Dirac Medallists 2003

Robert H. Kraichnan (1928-2008)

Vladimir E. Zakharov, Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Moscow, Russian Federation, and University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA

for their distinct contributions to the theory of turbulence, particularly the exact results and the prediction of inverse cascades, and for identifying classes of turbulence problems for which in-depth understanding has been achieved.

Kraichnan's most profound contribution has been his pioneering work on field-theoretic approaches to turbulence and other non-equilibrium systems; one of his profound physical ideas is that of the inverse cascade for two-dimensional turbulence.

Zakharov's achievements have consisted of putting the theory of wave turbulence on a firm mathematical ground by finding turbulence spectra as exact solutions and solving the stability problem, and in introducing the notion of inverse and dual cascades in wave turbulence.