Extreme events in nature, rogue wave in optics, by J. Dudley
Channel: Département de Physique de l'ENS
Date: 2017-12-05

Understanding extreme events in nature is intrinsically challenging because the events themselves are rare, and often appear in environments where measurements are difficult. A particular case of interest concerns the infamous oceanic rogue or freak waves that have been associated with many catastrophic maritime disasters.  There is a rigorous analogy between the physics of wave propagation on the ocean and light pulse propagation in optical fibre, and this has opened up possibilities to explore general properties of extreme value dynamics using a convenient benchtop optical environment.

John Dudley is Professor of Physics at the University of Franche-Comté and the CNRS Institute FEMTO-ST in Besancon. His research covers broad areas of optical science. He was co-laureate of the ERC project MULTIWAVE and has won numerous awards and fellowships, including 3 Honorary Degrees, the Médaille d’Argent of the CNRS, and awards from SPIE, OSA, IOP and APS. He was President of the European Physical Society and in 2009, he initiated the International Year of Light.