RESEARCH IN FRANCE STUDY IN PHYSICS RESEARCH IN FRANCE Derived from the Greek word for nature, physics is, etymologically, “the science of na- ture.” René Descartes-mathematician, physicist, and philosopher-described physics Since the time of René as the knowledge of nature, which corresponded at the time to the natural sciences or Descartes (1596-1650), Blaise natural philosophy. Thus “physics” formerly encompassed present-day physics, che- Pascal (1623-1662), André mistry, and the natural sciences. The meaning of the term today is more limited, as it Ampère (1775-1836) and Sadi deals in a quantitative and conceptual way with the building blocks of the universe, Carnot (1796-1832), physics, the forces they exert, and their effects. like mathematics, has been one Because it is both quantitative in its measurement of the constituent parts of the of France’s areas of research universe and conceptual in building theories based on the effects of forces, research in physics develops theories using the tool of mathematics to describe and predict excellence, as evidenced by the evolution of systems. the 14 Nobel prizes awarded to illustrious French physicists- among them Antoine Henri Becquerel, Pierre and Marie Curie, Louis de Broglie, Alfred Kastler, Pierre Gilles de Gennes, Georges Charpak, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Albert Fert, Serge Haroche in 2012 and, in 2018, Gérard Mourou. FROM BASIC EXPERIMENTATION ON MATTER TO APPLIED PHYSICS These physico-chemical tools have AND MATERIALS UNDER Researchers specialize in theoretical made possible important progress in EXTREME CONDITIONS physics (quantum physics, thermo- analytical chemistry in liquid states. French research in physics centers on dynamics and statistical physics, The links between physics and earth the study of components, materials, and electromagnetism) or in experimental and space sciences are the terrain of media: the fundamental constituents physics (behavior of materials, astrophysics. of matter, theoretical physics, and electronics and components, fluids and In the past, distinctions were made hot plasmas; dense media, materials, flows). among the various applications of and components; dilute media and Fields of application extend to energy physics to mechanics, electricity, optics, fundamental optics; and the science and the environment, solidphase and other fields, whereas modern physics and physics of materials. Another trend physical biology, and applied computer is concerned with phenomenological in contemporary experimental physics science. criteria—particle physics, nuclear is propelling investigations into matter physics, atomic and molecular physics, subjected to extreme conditions, such INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH the physics of condensed media (solids as very high or very low temperature or Although living things are not the usual and liquids), plasma physics, and so on. pressure or very intense magnetic or province of physics, biology and physics Today, experimental work focuses electrical fields. Such conditions often share some applications. Biophysics on understanding such fundamental reveal new properties of matter. uses the principles and processes of structures, using accelerators to study The example most often cited to illustrate physics to analyze the structures and particles and nuclei, neutron reactors this new scientific approach is that of mechanisms of living things. Physics to study condensed phases, and other superconductivity, of which magnetic also enters into the methods of experimental machinery to study other levitation is one of the most prominent measurement used in chemical analysis. phenomena. effects. FRANCE PARTICIPATES IN MAJOR PHYSICS RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS Aeronautics institute: : www.insu.cnrs.fr (GANIL), the French national (CEA-CNRS) - Instrumentation, analytical equipment, heavy-ion accelerator, generating and • Large-scale wind tunnels for aeronautics observatories for geophysics and accelerating radioactive ions since 1983: and space, providing aerodynamic conditions oceanography (IMAGO) - IRD Centre de www.ganil-spiral2.eu Bretagne: in which to test aircraft engines: Infrastructures de recherche - Résonance www.brest.ird.fr/us191/flotte/flotte.htm • http://windtunnel.onera.fr Magnétique Nucléaire, Très Hauts Champs - Institut polaire français Paul-Émile Victor (IPEV), (IR-RMN), a network high-field nuclear • Service des Avions Français Instrumentés French polar institute: magnetic resonance facilities in Gif-sur-Yvette, pour la Recherche en Environnement www.institut-polaire.fr/ipev/infrastructures (SAFIRE), the office that manages French Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, and Orléans: www.ir-rmn.fr GODAE - MERCATOR, the oceanographic aircraft equipped to collect data and perform • European Gravitational Observatory-VIRGO forecasting system: