The Max Planck Medal, the highest international award for theoretical physics of the German Physical Society, will go to Detlef Lohse of the University of Twente, for his research on the physics of bubbles and of turbulence. Famous physicists like Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr and Erwin Schrödinger received the medal in the past. Lohse will receive the medal in March 2019.
“With his outstanding theoretical work, Lohse is of great influence on modern fluid dynamics”, the jury of the Max Planck Medal says. He contributed to solving the puzzle of ‘sonoluminescence’ – a bubble in fluid, under the influence of ultrasound, will get very hot and emit light. Another topic the jury mentions is Lohse’s theory on heat transport in thermally driven turbulence.
Lohse, furthermore, knows how to translate his fundamental work to applications like inkjet printing, modern lithography or ultrasound medical diagnostics.
The Max Planck Medal has been awarded since 1929, by the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. The list of winners shows famous physicists like Einstein, Debye and Pauli. “I know almost all names of the list, it is really a great honour to be part of it”, says Lohse. “The fact that this is for my theoretical work, while I also received appreciation for my applied work – like the Simon Stevin Master-, is a great combination.”
The announcement comes one week before Lohse will receive the Balzan Prize in Rome. Earlier on, he won prestigious awards and grants like the Dutch Spinoza Prize, Simon Stevin Master and the APS Fluid Dynamics Prize.
