| RefNo | EC/1996/42 |
| Level | Item |
| Title | Lions, Jacques Louis: certificate of election to the Royal Society |
| Date | 1992 |
| Description | Certificate of Candidate for Election to Foreign Membership. Citation typed on separate piece of paper, then pasted onto certificate |
| Citation | Lions began mathematical research as a student of Laurent Schwartz, writing his thesis on a general theory for solving linear boundary-value problems of evolution type. He then attacked a wide range of nonlinear problems involving partial differential equations arising in mechanics, physics and engineering, resolving numerous previously obscure questions of existence, uniqueness and numerical computation of solutions. To this end he introduced or significantly developed many now standard techniques such as compactness and monotonicity methods, "discretization" of Sobolev spaces, real and complex interpolation theory, and variational inequalities. Many of these techniques were described in a famous 1969 book which was a landmark in the modern history of nonlinear partial differential equations. He has made fundamental contributions to optimal control theory, introducing among other techniques a very fruitful idea which he called the Hilbert Uniqueness Method. Motivated by problems of composite materials, he created homogenisaion theory, which enables one to treat rigorously many questions involving partial differential equations whose coefficients oscillate rapidly in space or time. More recently he has worked on new global models for the atmosphere and the control of turbulence. An inspired teacher, many of his former students (among them H. Brezis, L. Tartar, R. Teman, R. Glowinski) are now acknowledged as world leaders. These achievements alone would put him in the first rank of modern applied mathematicians, but his remarkable organisational talents have further increased his influence, both inside and outside mathematics. One of few active research mathematicians to hold a post of high responsibility in industry, he was from 1984 -92 President of CNES, the French Space Agency. He was from 1990-94 President of the International Mathematical Union. Among numerous other distinctions he was awarded the 1991 Japan Prize. |
| AccessStatus | Closed |
Fellows associated with this archive
| Code | PersonName | Dates |
| NA7158 | Lions; Jacques Louis (1928 - 2001) | 1928 - 2001 |