Pierre-Gilles de Gennes: the Nobel Prize in Physics 1991

Jerzy A. Janik

Proceedings Volume 1845, Liquid and Solid State Crystals: Physics, Technology and Applications; (1993) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.156936
Event: Liquid and Solid State Crystals: Physics, Technology, and Applications, 1992, Zakopane, Poland

Abstract

Let us list the main directions of P—G dr Gennes' research. Most Nobel prizes are awarded for a well-defined discovery. This Nobel prize honours the overall achievement of Professor de Gennes in the field of liquid crystals and polymers. The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences stated: "that methods developed for studying order phenomena in single systems can be generalized to more complex of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymers", for which the term soft matter is now used. The problem of phase transitions in what is now called soft matter can be discussed from the point of view of Landau concepts. Liquid crystals are natural materials with order parameters. Formal analogies with superconductivity and superfluidity exist. All that belongs to the so-called Landau - de Gennes theory.

Citation Download Citation

Jerzy A. Janik "Pierre-Gilles de Gennes: the Nobel Prize in Physics 1991", Proc. SPIE 1845, Liquid and Solid State Crystals: Physics, Technology and Applications, (15 October 1993); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.156936

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