www.mercator-ocean.fr • experiments for research in atmospheric (EGO-VIRGO), a Franco-Italian consortium that physics and chemistry: www.safire.fr • IRAM, the Institut de RadioAstronomie manages the giant VIRGO interferometer that Millimétrique, is operated by France, Germany, monitors and measures gravitational waves: and Spain. Two observatories focused on www.ego-gw.it wavelengths from 0.8 mm to 3.4 mm (70–350 European Organization for Nuclear Research GHz) are located at Pico Veleta near Grenada • - Large Hadronic Collider (CERN-LHC), the (Spain) and in France’s Hautes-Alpes region. world’s largest particle physics research www.iram-institute.org facility: www.lhc-france.fr The MATISSE and GRAVITY instruments built • Petawatt Aquitaine Laser (PETAL), a French for the ESO’s large telescopes (INSTRUM ESO) • intense-laser project in Aquitaine coordinated recombine mid-infrared light from four ESO by the Institut Laser-Plasma (ILP): telescopes with an astrometric precision of 10 http://petal.aquitaine.fr microseconds of arc. www.eso.org PRACE, European advanced computing center: The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), • • www.prace-project.eu under construction in Chile since 2014, will deploy a 3.2 million pixel camera covering a • Réacteur Thermonucléaire Expérimental surface equal to 40 times the full moon to map International (ITER), équipement de recherche the entire sky over a period of 10 years. en fusion nucléaire contrôlée (mise en service http://lsst.in2p3.fr du réacteur en 2018) : www.iter.org/fr Astronomical observatories • The La Silla and Paranal Observatory • Source Optimisée de Lumière d’Énergie (ESO LSP) operates a 3.6-meter telescope Intermédiaire du LURE (SOLEIL), the French focused on exoplanets and a network of four synchrotron in Saclay: www.synchrotron-soleil.fr ANTARES, neutrino telescope: • combinable telecopes with 8-meter diameters. http://antares.in2p3.fr Système de production d’ions radioactifs www.eso.org/sci/facilities/lpo.html • accélérés en ligne (SPIRAL 2), a future facility Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimiter • to generate and accelerate radioactive ions: Array (ESO ALMA), an observatory in Chile www.ganil-spiral2.eu/science/accelerateurs/spiral equipped with a millimeter–submillimeter radio Nuclear inferometer: www.eso.org/sci/facilities/alma/ CLIC, International Compact Linear Collider: • Tore Supra, superconducting magnetic coils: • www-fusion-magnetique.cea.fr/cea/ts/ts.htm • Cerenkov Telescope Array (CTA), ultra-high- www.linearcollider.org energy gamma ray observatory: • European Consortium for the Development of www.cta-observatory.org Fusion Energy: https://www.euro-fusion.org • CONCORDIA, international station on the • European Spallation Source (ESS), the Antarctic continental shelf devoted to research European neutron source: on atmospheric physics and chemistry: https://europeanspallationsource.se www.institut-polaire.fr/ipev/infrastructures/les-bases/concordia/ Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research High Energy Stereoscopic System (HESS • • (FAIR), an international heavy ion, proton, phases I et II), Cerenkov stereoscopic and antiproton project scheduled to begin telescope and international ultra-highenergy operation in 2013: www.fair-center.eu gamma ray observatory: www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/hfm/HESS/HESS.html • Grand accélérateur national d’ions lourds French team: http://lpnhess.in2p3.fr/~hess/ • European Southern Observatory (ESO), the principal European organization in the field of astrophysics, sponsors a variety of scientific programs on planetology and cosmology. www.eso.org/public/france • When completed, the ESO European Extremely Large Telescope (ESO E-ELT) will be the world’s largest. Its main eye, 39 meters in diameter, will expand the field of visible light and infrared observation. www.eso.org/public/teles-instr/e-elt • The French oceanographic fleet: - Ifremer fleet: http://flotte.ifremer.fr - Institut National des Sciences de l’Univers (INSU)-CNRS, the national space sciences CERN, THE EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION USUAL FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH LINKS http://public.web.cern.ch/public Founded in 1954, CERN is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious • Allistene (alliance for digital sciences and technologies): scientific laboratories. It is devoted to basic research in physics and to the www.allistene.fr discovery of the fundamental building blocks and the laws of the universe. CERN uses complex scientific instruments-accelerators, colliders, and • ANDèS, National association for Science PhD: particle detectors-to probe the fundamental constituents ofmatter, or www.andes.asso.fr elementary particles. France is one of the 12 founding members of CERN, • ANR (France’s national research agency): which now has 22 member states. Researchers