Awarded to Professor Grigory Isaakovic Barenblatt (University of California at Berkeley and Cambridge University) in recognition of his outstanding originality in his work in applied mathematics.
Grigory Barenblatt is one of the most distinguished Russian applied mathematicians. He is well-known for his numerous contributions to the mathematical theory of fluid motion, solid structure, nonlinear waves, scaling and asymptotics. His two dominant interests are the clear understanding of the mathematical underpinnings of various methods of applied mathematics and physics, and the analysis of problems dominated by complexity, such as turbulence, failure and cracks in solids, flow in porous and inhomogeneous media, and combustion.
Grigory Barenblatt has constructed a deep relation between nonlinear waves and general scaling arguments, and related the occurrence of anomalous exponents to the occurrence of waves whose speed depends on their internal structure. His methods of intermediate asymptotics make it possible to draw concrete conclusions in situations where the scaling is anomalous. Among the many applications of this deep and amazing theory are the scaling of turbulence, the analysis of failure in solids, the dynamics of reservoirs and the analysis of stratification in geophysical fluid mechanics.
His recent work on scaling in turbulence is of enormous significance. The Barenblatt model of crack formation and the "Barenblatt zone'' are among the most basic ideas in the theory of cracks; the Barenblatt correlations are the basic tools in the analysis of failure, especially failure due to fatigue. His theory of particulate transport in turbulence is the cornerstone of this subject. His work on flow in porous media is of the same high significance. The range of Barenblatt's achievements is truly breathtaking.
Though all of his work is extremely original, the development of the theory of incomplete similarity, in particular its unexpected applications in fluid mechanics as well as its relation with renormalization, is probably the most original aspect of this work; the most original part of an original corpus.
Subcommittee for the 1999 ICIAM/CICIAM Maxwell Prize
- Julian Hunt (chair);
- Rolf Jeltsch;
- Shigeo Kida;
- Amable Liñan Martinez;
- Olivier Pironneau;
- Margaret H. Wright.