2018 Gentner-Kastler Prize awarded Luc Bergé
The Gentner-Kastler Prize is awarded by the German Physical Society (DPG) and the French Physical Society (SFP) to a physicist whose research has led to top level breakthroughs during his/her whole carrier carried out mainly in France or in Germany.
This year, the Gentner-Kastler prize will be presented to Luc Bergé during the 39th Day of the DPG, to be held on the 9th of November 2018 at Bad Honnef (Germany). The award is given to L. Bergé for his outstanding contributions to the modeling of nonlinear wave propagation and laser filamentation, to the creation of terahertz radiation by ultrashort laser pulses, as well as for his long-term and ongoing commitment to European and especially German-French cooperation.
Luc Bergé is a theoretical physicist working at CEA-France. He is a pioneer in nonlinear science, more particularly in the singular propagation of nonlinear waves, in laser filamentation – i.e. a nonlinear propagation regime through which intense light pulses with femtosecond duration can be self-guided over long distances in air or other transparent materials by the balance between optical and plasma nonlinearities, and in the generation of terahertz waves by multi-colored laser pulses. Laser filamentation and terahertz pulse generation find many societal applications. As rightly recalled by the DPG citation: “Laser filamentation is crucial for the introduction of a new way of sensing substances in the atmosphere”.
Luc Bergé is also deeply involved in the scientific life of the physics community. He founded the international workshops on laser-matter interaction (WLMI) and was General Chair of the world-renowned conference CLEO/Europe in 2015. He has chaired the Quantum Optics and Electronics Division of the European Physical Society (EPS) and he is currently Member of the Executive Committee of the EPS.
More Info
- https://www.sfpnet.fr/luc-berge-2018-gentner-kastler-prize
- https://www.dpg-physik.de/preise/preistraeger2018.html
